Related projects

Photovoltaic power is increasingly competing with grid power in the EU and around the world. Soon, sunshine could be used to decarbonise air travel. The potential in solar fuel is shining. The EU-funded SUNER-C project will put these uses under a bright spotlight. Bringing together 31 organisations from a variety of sectors and across the EU, the project will speed up the development of solar fuels and chemicals. By replacing fossil-derived fuels and chemicals with renewables and carbon recycling, SUNER-C aims to contribute to the creation of a circular economy.

With several advantages as a carbon-neutral fuel, methanol is an attractive energy vector that can be produced using only renewable resources. In this context, the EU-funded METHASOL project will create a sustainable and cost-efficient production process that relies on selective visible-light-driven gas-phase CO2 reduction, with a solar energy to methanol conversion efficiency of 5 %. The consortium consists of 14 partners from the EU and Associated Member States (China and the United States), including international researchers on artificial photosynthesis. The project will achieve a pioneering combination of a CO2 reduction reaction system based on a metal-organic framework and a graphitic carbon nitride for photocatalytic oxygen evolution reactions, through a Z-scheme heterojunction.

The photoelectrocatalytic (PEC) reduction of CO2 into chemical fuels in water is a promising route to mitigate the energy crisis and global warming issues. The EU-funded DECADE project focusses on a new PEC approach, avoiding water oxidation as anodic reaction. Novel PEC technology will be developed using alcohols and waste CO2 as feed. Different applications are investigated, including green refinery as well as distributed green solvent production and use to lower the carbon footprint in methanol plant. The project involves top-level scientists in the field and an international collaboration with Japan to allow the best possible benchmarking for the novel approach developed.

Using CO2 as a chemical feedstock could significantly reduce annual global greenhouse gas emissions. The EU-funded SunCoChem project plans to produce a competitive and integrated solution that helps actively remove excess CO2 from the atmosphere. Specifically, the project will develop a tandem photoelectrocatalytic reactor that will use just sunlight, water and CO2 to produce high-value chemicals. The goal is to raise the technology readiness level to 5. The project targets the production of three chemicals: glycolic acid, which is used as a polymer building block, valeraldehyde – a flavour ingredient – and LimoxalTM – a fragrance ingredient.

Solar fuels are synthetic fuels produced from water, sunlight and CO2. Relying on the principle of the "proton-coupled electron transfer" (PCET) reaction, they avoid the production of hydrogen and offer a sustainable alternative to coal, oil and other fossil fuels. However, further improvements in the photocatalyst and reactor technology are required to make solar fuel production scalable and affordable. The EU-funded DESIRED project plans to develop a novel fuel production system powered by sunlight that will process CO2 and water in parallel to produce multi-carbon, energy-rich products. The planned system will be a novel flow reactor utilising recyclable hybrid electrocatalysts to produce CH3OH and C2+ solar fuels also usable as precursors of sustainable aviation fuels. DESIRED targets sectors where a direct shift to the use of batteries or hydrogen is not yet viable.

The EU-funded BIOMETHAVERSE project aims to diversify the technological basis for biomethane production in Europe, increasing cost-effectiveness and contributing to the uptake of biomethane technologies. To this end, five innovative biomethane production pathways will be demonstrated in five different European countries: France, Greece, Italy, Sweden and Ukraine. In the BIOMETHAVERSE demonstrators, CO2 effluents from anaerobic digestion or gasification and other intermediate products will be combined with renewable hydrogen or renewable electricity to increase the overall biomethane yield. All demonstrated production routes consider a circular approach for energy and material use. The demonstrated technologies will reach TRL 6-7.

The sun is creating new opportunities to use the greenhouse gas CO2 in the development of fuels like ethanol or ethylene. The process is key to accelerating the decarbonisation of the transport industry and slowing climate change. With this in mind, the EU-funded SOREC2 project will bring together expertise in photonic structure design and catalysis to ensure optimal sunlight harvesting. SOREC2 will develop a new system that relies on light-trapping nano-configurations. It will enable fine-tuning of the potential energy needed for the reduction reactions. The project will also identify the non-technical barriers (political, economic, and societal) it may encounter and engage relevant stakeholders and citizens on the route towards market uptake.

METHAREN is an innovation actions project funded by the European Union under the Horizon Europe program. It aims to demonstrate a cost-effective, innovative, more sustainable and circular biomethane production system enabling renewable energy sources intermittency management. METHAREN is providing improvements beyond the state-of-the art along four main axes related to: i) the biogas plant efficiency to produce biomethane; ii) flexibility and energy management for RES integration; iii) the circularity approach for sustainable production and iv) innovative business models and adapted policies. The aim is to demonstrate an increase of cost effectiveness by at least 20% while reaching a carbon conversion rate from biowaste to methane higher than 80%, a reduction of GHG emission compared to current process by 50%.

The sustainable conversion of CO2 to value-added chemicals is considered critical to avoiding catastrophic global warming. Biorefinery industries can lead the way. In this context, the EU-funded CO2SMOS project will develop a platform of technologies to transform CO2 emissions produced by bio-based industries into a set of high value-added chemicals with direct use as intermediates for bio-based products. Specifically, it will create a toolbox combining intensified chemical conversions (electrocatalytic and membrane reactors) and innovative biotechnological solutions based on gas/liquid combined fermentation processes and organic/green-catalysts reaction processes. The CO2SMOS will contribute to the sustainability and cost competitiveness of the integrated conversion processes.

Climate change is already the cause of devastating events worldwide. As a result, international institutions, including the EU, have recognised the need to fund and accelerate novel green solutions. Renewable energy is crucial to achieving the EU’s goal to drive a sustainable energy transition. However, the intermittent form of renewable energy makes its implementation complicated, as prices and supply are too unpredictable. The EU-funded FRESH project offers a solution by developing a cost-efficient, competitive CO2 to potassium formate electrocatalytic process using renewable energy and re-electrification of the stored fuel using a fuel cell system. This technology would provide efficient energy storage, sourcing and purification of CO2 and a more stable renewable energy supply and price.