162 projects for the environment
At the present moment when fighting against global warming has become a priority all over the world, the fact that 176 Spanish companies have embarked on R&D projects about environment, energy efficiency, renewable energies and climate change thanks to the EEA Grants is really good news.
02.02.2016
They are 176 small, medium and big companies that have been developing 162 projects within the Programme for Research and Technology in Environment and Climate Change developed by CDTI with 18 million euros from the EEA Grants. 40 projects have a Norwegian partner and 3, an Icelandic one. After the completion of the programme, now it is time to assess the results.
The statistical report says that the two overall objectives have been more than met: increased number of companies producing innovation in the targeted sector (176 companies funded under this programme vs 60 expected) and the knowledge transfer from universities and research institutions. In this regard, 145 contracts have been signed between companies and research centres –well above the 10 expected-, among them the most important technical universities in Spain or the renowned Spanish Council for Scientific Research (CSIC).
Besides, the programme have had and extraordinary bilateral approach. CDTI has worked very closely with Innovation Norway, a collaboration that is expected to last beyond the EEA Grants. Indeed, 68% of the companies which have developed their projects with a donor partner expected to continue the collaboration after the programme, according to a survey in 2015.
In the qualitative assessment, the planet is the winner. While the final results of these research projects are still pending, among the developments there is a system to convert part of the mechanical energy losses generated during train circulation into electricity; or several researches to create more efficient storage systems for renewable energies or new materials to improve energy efficiency in buildings; or even the required technology to turn a city into a smart city.
The great interest by the Spanish companies in this programme was clear in the 339 proposals submitted (it was expected around 100), a large proportion motivated by the innovative funding mechanism developed ad hoc: a soft loan with a non-reimbursable portion of 20%. This mechanism allowed mobilizing more than 100 million euros, thus contributing to significantly increase the level of Spanish companies investment in R&D.
Most of the projects is likely to continue under new financial mechanisms, but CDTI-EEA Grants programme has helped the companies to make the first move, or sometimes the last, to foster their contribution towards a more sustainable world.