Research

Innovative, efficient, clean and secure technologies for mobile applications and electricity generation; poligeneration systems; energy storage systems; biotechnology; CO2 capture and storage; technologies for the sustainable use of geothermal resources; microbial fuel cell. Atena works on collaborative projects co-funded under Horizon 2020 research programs of both European Commission and Italian Government.

Atena’s Research aims at the deployment of the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) going beyond what is known! Visionary thinking can open up promising avenues towards powerful new technologies in the field of the energy conversion. The visionary aspects and exploratory characteristics of FET might make it sound like a kind of magic, but the mission of Atena is actually very concrete: to turn research results into a competitive advantage. Atena follows radically new lines of technology through unexplored collaborations between advanced multidisciplinary science and cutting-edge engineering.

The Research programme on FET use two complementary lines of action to address different methodologies and scales, from new ideas to long-term challenges:

The FUEL CELL LAB studies and develops high technology systems for mobile, stationary and propulsion applications. Atena’s prototypes represent the most advanced technology frontiers in the field of energy saving and environmental protection: modular power units based on fuel cells; reversible systems with high-temperature fuel cells for renewable energy storage; multi-energy system applications to optimize the use of renewable sources.

The SMART GENERATION LAB studies and develops processes, technologies and biotechnologies for the clean energy conversion and the energy recovery from urban and industrial wastes. Innovative systems for the CO2 concentration and separation, innovative systems and/or bio-systems for the production of synthetic fuels and biofuels are proposed and investigated for improving the environmental compatibility of several industrial technologies.