HERA HOLDING HABITAT, ECOLOGIA Y RESTAURACION AMBIENTAL S.L.

Their core work

HERA Holding is a Barcelona-based environmental services company specializing in CO2 conversion, waste recycling, and circular economy processes. Their H2020 work focuses on transforming carbon emissions and end-of-life materials into valuable chemical products — from converting CO2 into aviation fuels via electrocatalysis to recycling tyres into secondary raw materials. They contribute environmental remediation and process expertise to industrial-scale circular economy projects, bridging the gap between laboratory chemistry and real-world waste valorization.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

HERA's earliest H2020 involvement (2019) centered on hard electrochemistry — ceramic electrolytes, ionic conductors, zeolite catalysts, and process intensification for converting CO2 into aviation fuel. By 2020-2021, their focus shifted toward circular economy applications: tyre recycling and bio-based chemical production using fermentation and biogenic CO2. The trajectory shows a clear move from fundamental catalysis research toward applied industrial circularity and biotechnology-assisted conversion.

HERA is moving from pure electrochemical CO2 conversion toward broader circular economy solutions that combine biological and chemical processes — expect future work at the intersection of waste valorization and bio-based chemistry.

How they like to work

HERA participates exclusively as a consortium partner, never as coordinator, suggesting they contribute specialized technical or environmental expertise rather than leading project management. With 35 unique partners across 11 countries in just 3 projects, they operate in large, diverse consortia typical of ambitious RIA/IA projects. This pattern indicates they are comfortable working within complex multi-partner setups and bring a defined niche contribution to larger teams.

HERA has built a network of 35 partners across 11 countries through just 3 projects, reflecting participation in large European consortia. Their geographic reach spans well beyond Spain, with broad pan-European collaboration exposure.

What sets them apart

HERA combines environmental restoration expertise (as suggested by their full company name) with hands-on involvement in advanced CO2 conversion and circular economy chemistry. This unusual blend of ecological awareness and industrial process knowledge makes them a practical partner for projects that need to bridge environmental impact assessment with chemical engineering reality. For consortium builders, they offer a private-sector perspective on environmental technology deployment — not just lab science, but implementation-minded input.

Highlights from their portfolio

• eCOCO2
  Their largest funded project (EUR 201K), tackling the ambitious goal of direct electrocatalytic CO2-to-fuel conversion using co-ionic membrane reactors — a technology with significant aviation decarbonization potential.
• BlackCycle
  A major circular economy initiative addressing the massive waste stream of end-of-life tyres, converting them into secondary raw materials for new tyre production — a complete circular loop.
• CO2SMOS
  Represents HERA's newest direction, combining electrocatalysis with gas-fermentation biology to produce multiple high-value bio-based chemicals (PHA, PHB, cyclic carbonates) from biogenic CO2.