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Potential use of carbon dioxide / carbon monoxide and non-conventional fossil natural resources in Europe as feedstock for the process industry
Date de clôture : 21 janv. 2016  
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 Technologie bas carbone
 Économie sobre en carbone
 Eco-Innovation
 Ressources naturelles
 Gestion des déchets
 Produits chimiques
 IT
 Conception
 Horizon Europe
 Sciences du climat

Topic Description
Specific Challenge:

Europe is facing a large emission of CO2-containing gases and at the same time a need for additional carbon-based resources. Whereas today the carbon flow of the process industries is organised in a linear way from feedstock input to output of product plus emission (among other residues), the objective is to facilitate a cyclic flow in which CO2-containing gases from one industry becomes the feedstock of another.

Due to greenhouse gas emissions (GHG), the process industry is increasingly looking into the potential use of non-conventional fossil natural resources (e.g. shale gas, gas hydrates, tar sands, coal bed methane, gas to liquid and coal to liquid technologies) as alternative feedstock. Moreover, some organic solid wastes (both from domestic and from industrial applications) can be used to obtain carbon based gas (e.g. biogas, syngas).

The challenge is to understand how to turn these different carbon sources into chemicals that can be used as sustainable building blocks or fuels, while at the same time the process is economically feasible depending on the different energy price scenarios. The aim is to perform a forecast study for the use of CO2 containing process gases as feedstock for process industries, by means of the conversion of CO2 and CO to carbon-derived products. Converting these gases into chemicals and products could lead to a major reduction of emissions and dependency on fossil fuels.

Presently the prices for the emission of CO2 are dropping significantly compared to the initial prediction (e.g. in the ETS scheme) and at the same time both fossil based and renewable feedstock are highly volatile on the world market. Therefore, there is an urgent need to forecast different possible scenarios for a sustainable use of carbon resources and how this can be organised in a cyclic flow in the process industry.

Scope:

There is a strong need to evaluate the novel technologies and solutions for the use of CO2/CO containing process gas as well as non-conventional fossil natural resources at production site level together with the economic feasibility. Furthermore, it is required to compile information on and create awareness on the relative maturity and adaptability of technologies to the local situations, with the aim to accelerate market adoption and replication of these solutions.

Some of the targeted chemicals offer dual use as an intermediate in chemical production as well as an energy carrier such as chemical energy storage. Therefore, the proposed technology not only links CO2-producing and intensive carbon sectors but addresses various high-volume applications and significant markets.

The focus of the forecast study should be on the use of CO2/CO containing process gases to produce high value added products (e.g. fine chemicals and polymers).

The study should address an integrated approach including the following aspects:

  • To lay the foundation of the design of future facilities to demonstrate conversion of CO2-containg gas into chemicals on site.
  • The design of scenarios for the proper and most valuable uses of different gas resources.
  • To analyse the need for pre and post-conversion separation and conditioning processes
  • To evaluate the potential impacts of the use of non-conventional fossil natural resources on the CO2/CO use and identify best solutions
  • The scenarios should be linked to Life Cycle Assessment to provide a basis for sustainability, leading to acceptance and recognition of new “clean” products, business models, and skill sets.

All aspects above should take into consideration the following issues: i) the most carbon efficient process; ii) the technical challenges that hamper the deployment of technical solutions at demonstration scale; and iii) the challenge of building a new model for integrating different industrial sectors.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU between EUR 250000 and 500000 would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

No more than one project will be funded.

Expected Impact:
  • New scenarios for increased use of CO2/CO containing process gases and non-conventional fossil natural resources as new feedstock depending on future fossil fuel and energy prices.
  • Strategies to facilitate the use of primary fossil feedstock displacement (downstream consuming industry).
  • Future scenarios that enable new business models improving competitiveness of participating industries based on the use of CO2/CO containing process gases and non-conventional natural resources as feedstock for the process industry.
  • Synergies by linking production sites of emitting and downstream consuming industries.
  • New areas for SME development and growth


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