Dutch chemicals company Avantium NV will receive €3m EU funding for a feasibility study of the electrochemical conversion of CO2 to consumer products.
According to the company, the EU grant from the Horizon Europe programme will be used for its participation in the 4-year research and development programme WaterProof. The goal of said programme is to demonstrate the value of electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide into high-value chemicals.
Avantium’s proprietary Volta Technology will be tested in the project to use electrochemistry to convert CO2 into high-value products and chemical building blocks such as formic acid, oxalic acid and glycolic acid. Both oxalic acid and glycolic acid are important building blocks for polyesters and other materials, allowing the poly-condensation of CO2-negative plastics.
Commencing this June, the WaterProof programme aims to demonstrate the full value chain of a closed carbon cycle. Under this programme, the coordinator Avantium along with 11 other partners will convert CO2, from wastewater purification and waste incineration into formic acid using its proprietary catalytic electrochemistry platform: Funditec (Spain), Tecnalia (Spain), Stichting Waternet (Netherlands), Ecover (Belgium), Nova Institut GmbH (Germany), Nordic Fish Leather (Iceland), Izes GmbH (Germany), Frames Renewable Energy Solutions BV (Netherlands), CoatemaGmbH (Germany), HVC (Netherlands), CTA (Columbia). The consortium will receive an EU Horizon Europe grant of €9.2m.
Annelie Jongerius, senior scientist at Avantium and scientific coordinator of WaterProof, said: “Electrochemistry has the potential to use CO2 as a feedstock for the sustainable production of chemicals and materials and this is seenas a ’game-changer’ for the chemical industry. Leading the WaterProof programme is a fantastic opportunity for us to work with like-minded organisations towards a fossil-free future.”
