EU project CAPTUS kicked off10 million euros for Horizon Europe project CAPTUS - Demonstrating energy intensive industry-integrated solutions to produce liquid renewable energy carriers from captured carbon emissions

We are happy to announce the start of CAPTUS, an innovation action project funded by the European Union’s research and innovation programme Horizon Europe with 10 million euros. It aims to demonstrate sustainable and cost-effective pathways to produce high-added value renewable energy carriers (RECs) in energy intensive industries (EIIs) by the valorisation of their carbon emissions and the integration of renewable energy sources. The project celebrated its kick-off meeting on the 15^th and 16^th of June 2023 in Zaragoza, Spain.

Nowadays, due to ambitious climate policies, energy intensive industries (EIIs) are facing a major challenge: to remain competitive on globalised markets while taking steps to drastically reduce their carbon emissions. In this scenario, carbon capture utilisation and storage (CCUS) will play a key role in this transition, and technologies at different levels of maturity and performance are being explored. The conversion of CO₂ to high-value RECs using renewable electricity is a promising strategy to close the anthropogenic carbon cycle and meet reductions goals and energy requirements. Various conversion processes are available, but most are still demanding in terms of materials and energy, being costly and inefficient.

CAPTUS will demonstrate sustainable and cost-effective pathways to produce high-added value RECs in EIIs by valorising industrial carbon emissions and integrating renewable electricity surplus. Three complete REC value chains will be demonstrated at 3 different demonstration sites:

• A bioprocess based on a two-stage fermentation to produce triglycerides in a steel plant.
• Lipids-rich microalgae cultivation followed by hydrothermal liquefaction to produce bio-oils in a chemical plant.
• Electrochemical reduction of CO₂ to produce formic acid in a cement plant.

The proposed technologies will be tested and endorsed from lab to pilot scale, and the obtained RECs will be validated by quality assessments and upgrading studies for the formulation of high-performance fuels. Also, CAPTUS will analyse the integration of the validated solutions in EIIs regarding economic, environmental, societal, regulatory and geo-political criteria. Furthermore, CAPTUS will develop guidelines and strategies for a decarbonization roadmap, improving awareness and acceptance of CCU technologies and the obtained RECs, as well as creating suitable business cases and replication opportunities.

As a project partner, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum supports the international consortium of 17 participants with the communication and dissemination activities and findings in order to effectively convey the new knowledge to target groups in industry and the general public. Furthermore, Steinbeis Europa Zentrum is responsible for networking activities with other EU-funded projects and initiatives dealing with the same topics.

CAPTUS receives EU funding of 10 million euros from the research and innovation programme Horizon Europe. The consortium consists of 18 partners from 8 countries, combining multidisciplinary competencies and resources from academia, research, engineering, industries and universities:

• Fundación CIRCE Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos (Koordinator) – Spain
• SINTEF AS – Norway
• Universidad de Cantabria – Spain
• Agencia Estatal Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cinetíficas – Spain
• Universita degli studi di Genova – Italy
• Steinbeis Europa Zentrum/Steinbeis Innovation gGmbH – Germany
• Ethniko Kentro Erevnas Kai Technologikis Anaptyxis - Greece
• Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant VZW – Belgium
• Novis GmbH – Germany
• Apria Systems SL - Spain
• DRAXIS Environmental SA – Greece
• A4F Algafuel SA – Portugal
• GoodFuel BV – The Netherlands
• RINA Consulting SPA - Italy
• ArcelorMittal Belgium NV- Belgium
• Hychem, Química Sustentável SA - Portugal
• Cementos Portland Valderrivas SA - Spain
• Energy Efficiency in Industrial processes ASBL – Belgium

Project Coordinator: Fundación CIRCE Centro de Investigación de Recursos y Consumos Energéticos (CIRCE):

• Álvaro Pecharromán Ruiz, e-mail: apecharroman@fcirce.es
• Monique Bernardes Figueirêdo, e-mail: mbernardes@fcirce.es