PERMANET is a Sustainable REE Innovation and Supply Network covering the full Rare Earth Elements (REE) Permanent Magnet (PM) value chain. It is structured upon 5 layers: 1) Three Sustainable, Connected Tech ‘Hubs’ segmented along the full REE PM value chain and organizing thematic collaborative R&D and supply ecosystems 2) 13 fully Scalable Innovations to reach TRL7 and expand in scale and deployment range along the entire value chain 3) A structural layer of R&D infrastructure, equipment and services to fuel Pilot and Demonstration activities 4) Five Enabling “Engines” addressing the key conditions for sustainable and competitive REE supply 5) All embedded within a single PERMANET Network Infrastructure with its own, sustainable organizational model. The Network accelerates leading-edge innovations, from REE extraction from mining tailings and hydrometallurgical processes to oxide reduction and innovative production processes, all the way to the production of innovative PM and their testing by end users in industrial environment across 1/ E-Mobility 2/ Energy 3/ Industrial Equipment. PERMANET also secures key sources of REE such as leading mining projects from the EU and Partner Countries, as well as End of Life (EoL) sectors (WEEE, EV, etc.). The project relies on enabling activities ranging from strategic venturing to investment support to build sub-optimal EU REE PM Segments. The project unlocks viable reserves of REE including unconventional sources and will demonstrate novel, cost-effective, and environmentally sound REE extraction, processing, and separation routes, as well as demonstrate the first EU hub for PM boosting circular PM technologies to deploy at market scale. The project is ready to be fully integrated with other EU-backed PM Hubs and aims to grow into a fully-fledged Pan-EU pilot and demonstration infrastructure to remain sustainable post-funding.

Every year 1.5 million lives are lost worldwide due to insufficient access to vaccination while, paradoxically, over 50% of all produced vaccines are wasted, mostly due to ineffective temperature control during storage/transportation. The major challenges of the vaccine cold chain are the evermore strict limitations imposed on their aerial transport due to the safety hazards of refrigerant gases, the high-power demand of active refrigeration devices in last-mile deliveries where the electricity supply is unreliable, and the significant carbon footprint of high global warming potential refrigerants. The Magccine project aims to revolutionize the vaccine cold chain by developing a clean and efficient solid state magnetic refrigerator based on a novel approach: the rotating magnetocaloric effect (RMCE) – a recently (2023) patent pending technology by project partners. By reducing the amount of permanent magnets required, the RMCE is expected to enable drastic cuts in the device’s production cost, volume and weight, while enhancing efficiency without the use of any high GWP or hazardous refrigerant gases, highlighting its role as a key enabling technology for tackling vaccine cold chain challenges. Magccine´s goal is to develop and optimize a fully operational prototype for vaccine refrigeration in the 2-8 ºC temperature range, which is required by most vaccines, addressing the Generation of clean cooling and clean cold chain transportation categories of this Challenge. To this end, this project requires top-level expertise on magnetocaloric materials, magnetic field design, thermodynamic simulations and heat pumps which are perfectly matched by the complementary expertise of the five academic institutions (U.Porto, CNRS, U. Seville, U.Aveiro, U.Ljubljana) and the two industrial partners (MagREEsource, Helium 3). Our endeavors will be guided by an experienced advisory board including global key leaders such as WHO, UNICEF, Cemafroid, APIRAC, IIR, Medgree, and Addvolt.