Spanish company Ingelia receives the eurbiomass prize EUBIA Award 2015

The Board of Directors of EUBIA ( Eur Biomass Industry Association , the continental association of the biomass industry) has awarded the EUBIA Award 2015 to the Spanish company Ingelia for its "outstanding" contribution to the development of this sector and its market in Eur .

The presentation of the most prestigious eur in this field, and undoubtedly one of the most important awards given to the most outstanding innovations in the world of renewable energies, took place during the XXIII EUBCE ( Eur Biomass Conference & Exhibition ), the major trade fair and congress of a scientific and business nature that was held between June 1 and 4 in Vienna (Austria) and is supported by the Eur (EC) and institutions such as UNESCO to promote dialogue between the main research centers, industry and those responsible for the community institutions and Member States that participate in this emerging sector.

In its thirteen editions, this has been the only one in which this recognition has fallen on a Spanish company and is also one of the few times that it has been given to an SME like Ingelia against the large industrial and energy corporations, whose technological developments had until now monopolized the attention of this event: Biochentex (2014, from Italy), Arkema (2013, France), WTS-AB (2012, Sweden); Vattenfal (2011, Germany), E.On (2010, Germany), Smack (2009, Germany) or Ford (2007, USA).

The Valencian company has implemented HTC (hydrothermal carbonization) technology in recent years, a patented process that overcomes the common moisture problems of organic waste from the agricultural, forestry, and urban sectors. This allows for the valorization of almost all types of such materials, transforming them into energy products with 30% more calorific value than conventional alternatives. The sustainability and efficiency of the designed process have led the International Scientific Advisory Committee (ISAC) , the EU's scientific committee that establishes priority research projects, and the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the scientific center that advises the European Commission on this matter, to focus their attention on Ingelia.

The Valencian company, along with the Institute of Chemical Technology (ITQ, part of the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) and the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC), was selected in late 2013 to lead an international consortium tasked with implementing the NEWAPP project, part of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme. This NEWAPP project, which delves into the already known energy uses of the HTC process but also explores alternative environmental applications (for water treatment, soil regeneration, or as a carbon sequestration agent) and even industrial ones, was featured in one of the parallel sessions organized during the 23rd EUBCE , specifically on June 4th. During this session, ITQ researcher Michael Renz and Ingelia's director, Marisa Hernández, among others, reported on and assessed the progress made by the various centers participating in the macro-project on the treatment and uses of organic matter with some degree of moisture. The Technical University of Denmark also participated in the session. (DTU) and the German TTZ Institute, project partners and Ingelia's Italian subsidiary, Ingeli-Italia.