TECNALIA He developed and patented a reactor to increase biomethane production, which has already been successfully tested in a pilot plant using real biogas from a wastewater treatment plant, demonstrating that the technology works under near-industrial conditions.
Furthermore, the Basque Technology Centre has created the deeptech startup Konbus+, specializing in advanced high-speed thermal spray technologies for component manufacturing.
Similarly, TECNALIA Technological Centre is leading the development of a pioneering prototype of non-invasive neuromodulation for pathologies such as stroke and Parkinson's disease.
Key energy vector
El TECNALIA Technology Centre It has developed and patented a multi-channel reactor that allows for the direct production of synthetic natural gas from biogas through the conversion of its CO2 content. This system improves the overall efficiency of the upgrading process, achieving a methane concentration at the outlet exceeding 95% in a single step.
This technology positions TECNALIA as one of the few European centres capable of offering advanced solutions for the valorization of CO₂ from biogas, increasing the methane content of the final gas and reinforcing the competitiveness of synthetic natural gas as a renewable gas fully compatible with the grid.
This reactor, designed to intensify the methanation reaction of CO₂ present in biogas, is based on a millimeter-scale architecture that provides heat and mass transfer coefficients far superior to those of conventional reactors, preventing the formation of hot spots and allowing for stable operation even under dynamic conditions. Furthermore, its modular design facilitates scaling through replication, making it a solution adaptable to both small-scale plants and industrial facilities.
The reactor has been validated in a pilot plant at TRL6, which measures its technological maturity, demonstrating high efficiency, a fast response to flow variations and almost total utilization of the raw material, achieving a synthetic natural gas of sufficient quality to be injected directly into the natural gas network.
TECNALIA has demonstrated the viability of the reactor by collaborating with companies such as Lointek, Repsol, Petronor, and Awaes (Tedagua).
Both biomethane and synthetic natural gas have become key energy carriers for advancing the decarbonization of sectors that are difficult to electrify, such as industry, heavy transport, and process heat. Their ability to be directly integrated into existing gas infrastructure makes them an immediate and scalable solution within the energy transition.
It is estimated that by 2030, Spain will reach a production potential of up to 137 TWh per year, which is equivalent to 40% of the country's current natural gas consumption, positioning biomethane as a strategic way to reduce energy dependence and strengthen energy security by reducing emissions.
The production of biomethane and/or synthetic natural gas from agricultural, livestock, urban, or industrial waste allows for the transformation of waste streams into a renewable gas that is fully compatible with existing infrastructure, contributing to the circular economy, rural development, and energy independence. Furthermore, its manageable nature makes it a highly attractive complement to renewable electricity sources, providing flexibility to the energy system. In fact, initiatives such as REPowerEU have set ambitious targets to accelerate its deployment, recognizing its role in energy independence and emissions reduction.
Boosting the deeptech ecosystem
Likewise, TECNALIA has created the deeptech startup Konbus+ aims to bring advanced high-speed thermal spraying technologies to market, based on continuous and pulsed combustion processes. These technologies enable the creation of advanced coatings that improve component durability and reduce wear, while lowering production costs through lower gas consumption, shorter processing times, and increased efficiency and productivity.
Specific Konbus+, which has the transfer of the technology that TECNALIA has been developing for 25 years, will bring to the industrial fabric two proprietary advanced thermal projection technologies that represent an alternative to traditional processes based on detonation and high-speed combustion.
Konbus+, headquartered at the Euskadi Technology Park-Donostia Campus, is now beginning its industrial development phase and positioning in strategic, high-value-added markets, such as machinery and tools for the wire drawing, paper, and automotive industries, with a clear international focus. The strategic plan also envisions, in the medium term, expansion into the aerospace sector, currently the world's largest market for thermal spray technologies, as well as exploring new opportunities in emerging fields, such as the manufacture of electrodes for electric vehicle batteries.
