About the SolarCO2Value project

SolarCO2Value is an innovation project funded by the European Union under the EIC Transition scheme of the Horizon Europe programme. EIC Transition projects are building on promising research results to demonstrate and mature a technology and develop business plans for specific applications.


This 30 months project will carry out the lab-to-tech transition of the current best low temperature electrolyser technology for CO2 reduction to CO using solar energy, contributing to the challenge Process and system integration of clean energy technologies.

Project description

One of the most important challenges of humanity is to maintain economic growth and wellbeing in an environmentally sustainable way. The European Green Deal addresses this issue and it aims at making Europe climate neutral by 2050.

To reach this aim, a high priority opportunity is the utilisation of waste carbon dioxide to produce valuable chemicals (e.g. energy carriers, fine chemicals, pharmaceuticals) in an environmentally and economically sustainable manner. In our previous ERC Proof of concept project, we have demonstrated that the most viable approach is where sunlight is first converted to electricity by a solar photovoltaic (PV) cell and CO2 is then reduced electrochemically to carbon monoxide, which can be further processed to valuable chemicals.

The technoeconomic analysis performed during the ERC PoC project confirmed the competitiveness of this solar energy conversion approach. Our team developed the current best performing low temperature CO2 electrolyser cell at laboratory scale, published the results in Nature Energy and filed two PCT patent applications regarding this technology. 

The aim of the SolarCO2Value project is to translate our scientific and technological excellence to a commercially appealing value proposition. Our objective is to develop, build and operate a containerised demonstrator scale CO2 electrolyser unit (capable of processing 100 t CO2/year) as well as to validate its performance using photovoltaic power. We aim to perform a detailed technoeconomic assessment and develop a business plan to attract investors in order to scale the technology further and start its commercialization. The success of this project will represent a genuine breakthrough in the field of Carbon capture and utilization (CCU); enhancing European leadership in this emerging market, and a significant contribution to Green Deal objectives.

High-level objectives

  

  • Our project objective is to build and demonstrate the core technology of our proposed process, CO2 electrolysis to CO using photovoltaic electricity at operational environment (TRL=6), and get ready for future investments at the end of the project, i.e. by mid 2025.
  • Our mid-term objective is to pilot the first integrated plant that is able to transform waste CO2 to valuable chemicals (e-wax and e-kerosene) using photovoltaic power as the only energy source and prove the technoeconomic viability of the overall process (TRL=7) by the end of 2026.
  • Our long term objective is to become the number one electrolyser technology provider for plants producing valuable chemicals form waste CO2 using renewable energy sources (TRL=8-9) by 2030.

About us

eChemicles Zrt is a company created by seasoned chemists, engineers and business developers with decades of experience in the electrochemical, catalysis, fine chemical and manufacturing industries. We focus on developing ground-breaking electrolyser technologies that improve the sustainability of the chemical industry. The  R&D Top 100 award-winning, patented high-pressure hydrogen generator, the H-Genie®, is now already utilized routinely in many laboratories on 4 continents, throughout the pharma, agrochemical, flavour & fragrance and academic markets. From 2022 the focus is on our main passion: profitable electrochemical CO2 conversion.

Team in 2022 December:

Mission, Vision, and Values

  • Our Mission is to develop innovative sustainable electrolyser solutions to enable the chemical industry to reduce its environmental impact.
  • Our Vision is to become the number one electrolyser technology provider producing valuable chemicals from waste CO2 using renewable energy sources.
  • Our Values encompass our passion towards innovation and teamwork, with strong commitment to customers and quality. We believe in integrity and honesty, which builds trust both within the Company and towards our partners.

To learn more about eChemicles, visit our website: www.echemicles.com

Technology

Electrochemical reduction

The electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide is the conversion of CO2 to more reduced chemical species using electrical energy and is a promising waste-to wealth approach. This technique operates with high reaction rates and good efficiencies under ambient conditions and easily coupled with carbon-free electricity sources (e.g., wind, solar, hydroelectric) to make the process completely sustainable. Carbon monoxide, ethylene, formic acid and methane are all products accessible through this process. The CO2-to-CO conversion for example, generates a high-value product which can be readily used in the (petro)chemical value chain. 

To bring such technologies to the market, a significant development is needed in the key performance indicators. Novel catalysts, electrode assemblies, and cell configurations are all necessary to achieve economically appealing performance. At eChemicles our knowledge and experience has created the best performing technology that combines ALL these elements to powerful effect. This is the SolarCO2ValueTM technology.

Discover Our Technology

News

Renewable Syngas Generation via Low-Temperature Electrolysis

  1. 2024-03-04 11:31

Our eChemicles team has collaborated and published a joint academic−industrial perspective article on the key technical and economical details of the production of syngas via concurrent and separated pathways of electrolysis in the ACS Energy Letters.

New publication in Angewandte Chemie

  1. 2023-11-28 14:25

With the contribution of our colleagues a new article has been published in Angewandte Chemie: 'Effects of Iron Species on Low Temperature CO2 Electrolyzers'. The article, represents a significant contribution to our field.

Article in Nature

  1. 2023-11-01 14:17

We are delighted to announce the recent publication that have been featured in Nature, titled 'Systematic screening of gas diffusion layers for high performance CO2 electrolysis' with our colleagues as co-authors. 

Kick-off meeting

  1. 2022-12-08 14:32

Today we held the kick-off meeting of the SolarCO2Value project. 9 hours of intensive discussion, using 100 ppt slides, to familiarize all the involved colleagues. The challenges are great, but the possible rewards are enormous. Our growing team is up to the challenge.

Grant Agreement has been signed

  1. 2022-10-25 14:49

The European Innovation Council selected 20 EIC Transition projects to take breakthrough technologies from the lab into the real world. We are beyond excited and honored to be one of them, which enables to further advance our SolarCO2Value technology.

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