Rapid population growth and climate change are posing some of the most urgent challenges to mankind and have intensified the need for low-cost manufacturing of fuels, chemical-building blocks, materials and food from sustainable resources.

Gas fermentation using autotrophic microorganisms offers a sustainable path to these products from a range of local, highly abundant, waste and low-cost resources. [...]

The electrocatalytic reduction of carbon dioxide is a promising approach for storing (excess) renewable electricity as chemical energy in fuels. I will talk about recent advances and challenges in the understanding of electrochemical CO₂ reduction. I will discuss existing models for the initial activation of CO₂ on the electrocatalyst and their importance for understanding selectivity. Carbon-carbon bond formation is also a key mechanistic step in CO₂ electroreduction to high-density and high-value fuels.[...]

The RECODE approach will develop and validate prototypes of the three units (CO2 captureby ILs technology, production nanoCaCO3, electrocatalytic conversion to FA/OA/GLY), finally demonstrating their performance in an integrated overall system prototype of the overall technology (from CO2 capture to cement additives) under industriallyrelevant conditions (TITAN production site in Greece). The overall result of RECODE project will be thus to demonstrate technical and economic feasibility in the relevant environment of novel processes forCO2 conversion to added-value chemicals.

ENGICOIN Project pursues the development of new strains. Development of new strainsand reactor concepts tailored:

-to CO2 conversion tolactic acid and of advancedrelated bioreactors

-to CO2 + H2 conversionto CO2 + H2 conversionto PHA and of advancedrelated bioreactors

-to CO2 + H2 conversionto CO2 + H2 conversionto acetone

In line with the reference Topic text, these technologies will bridge cost-effective CO₂ capture and purification from the atmosphere through sorbents (with efficient heat integration of the CO₂ desorption step with the subsequent process stages), with electrochemical conversion of CO₂ (via PEM electrolysis concepts, promoting CO₂ reduction at their cathode in combination with a fruitful oxidation carried out simultaneously at the anode), followed by bioreactors carrying out the fermentation of the CO₂-reduction intermediates (syngas, C1 water-soluble molecules) to form valuable products (bioplastics like Poly-Hydroxy-Alkanoates - PHA -, isoprene, lactic acid, methane, etc.) as well as effective routes for their recovery from the process outlet streams.

The goal of the project CO2EXIDE is the establishment of an electrochemical, energy efficient and near-to CO₂-neutral process for the production of the bulk chemical ethylene from CO₂, water and renewable energy. One of the central steps is the development of a new type of electrolyser that enables a simultaneous reaction on both anode and cathode, which is more efficient in terms of energy and resources.

The EU has set ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 40 percent by 2030 compared to 1990 and by 80–95 percent by the year 2050. In order for the European Union to meet the assigned climate targets, energy production must come mainly from renewable sources. However, wind and solar power are volatile, intermittent due to their dependence on weather conditions and time of the day.

BIOCON-CO₂ aims to develop and validate a platform of flexible and versatile techniques capable of using biological processes to transform raw CO₂ waste from the iron, steel, cement and electric power industries into value-added chemicals and plastics.