The technological solutions underpinning Konbus+ boast a high degree of technological maturity and have been pre-qualified by TECNALIA for application in the international ITER project, one of the world's largest scientific initiatives in the field of fusion energy. This endorsement positions the new startup as a key European player in advanced surface technologies and advanced manufacturing, capable of translating high-impact scientific knowledge into real-world industrial applications.
The creation of Konbus+ reinforces the technology transfer strategy promoted by TECNALIA, aimed at transforming its research results into new deeptech companies capable of generating industrial impact, business competitiveness, and sustainable economic growth. This is another success story for TECNALIA, which already has 21 investee companies, 100% of which are deeptech startups, and which have generated a total of 149 jobs and a turnover of 8,75 million euros.
Experimentation phase
Similarly, the TECNALIA Technology Centre He has led the development and validation of a pioneering prototype focused on ultra-precise neuronal stimulation by exciting selective nanoparticles from outside the body with light and magnetic fields, i.e., non-intrusively, which opens a new way to treat neurological diseases such as stroke or Parkinson's disease without the need for surgery.
The non-invasive tools available so far—such as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) or Transcranial Electrical Stimulation (TES)—have significant limitations in resolution and depth, and pharmacological solutions are inefficient, especially due to their inability to cross the blood-brain barrier (the barrier that regulates the passage of substances between the blood and the brain, protecting the central nervous system). This structure protects the brain but also prevents many drugs from reaching the neuronal tissue where they need to act, reducing the effectiveness of current treatments.
This development, led by TECNALIA, is called Pneumonia projectIt allows for selective, deep, multifocal, and safe neuromodulation without requiring surgery. Its potential clinical applications range from repairing brain damage to strengthening weakened neuronal connections. Furthermore, its intuitive and affordable design facilitates its use in preclinical research, integrating all modules into a single platform for rodent experimentation.
As Ander Ramos, principal investigator at TECNALIA in medical technologies and head of the neurotechnology focus on the human brain, explains, “With as many neurons as stars in the Milky Way and a network of connections three times larger than the entire internet, it can lose functionality due to pathologies such as stroke or Parkinson's disease. The possibility of modulating its activity from the outside, without surgery and with precision, opens up a completely new therapeutic horizon.”.
The system is based on two types of nanoparticles, designed and developed by Marek Grzelczak's team at the Centre for Materials Physics (CFM, a joint CSIC-EHU institution). These nanoparticles are between 100 and 10.000 times smaller than a neuron. One type is gold nanoparticles, which transform light into heat to activate neurons. The other is magnetic nanoparticles, developed in collaboration with Maite Insausti's team at the EHU, which convert magnetic energy into heat. Both types of nanoparticles are functionalized to facilitate their guidance to the target cells, thanks to the work of Mónica Carril's group at the EHU and FBB.
From the Donostia International Physics Centre (DIPC), the team led by Aitzol Garcia-Etxarri carried out the necessary theoretical simulations for the design of the nanoparticles that were later validated by TECNALIA in experimentation, as well as the calculations necessary to determine and control the transformation of light and magnetic energy into heat.
As Ramos points out, “To facilitate the arrival of the nanoparticles to the affected area, the system allows the opening of the blood-brain barrier in a controlled, precise and reversible manner.”.
TECNALIA Technology Centre The prototype has been installed at the CSIC's Sols Morreale Biomedical Research Institute and validated in mice thanks to preclinical work carried out with Abraham Martin's team at the Achucarro Basque Centre for Neuroscience. The validation has yielded very promising neuroprotective results in both stroke (reducing the risk of death and the size of the lesion) and Parkinson's disease (halting its progression and improving symptoms), therefore “The next logical and necessary step is to transfer it to humans.”Ramos indicates.
Moreover, in preparation for this transition, a neuromodulation monitoring system for humans based on high-density electroencephalography (a sensorized cap that takes less than 5 minutes to put on and take off) has already been developed (with the help of Luis Montesano's team at Bitbrain Technologies) and validated in patients with Parkinson's disease (thanks to the collaboration with Maricruz Rodriguez's team at the University Clinic of Navarra) that allows the detection and monitoring of deep neuronal activity in real time.