Technological areas

Áreas tecnolóxicas

The technological areas of the A-CITEEC are the following:

01

Clean construction, structural design and industrial development

Reducing the consumption of natural resources in the industrial sector poses a major challenge to curbing the effects of climate change. The European Green Deal reports warn that only 12% of the materials used in this sector come from recycling and, in addition, buy to optimize the energy model in construction and building. In this field, CITEEC has research staff and access to cutting-edge facilities in order to develop lines of action that reduce pollutant emissions from the exploitation of natural resources, and are committed to the reuse and use of by-products or civil construction co-products, favouring industrial development towards a fairer ecological transition.

Among the lines of research that will be promoted by the group are the following:

  • Development and application of new construction materials and improvement of their performance;
  • Reuse of road pavement waste and co-products to obtain bio-asphalt from biomass or industrial by-products of plant origin;
  • Optimization of the planning, direction, management and evaluation of construction projects;
  • Optimization of civil engineering structures and analysis of the structural behaviour of power generation and transportation systems for sustainable planning;
  • Structural design of unique buildings, structural and pathological analysis of historic buildings, and rehabilitation and recovery of damaged structures.
S_SDG_Icons-01-18
S_SDG_Icons-01-09
S_SDG_Icons-01-11
S_SDG_Icons-01-12
S_SDG_Icons-01-13

02

Sustainable mobility and intelligent and integrated transports

Among the global policy initiatives is the reduction of greenhouse gases in transport, as they account for a quarter of total emissions into the atmosphere. In this sense, the main lines of action are aimed at improving urban mobility, promoting the use of cleaner, more efficient and healthier public and private transport. The emergence of new digitization tools, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), will make it possible to achieve automated, smart and less polluting mobility. In addition, the commitment to intermodal public and freight transport will allow it to compete with individual road transport and improve logistics systems, respectively.

Among the lines of research that will be promoted by the group are the following:

  • Development of dynamic traffic management and analysis systems on roads and highways;
  • Promotion of cooperative driving (V2X and platooning systems) and on-demand mobility “Mobility as a Service” (Sharing, ride-hailing and P2P);
  • Improving intermodal urban transport and sustainable mobility systems, logistics and freight transport;
  • Development of management systems and decision-making in the operation of ports to achieve greater efficiency in the transport of goods;
  • Improving aeronautical designs with the aim of reducing travel time, emissions and noise, and ensuring safety levels;
  • Analysis and visualization of geolocation data to seek efficient and safe mobility.
S_SDG_Icons-01-18
S_SDG_Icons-01-09
S_SDG_Icons-01-11
S_SDG_Icons-01-14

03

Water resources, environment and climate change

Water and environmental management pose one of the biggest challenges for society in the coming years. The climate change scenario in which we find ourselves needs action in order to know the risks and consequences in the natural environment and society.

Among the lines of work by the CITEEC research staff is the assessment of the effects of climate change on flood and drought episodes, with a special interest in flood risk management. Another of the lines is related to urban hydrology, which seeks a model of cities that favour water-sensitive urban development (WSUD) and the empowerment of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). In this way, integrated pollution management in sanitation and drainage systems will be important. Given the environmental conditions in Galicia, we are also working on the analysis of pressures and salinity control, temperature and wastewater discharges in estuaries. In addition, due to the rural nature of our territory, the research staff are exploring into the challenges of water management in rural areas, hydrogeology and natural water quality.

Among the lines of research that will be promoted by the group are the following:

  • Preservation and improvement of the environment and adaptation to climate and global change;
  • Sustainable management of water resources, energy and circular economy.
S_SDG_Icons-01-18
S_SDG_Icons-01-02
S_SDG_Icons-01-03
S_SDG_Icons-01-06
S_SDG_Icons-01-07
S_SDG_Icons-01-13

Results 2018-2020

Distribution of financing as increased in percentage by technological area in the period 2018-2020

In the period 2018-2020, the CITEEC Strategic Group raised around € 10 million in funding for more than 150 projects, including both research projects (national and international) and contracts and agreements. If we analyse the projects, based on the three major technological areas, we find the following distribution: