Last week, the POWERSAT project celebrated its general assembly in Madrid, Spain. The event, hosted by Blue Synergy, was attended by the project’s partners, and was an opportunity to update everyone on the progress of each task and work package. In this sense, the project is progressing at a good pace, with achievements already tangible and a clear path forward for the solutions being created by the project.

Representing Blue Synergy, our Sustainability Engineer, Sebastián Ospina Corral, presented the latest developments regarding the project’s LCA & LCC Assessments; while our General Manager, German Cavero Lopez, coordinated the event’s logistics.

We would like to congratulate the partners for their work: Thales, University College Cork, National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies – IMT Bucharest, Uppsala University, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), and FADO.io.

For more information about POWERSAT, please visit: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101162320/es

Blue Synergy SL is a proud partner of POWERSAT. We are committed to delivering sustainable profitability through efficient innovation.

The SECRETed Project has come to an end after four years of exciting research, achieved milestones and important breakthroughs on sustainable exploitation of bio-based compounds revealed and engineered from natural sources.

SECRETed was a Horizon 2020, EU funded project led by Idener as the coordinator and joined by PharmaMar, Accuplex Diagnostics, Matis Iceland, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Tubingen, Blue Synergy, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, Sphera Encapsulation, Imperial College, University of Sevilla, University of Lund, Exelisis Ike and Sylentis.

As stated in the project’s 9^th and last newsletter, “SECRETed demonstrated how marine-derived compounds can be translated into practical solutions across multiple sectors. In the health and pharmaceutical fields, the project identified molecules with strong antioxidant, anti-tumoral, antimicrobial and even diagnostic potential. The cosmetics and skincare sector benefited from natural ingredients capable of supporting anti-aging effects, protection, and regenerative properties. In agriculture, the work led to approaches that improve nutrient uptake, boost fertiliser efficiency and promote more sustainable crop management practices. Finally, for bioprocessing and environmental use, SECRETed validated surface-active molecules and metal-binding agents that can help make industrial processes cleaner, safer and more resource-efficient.”

In project, Blue Synergy carried out a comprehensive analysis of laboratory and pilot-plant data for the production of rhamnolipids using an engineered Pseudomonas putida strain. Based on this information, it developed a full conceptual production process covering raw-material handling, media preparation, fermentation, and downstream operations. The work included equipment sizing, scheduling, and bottleneck optimization to ensure a coherent scale-up strategy. Using the resulting process model, the company conducted LCA, LCC, TEA, S-LCA, and Social ROI assessments, and presented the findings to the project consortium to support decision-making on the sustainability and performance of the proposed production route.

In parallel, Blue Synergy created and executed the project’s consumer awareness and social acceptance strategies, which included curated and targeted social media posts; a series of in-depth articles from expert interviews and other project topics; four Social Awareness Newsletters; a dedicated Website Section; three social awareness workshops with stakeholders; and a Social Acceptance Assessment that combined the Social Acceptance Survey and the Social Acceptance Interviews to evaluate attitudes toward sustainability and biotechnological innovation.

In conclusion, SECRETed leaves behind a strong scientific, technological, and societal legacy, demonstrating how responsibly sourced bio-based compounds can be transformed into viable, sustainable solutions for health, industry, and the environment. Beyond its technical achievements, the project showcased the value of interdisciplinary collaboration, integrating cutting-edge biotechnology with robust sustainability assessment and active societal engagement. The knowledge, methodologies, and networks developed through SECRETed will continue to support future innovation, helping to bridge the gap between discovery and real-world application while advancing Europe’s transition toward a more sustainable, bio-based economy.

Blue Synergy is grateful to all project partners for their collaboration, openness, and shared commitment to sustainability, and we especially thank Idener for its strong coordination and leadership throughout the four years of the project. The trust, interdisciplinary cooperation, and collective ambition demonstrated within SECRETed exemplify the strength of European research and innovation, and we look forward to seeing the project’s outcomes inspire and enable future bio-based solutions.

Blue Synergy SL was a proud partner of the SECRETed project. We are committed to delivering sustainable profitability through efficient innovation.

Recently, Blue Synergy’s Julio Morales Daza and Sebastián Ospina Corral attended the General Assembly of the New Wave project in Windisch, Switzerland. The 2-day meeting covered all the progress made by the project’s partners in the last six months of activity, showcasing the successful execution of all tasks and the achievement of the project’s goals.

 

On one side, Sebastián, our Sustainability Engineer, presented the progress the project’s LCA, LCC & S-LCA, and discussed the activity for the work package on Market assessment, Business development & Exploitation. On the other side, Julio, our Social Researcher and Communication Specialist, presented the final details on the completed Social Impact Assessment for New Wave, and conducted a fun and insightful workshop on how to deliver an elevator pitch, with the participation of all attendees.

