Mark your calendars for 12 December 2024, when the third edition of the annual workshop of the Cluster Hub “Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources”.
The event will be hybrid. It will take place in Brussels, at Thon Hotel EU, Rue de la Loi 75, 1040. The number of seats is limited, and will be assigned on a first come first served policy. However, interested participants can attend online, upon registration with the LINK.
Batteries have been around for centuries, with successive technological advancements leading to major electrical leaps: from the early rise of telegraphs and telephones to the modern life ‘commodities’ such as consumer electronics, electric vehicles and healthcare.
Despite a policy context incentivising European stakeholders to build a climate-neutral society, this ambitious plan hinges on the electrification of two key industrial sectors – transport and energy – accounting together for 76 % of the EU’s GHG emissions. To meet the rising demand of batteries, Europe is looking for alternatives to reduce its dependency on battery imports and enhance its competitiveness in the global battery market. This push to re-industrialise Europe’s battery manufacturing is supported by technological advancements.
The Cluster Hub ‘Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources’ is organising the third edition of its annual workshop on 12 December 2024. With each edition, the hub plans to provide a comprehensive overview of the most promising technologies engaged in the production of raw materials for batteries, from raw materials mining to recycling.
Additional to the technical sessions which will present the most recent results from the member projects included in the EU-funded hub, the workshop will set off with an incursion across the European policy environment, introduced by representatives of the European Commission and BEPA.
Who is the event dedicated to?
Any stakeholder interested in the R&I context in the battery sector, whether a representative of industry, cross-sector activities, research community or a policy-maker, is welcome to participate. Each session presenting results will be concluded with a dedicated Q&A slot, where participating attendees are invited to address questions.
Beyond presenting the latest results accomplished by our member projects, the event plans to open the stage to challenging discussions, ultimately aiming to identify opportunities for value creation within the European battery sector.
Disclaimer
The event will be recorded (audio & video) and pictures will be taken. Should participants have any objections, these should be addressed to the organisers.
Registration
The event is hybrid. On site participation is limited to the conference room capacity. Seats are limited and allocated to the first 40 participants expressing interest.
Register for on site participation
The event can also be attended online, using Teams platform. Registration is mandatory.
Register here for online participation
The RAWMINA Final Conference is an event focusing on the recovery of Critical Raw Materials (CRM) from mine waste within a circular economy framework. This two-day conference, held between 22 and 23 October, at the Casa de la Convalescència, Hospital Sant Pau in Barcelona, Spain, brings together leading researchers, industry experts, policymakers, and innovators to explore cutting-edge advancements in CRM recovery.
What to expect
- Tech Deep-dive Sessions
- Round Table Discussions
- Early Researchers’ Symposium
- Matchmaking Sessions & Funding Opportunities Workshops
- Clustering Sessions
This conference is a must-attend for anyone interested in groundbreaking CRM-recovery technologies, sustainable mining practices, or networking with key industry players.
Registrations are open until 8 October. Secure your spot now!
Immediately after its M24 Consortium meeting, the LiCORNE project will co-organise the first edition of the Symposium on Direct Lithium Extraction (SDLE). The event is hosted between 17 and 18 October 2024 by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
This symposium will delve into the latest advancements and innovative technologies in the field of direct lithium extraction (DLE), fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange to drive forward this critical sector.
Topical Overview:
- Liquid / solid Li extraction technologies
- Membrane & precipitation technologies
- Conversion to battery
- Electrochem. Li extraction & Desalination Technologies
- Concentration & Purification of Li-brines
The symposium will feature additional
- industry sessions
- poster sessions, where interested parties can submit abstracts
On Thursday, 16 November, during the 2023 edition of the Raw Materials Week, the twelve EU funded projects that constitute the Cluster Hub ‘Materials for batteries’ gathered for their annual event in Brussels.
The Cluster Hub has been initiated last year during the 7th edition of the Raw Materials Week. The main objective of the meeting was to meet and discuss the latest developments in the participating projects as well as the new challenges and opportunities discovered through the projects’ lifetime. Nader Akil, Operations Manager at PNO Innovation, inaugurated this second edition outlining the motivation behind the hub’s establishment. He underlined the positive reception and sustained interest from various stakeholders keen on joining this initiative.
Discover and/or rediscover the first edition of the Cluster Hub workshop
Co-organised by RELiEF, EXCEED, ENICON and RAWMINA, the event was also the opportunity to welcome the four new members of the Cluster (EXCEED, RAWMINA, METALLICO and CRM-geothermal). the workshop gathered nearly 100 organisations driving the production and the recycling of raw materials for battery applications from primary and secondary resources.
Building on the initial objective of creating an environment that could foster knowledge exchange on different approaches for the recycling and recovery for battery applications, the event focused on three major topics that depict the transversality characterising the projects: the raw materials through research and science, the roles and challenges of industry and market for raw materials, and the raw materials under the scope of sustainability, durability and social acceptance. During this annual meeting, an interactive session led by Anish Patil from TechConcepts and representing the RELiEF project had the objective of Mapping the European battery material recycling landscape – more details to be found below, in the section referring to the interactive session.
Research and science unlocking new opportunities in raw materials
The first session was moderated by Sonia Matencio from LEITAT, representing the RAWMINA project. This session had the objective of discussing the raw materials through research and science, under the scopes of mining, refining, processing as well as the battery data. Sonia introduced this topic under the scope of RAWMINA, explaining the integrated innovative pilot system for Critical Raw Materials recovery from mine waste in a circular economy context. To this end, Christophe Aucher, from LEITAT as well, highlighted the need on an open battery passport system to better reflect and account for any adaptations that might be required due to the changing regulatory landscape.
