Beyond the Lab: How HIPERZAB Connects Science, Sustainability and Europe’s Energy Future

Rechargeable zinc–air batteries are more than a scientific challenge — they are part of Europe’s broader strategy for clean, secure and circular energy systems. In this interview, the HIPERZAB coordination team reflects on why communication, policy alignment and industrial relevance are just as important as materials innovation in shaping the next generation of sustainable energy storage.

• Why is it crucial to communicate complex battery research to a broader audience?

Energy storage is no longer a niche scientific topic — it is a cornerstone of Europe’s energy transition. Decisions about storage technologies affect renewable integration, grid stability, industrial competitiveness, and climate targets.

Communicating complex battery research clearly and responsibly helps bridge the gap between laboratory innovation and societal impact. It allows policymakers to understand technological maturity, industry to assess feasibility and scalability, and citizens to appreciate why certain materials, chemistries, or approaches matter.

In projects like HIPERZAB, transparency also reinforces trust. We are working with public funding under Horizon Europe, and part of our responsibility is to explain how this research contributes to Europe’s long-term sustainability goals.

• How does HIPERZAB’s story connect with Europe’s Green Deal?

HIPERZAB aligns directly with the Green Deal’s priorities: decarbonisation, circular economy, strategic autonomy, and sustainable industrial value chains.

The project addresses several structural challenges:

• Reducing dependency on critical raw materials by focusing on zinc-based systems.
• Advancing circular design principles from the early stages of battery development.
• Enabling mid-term energy storage, which is essential for integrating variable renewable energy into the grid.
• Supporting safer, more sustainable alternatives to conventional battery chemistries.

In this sense, HIPERZAB is not only a technology project — it is part of a broader European effort to build resilient, climate-aligned energy infrastructure.

• What are the main messages you want non-experts to take from this project?

There are three key takeaways:

1. Energy storage is essential for making renewable energy reliable and scalable.
2. Materials matter — choosing abundant, recyclable elements like zinc can make storage systems more sustainable and geopolitically resilient.
3. Innovation is not only about performance; it is also about safety, circularity, and manufacturability.

HIPERZAB aims to demonstrate that next-generation batteries can be designed from the outset with sustainability and industrial scalability in mind.

• How do you balance open science with protection of intellectual property?

As a Horizon Europe project, HIPERZAB is committed to knowledge sharing. We publish scientific insights, methodologies, and validated findings that advance the field.

At the same time, protecting intellectual property is essential to ensure that the innovations developed can be translated into industrial applications. The balance lies in sharing what strengthens the European knowledge base while safeguarding specific formulations, processing know-how, and integration strategies that represent competitive advantage.

Effective IP management ensures that research results do not remain academic outputs but become deployable technologies within Europe.

• What kind of industrial or policy audiences is HIPERZAB hoping to reach, and why?

From an industrial perspective, we aim to engage:

• Stationary energy storage system integrators,
• Battery component manufacturers,
• Materials suppliers,
• Renewable energy developers.

These actors will ultimately determine whether rechargeable zinc–air systems can be scaled and deployed.

On the policy side, we seek dialogue with stakeholders shaping:

• Battery regulation,
• Circular economy frameworks,
• Critical raw materials strategy,
• Energy system planning.

Policy alignment is crucial because regulatory and strategic frameworks strongly influence which technologies reach market maturity.

• What role does the Energy Storage Portfolio play in sharing knowledge?

The Energy Storage Portfolio creates a coordinated ecosystem among Horizon-funded projects. It enables:

• Cross-project learning,
• Harmonised dissemination efforts,
• Stronger collective messaging around European energy storage innovation,
• Avoidance of duplication and fragmentation.

Through this platform, HIPERZAB’s insights contribute not only to its own objectives but to a broader European knowledge network.

• What impact do you hope HIPERZAB’s outreach will leave by the project’s end?

Beyond technical milestones, we hope to leave three lasting impacts:

1. A clearer understanding of the role rechargeable zinc–air batteries can play in mid-term storage.
2. Demonstrated design principles for combining sustainability, performance, and circularity.
3. Stronger connections between research, industry, and policy communities.

Ultimately, the goal is for HIPERZAB not only to advance a technology, but to help shape the conversation around how Europe designs its next generation of energy storage systems.