In the road to sustainability, the treatment of post-combustion emissions is still far from being techno-economically viable. On one end, the low concentration of CO2 in these streams, precludes the use of current carbon capture (CC) technologies. On the other end, even if CC were successfully implemented, there are not plausible final uses, maybe except geological long-term storage. Our ambitious proposal aims to investigate the viability of a technology able to tackle these challenges at once. Our SUPERVAL technology will develop scientific solutions from low-cost, non-critical raw materials and processes, with the added value of removing/valorizing the NOx contaminants from flue gas. We propose to design and realize an autonomous, solar-powered installation able to capture harmful emissions from flue gas, and valorize them as commodities for the chemical industry, using water as sacrificial source of electrons and protons. The CO2 will be transformed into an organic, energy-rich molecule (formate). The NOx will be also captured and transformed, in combination with N2, into ammonia using the hydrogen obtained in the CO2 co-electrolysis processes. This integrated effort will offer the comprehensive capture and valorization of carbon and nitrogen components in post-combustion emissions, thus limiting pollutants and resulting in added-value chemicals. The corresponding techno-economic analysis and life cycle assessment studies will help to shape the components and performance of SUPERVAL as a useful technological advancement in the search for zero net emissions.

Human pathogens can persist on textiles and high-traffic surfaces for hours, days or even longer when protected in biofilms, increasing risk of infection spreading. Conventional cleaning has no lasting effect as contamination can re-occur almost immediately. Available antimicrobial coatings are based mainly on the release of silver ions and other biocides that present risks for resistance development and environmental damage. Inorganic nanoparticles are also a concern for human health. Nanocellulose is a versatile nanomaterial obtained from wood pulp or biotechnological methods, which has excellent physical properties for coatings, enabling controllable and standardised application of antimicrobial functionalities. In Triple-A-COAT the 3 forms of nanocellulose will be augmented for antimicrobial/antiviral activity through grafting/adsorption of novel, resistance-proof compounds with excellent activities against bacteria, fungi and/or viruses, and nanopatterning to create bio-inspired antimicrobial surfaces. Spray coating and thin film applications will be developed, optimising adherence to plastic, metal, textiles and glass. The most effective coatings will be evaluated for antimicrobial/antiviral activity, durability and non-toxicity using ISO standard tests, and in a simulation of a bus environment over 6 months to reach TRL6. A life cycle assessment of the platform will also be completed. The project consortium involves companies, academic and SME partners with leading expertise in novel antimicrobial and antiviral technology, nanocellulose production and functionalisation, coatings development and characterisation, as well as a bus manufacturer and an external User Committee. Within 5-10 years after the end of the project, the results will be commercialized for impact in the transportation and healthcare sectors, contributing to the better control of infectious disease, and boosting the competitiveness and research leadership of EU industry including SMEs.

Artificial photosynthesis (AP) is a promising approach for solar fuel production, but current systems are inefficient, expensive and unsuitable for industrial deployment. The interdisciplinary SUNGATE consortium of 12 partners from six EU countries and Turkey will overcome these limitations by combining the principles of AP with photoelectrocatalysis and flow microreactor technology, leading to the first modular full-cell continuous flow microreactor technology that requires only sunlight (as an energy source) plus water and CO2 (as simple, abundant feedstocks) for conversion into solar fuels such as methanol and formate. The technology will operate at room temperature and neutral pH using aqueous solutions. In contrast to state-of-the-art photoelectrochemical (PEC) technologies, SUNGATE will not use toxic or critical raw materials, and will combine efficient water oxidation catalysts, with biological components such as photosystem I and enzymes, novel CO2 reducing catalysts and nanostructured diamond-based cathodes to radically improve the efficiency of conversion. The unique modular and scalable design of SUNGATE technology will allow the decarbonised production of solar fuels by increasing the size of the microfluidic PEC device or by numbering up the PEC modules, thus providing the flexibility for diverse applications ranging from decentralised energy infrastructure to closed carbon cycles for industries that emit large amounts of CO2. SUNGATE aims to achieve proof of concept at TRL5, heralding a technology breakthrough that has the potential to secure the future global energy supply at an affordable cost. This meets the central goal of the European Green Deal and the European Climate Law to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. SUNGATE’s diverse mix of academic, RTOs and industry partners will allow the full validation of the technology, including life cycle assessment, as well as effective dissemination and knowledge transfer to accelerate industrial take up.

The Oil&Gas (O&G) industry is one of the 8 most water-intensive industries; indeed, it could be conceived as a water industry which delivers oil as a by-product. Specifically, by 2020 it is expected that over 500 million barrels/day of produced water (PW) and about 15 million m³/day of refinery wastewater (RW) are generated. Despite the necessity and potential beneficial impacts of reusing the water involved in extraction and refining activities, several significant barriers are hampering this opportunity. Firstly, the existent commercial water treatment technologies cannot be used directly in the O&G sector without an extensive adaptation, and they are not flexible and reliable enough to bear the complexity and variability of PW/RW composition. Moreover, there is no expertise or experience in the O&G sector in the design and operation of water treatment systems. The INTEGROIL project aims to develop and demonstrate a robust but flexible integrated solution for treating O&G water flows with variable compositions to different water qualities depending on the final reuse objective. This new solution will be readily designed with different modules each comprising innovative water treatment technologies that will be operated and optimized in an integrated manner through a novel Decision Support System, in line with 3 priorities of the EIP Water. The INTEGROIL approach ensures minimal design and operational efforts involved from the O&G end-user side and that the energy and chemical costs are kept to an absolute minimum for a certain target water quality. Its feasibility and long-term application will be assessed through demo activities in 2 real operational conditions, that will provide critical information for the commercialisation actions to be undertaken. The INTEGROIL consortium brings together 10 entities (6 SMEs) covering the full value chain, including technology developers, O&G end-users, a Sustainability Assessment firm and a professional association.