Sonia welcomed afterward Brecht Dewulf from KU LEUVEN and representing ENICON, who discussed the sustainable processing of Europe’s low grade sulphidic and lateritic Ni/Co ores and tailings into battery grade metals. The idea behind this was to show all the potential of Ni/Co resources for Europe.
Xochitl Dominguez from VITO concentrated her speech on gas-diffusion electrocrytallisation (GDEx), a crucial topic for the projects LiCORNE and RHINOCEROS she works with. GDEx is an electrochemical process of reactive precipitation of metals in solution with oxidising or reducing agents produced in-situ by the electrochemical reduction of a gas, in a gas-diffusion electrode. This was followed by Katrin Kieling from GFZ Potsdam, working there for the CRM-geothermal project and shortly explained the challenges of extracting critical raw materials from geothermal fluids. To conclude this first session, Sandra Pavón from Fraunhofer IKTS explained the demonstration of battery metals recovery from primary and secondary resources through a sustainable processing methodology in the METALLICO project.
Discover presentations from Session 1
Insights from stakeholder perspectives: Interactive session on key EU Policies and priorities
The annual meeting followed its course with an interactive session led by Anish Patil, which scrutinised stakeholders’ perspectives on the Green Deal Industrial Plan, Net Zero Industrial Act, Critical Raw Materials Act and the European Battery Regulation 2023. Mentimeter facilitated this interactive session, engaging the audience to explore how these policies intersect, complement each other, and identify critical measures and incentives for achieving their objectives.
Over 30 persons participated in the live-poll proposed, which results display the priority to be set on funding and state aid regarding ranking the four pillars of the Green Deal Industrial Plan in order of relevance (followed by skills development, conductive regulation, and open and fair trade). Another major topic regarding the stimulation of investment in net Zero technologies, the majority of answers placed the ‘enhanced skills’ as first priority, shortly followed by facilitating the access to the market.
Lastly, the participants were divided regarding the critical measures to implement in the EU to stimulate investment in building domestic capacities for extraction of critical raw materials (CRMs). Although the majority opted for ‘cutting red-tape and accelerated permitting’, approximately half of the answers evoked uncertainty, which emphasised one more time the need to engage with policy makers as external stakeholders in all projects.
Navigating the nexus: industry challenges, market dynamics, social acceptance and sustainability
This interactive workshop was followed by two sessions, which aimed at discussing the challenges and opportunities of raw materials within the frame of industry and market, as well as the social acceptance, sustainability, and durability.
Alan Gonzalez from PNO Innovation Begium, representing LiCORNE, moderated the industry part, whereas Sam Hoefman from RELiEF moderated the last session on social acceptance, sustainability, and durability. Distinguished panellists took the stage to engage in debates on various topics.
Edvarts Emerson, Production and Testing Engineer at Watt4Ever, presented his work on the benchmark depository of 2nd life use of lithium in batteries, acceptance criteria and guidelines, work developed within the RHINOCEROS project. Benjamin Wilson, representing the RESPECT Project, displayed Aalto University’s work advancing efficient, sustainable, innovative and safe battery recycling processes in the EU. Laura Kainiemi from LUT University, representing the RELiEF Project, Konstantinos Komnitsas from the Technical University of Crete (TUC), on behalf of EXCEED, and Vitor Correia from INTRAW for the CRM-geothermal project, collectively debated the role and impact of social acceptance among affected communities, the importance of triggering new dialogues on responsible mining activities, and the joint involvement of regional, national and European authorities, academia, industry partners, and citizens in shaping these initiatives.
A big thank you to all participants for this co-creative and very constructive and inspiring meeting.
Discover presentations from Session 2
Discover presentations from Session 3
Snapshots from the second edition of the Cluster Hub workshop “Production of raw materials for batteries from European resources”
The ENICON Horizon Europe funded research project, organizes the 1st Capacity Building Seminar, on the 2nd and 3rd of October 2023. The seminar will take place at the Technical University of Crete’s Campus, Greece, in a hybrid format.
The target group of the seminar involves mainly graduate and post graduate students and early stage researchers, however all students and researchers in topics related to ENICON’s objectives are welcome.
The seminar will take place at the Technical University of Crete’s Campus, Greece, in a hybrid format. Four lectures will be given by Prof. Koen Binnemans (KU Leuven), Prof. M. Konsolakis (TUC), Dr. Arne Peys (VITO) and Dr. George Bartzas (ΤUC), who are experts in their fields.
A Zoom link will be provided to the registered participants after the closing of the registration period.
The detailed program is the following:
| Lecturer | Lecture | Date |
| Prof. Koen Binnemans (KU Leuven) | The 12 Principles of Circular Hydrometallurgy | 2/10/2023
10.00 AM – 12.00 PM (local time, UTC +2) |
| Dr. Arne Peys (VITO) | Matrix valorization of mining and process residues: what to do with the rest of the material after extracting 1% of valuable metals | 2/10/2023
14.00 PM – 16.00 PM (local time, UTC +2) |
| Prof. M. Konsolakis (TUC) | Rational design of Ni- and Co-based catalysts for energy transition and environmental sustainability | 3/10/2023
10.00 AM – 12.00 PM (local time, UTC +2) |
| Dr. George Bartzas (ΤUC) | Environmental challenges of nickel metal industry through life cycle assessment | 3/10/2023
14.00 PM – 16.00 PM (local time, UTC +2) |
Website managed by PNO Innovation