Project
Exploring CO2 options
The transition from fossil substrates for fuels and material to renewable sources is required to stop global warming. To achieve this optimally, here we will study all available CCU technologies with respect to their energy efficiency, land-use, technology readiness level and economic factors.
In this initiative we will try to theoretically assess the various solutions for CCU and thereby develop a vision for the diverse options to use CO2 as a C1 building block for materials and/or fuels. Natural and technological solutions for carbon assimilation will be assessed and described in a coherent overview. The potential of these solutions for carbon assimilation will subsequently be theoretically assessed for production of 2 commodity materials (1 biodegradable plastic and 1 commodity plastic) and a fuel application. The various routes will be assessed with respect to a number of relevant parameters such as overall energy efficiency of the route, land-use (if applicable), technology readiness level (TRL) and estimated costs on both industrial and local scale as determined by a technoeconomic analysis (TEA). A specific focus will be given to combinations of options such as microbiological and technological conversion. More specifically, the results of this project are (a) an inventory of current CCU routes, (b) an assessment framework, (c) technical assessment of CCU technology/routes to reach 2 materials and 1 fuel and (d) a translation of these insights into an advice for policymakers and other stakeholders.