Biotechnology application for CCU

Expected outcome

Successful proposals under this topic should contribute to the objectives of the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification (CRCF) Regulation and the Clean Industrial Deal, allowing industrial operators to use a sustainable carbon source as feedstock. They should facilitate innovators to scale up promising solutions in scope of the Strategy for European Life Sciences and the Biotech Act, also supporting the implementation of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy as well as the EU strategy on research and technology infrastructure.

Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• innovative and improved purification and conversion of gaseous carbon is developed and scaled up to provide feedstock for industrial processes promoting circularity and climate neutrality;
• advanced industries – applying life sciences technologies and biotechnology - contribute to the climate-neutrality objective.

Scope

Increasing industrial productivity and competitiveness should not entail unsustainable exploitation of resources. This makes the sustainable sourcing of non-virgin-fossil carbon (i.e., carbon from sustainable sourced biomass, gaseous carbon, waste) essential for European industries, especially considering the production of chemicals and materials.

Proposals should address the following activities:

• review the up-to-date progress of R&I in the use of life sciences-based technologies for Carbon Capture and Use (CCU) phases taking into account the capture of gaseous carbon - from any industrial emission and the atmosphere – and its purification and conversion into products. Provide an assessment of their technological readiness, strengths and weaknesses and their potential of carbon storage in products;
• develop and test innovative and effective life sciences-based technologies, either synthetic biology and/or living microorganisms, to concentrate, purify and convert gaseous carbon efficiently into suitable feedstock to produce products. Products in scope exclude food/feed and biofuels/syngas;
• perform a preliminary assessment of the environmental impacts, the social and economic viability and business case of the developed technologies, including their scalability and the identification of markets for their output bio-based products;
• demonstrate one or more technology(ies) among those developed and tested, with the highest environmental, economic and social sustainability;
• evaluate and disseminate the replication potential of the demonstrated solution(s), including technical and economic/financial recommendations for SMEs and industrial operators in general;
• assess the feasibility of establishing a spin-off to implement the results from the best technology(ies) demonstration.

In the review of up-to-date progress of R&I as in the first bullet point, international cooperation is encouraged, as well as in the development of innovative technologies and evaluation of their replication potential. Synergies with activities under Cluster 5 and the Circular Bio-based Europe (CBE) Joint Undertaking are encouraged.

Projects funded under this topic should collaborate, for example within the activities concerning the exploitation of the IP of the developed technologies and at least within the dissemination activities.