   

In summary, the progress meeting highlighted how the New Wave is on track to reduce the environmental footprint of end-products for the construction industry, making them more sustainable and contributing to Europe’s circularity goals in the mid and long term.

   

Blue Synergy would like to thank Björn Ramaswamy, Frédéric Vogel and Saša Bjelić from the Fachhochschule Nordwestschweiz FHNW and the PSI Paul Scherrer Institut, who hosted the event; Bert van de Beld and Hans Heeres from the BTG Biomass Technology Group BV, who coordinate the project; and the rest of the partners for their exceptional work.

To discover more about the New Wave Project, please visit: https://www.newwave-horizon.eu/

🔵Blue Synergy SL is committed to delivering sustainable profitability through efficient innovation.

Written by Sebastián Ospina Corral – Sustainability Engineer at Blue Synergy SL.

In Blue Synergy, life cycle assessment (LCA) is one of our core services. Our sustainability engineers have addressed LCA studies in a wide range of sectors including bio-based industries, biotechnology, nanoelectronics, food sector, remediation, biowaste revalorization, among others. Today we want to share with you, in simple terms, what is LCA and the importance of it when developing new sustainable technologies and products.

Many everyday items, from a cotton t-shirt to a smartphone, have a secret environmental story. While we might focus on an item’s immediate use or disposal, the most significant impacts—such as the massive water consumption to grow cotton or the high carbon emissions from manufacturing electronics—often occur long before a product reaches us. This hidden “environmental footprint,” embedded in complex global supply chains, makes it difficult to judge what is truly sustainable. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) is the scientific method designed to uncover this complete story and measure a product’s true impact from beginning to end.

An LCA acts like an “environmental detective,” systematically analysing a product’s entire journey from “cradle-to-grave.” This process is broken down into five key stages: Raw Material Extraction, where resources are taken from the earth; Manufacturing, where those resources are processed and assembled; Distribution, which involves global transportation; the Use Phase, covering how a consumer uses and maintains the product; and finally, the End-of-Life, which deals with disposal, recycling, or reuse. By quantifying the energy, water, and emissions at each stage, an LCA can identify the biggest environmental “hotspots.”

The credibility of any LCA depends heavily on two factors: the quality of its data and the scope of its analysis. The data must be accurate, representative of real-world conditions, and complete. Just as important are the “system boundaries,” which define what is included in the study. A “cradle-to-gate” assessment, for example, only measures impact up to the factory exit, ignoring the significant effects of consumer use and disposal. In contrast, a full “cradle-to-grave” assessment provides a more honest and comprehensive picture, preventing a narrow focus that could hide major environmental problems.

Conducting a thorough LCA is not without its challenges. Analysts often face data gaps from secretive supply chains, the complex problem of allocating impacts when one factory produces multiple products, and the high cost and time required for a detailed study. Unfortunately, these complexities can be exploited for “greenwashing,” where companies make misleading environmental claims by cherry-picking favourable data, using narrow system boundaries, or reporting selectively to hide negative impacts. This makes third-party verification and transparency crucial for building trust.

Ultimately, the goal of an LCA is not just to measure impact but to drive positive change. By identifying environmental hotspots, LCAs provide a clear roadmap for engineers and designers to innovate, leading to more sustainable products, as seen in examples from the apparel and automotive industries. This scientific foundation also empowers policymakers to create effective environmental regulations and helps build consumer trust through transparent, credible labels. By making the invisible visible, LCAs enable both industries and individuals to make smarter, more sustainable choices.

Blue Synergy‘s Sustainability Engineer, Patricio Cano, attended last week the General Assembly of the NANOMAT Project in London, United Kingdom. All partners of the consortium gathered to share the updates and present the progress of their activities in the project.

Patricio, who’s in charge of the sustainability assessments, presented the progress on the LCA/LCC results for the LNA module, the LCA for chemical treatment, and the eco-design and eco-strategies for its application in NANOMAT. In this regard, Patricio shared some highlights to technical partners that could help to bring sustainability into demos development.

And as NANOMAT’s demos are almost here, through a more circular approach, the project takes one more step forward to achieving its goals and leaving a mark in sustainable next generation technology.

We want to thank all consortium partners for their unvaluable effort and dedication: Thales, Institute of Electrical Engineering, Slovak Academy of Sciences, RF Microtech, Imperial College London, Foundation for Research and Technology – Hellas (FORTH), Uppsala University, National Institute for Research and Development in Microtechnologies – IMT Bucharest, Circuits Integrated, National & Kapodistrian University of Athens, NANOTEST, Technische Universität Chemnitz

Blue Synergy SL is a proud partner of the NANOMAT  Project, and is committed to delivering sustainable profitability through efficient innovation. Discover more about the NANOMAT project at: https://nanomat-project.com/