Project description
New technology for CO2 capture and conversion
With climate change posing an ever-increasing danger to people all over the world, many industries are searching for new forms of green energy or to improve current ones. With this in mind, the EU-funded project GICO will overcome the main challenges slowing renewable energy from overtaking as the backbone of the energy system. To achieve this, the project will further the development of new materials and technologies. The list includes high-temperature inorganic removal sorbents, CO2 capture sorbents, hydrothermal carbonisation and sorption enhanced gasification. It will also develop small to medium-scale biomass plants to improve the perceptions people have of energy plants.
Objective
In order to overcome the main barriers that prevent renewable energy technologies from forming the backbone of the energy system, GICO develops new materials (CO2 capture sorbents; high temperature inorganic removal sorbents; catalytic filter candles; membranes for oxygen separation and methanol production) and technologies (Hydro Thermal Carbonisation; Sorption Enhanced Gasification; Hot Gas Conditioning; Carbon Capture, Storage and Use; Power To Gas via Plasma conversion) to:
• produce intermediate solid (5 vs 15 €/MWh) and gaseous (10 vs 30 €/MWh with zero particulate and ppb contaminants level) bioenergy carriers;
• capture CO2 (40 €/t vs 90 €/t) receiving waste high alkali content and producing bricks;
• convert CO2 to CO and O2 (90 vs 10% efficiency) storing renewable electricity excess;
• produce methanol (35 vs 75 €/MWh) and electricity (100 vs 200 €/MWh).
GICO encompasses technology development (materials, processes, simulations, integrated system besides full-scale design) and assessment (techno-economical, environmental, social impacts and market) and dissemination activities. GICO activities are fully innovative and constitute a breakthrough (in materials and processes development and integration) involving methodological, technological and exploitation developments achieved previously by partners´ research over many years. The GICO activities aim at developing small to medium scale residual biomass plants (i.e. 2-20 t/day and 500-5,000 kWe, compatible with the standard residual biomass availability of few thousand tons per year) will change the actual social acceptance of the energy plants. They will no longer be seen as distant large consumers of resources and emitters of pollutants but as local small/medium plants connected to communities (for waste, materials and energy with negative/zero emissions) within the circular business model (industrial symbiosis with jointly located industries) that GICO promotes.
Fields of science
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsrenewable energy
- social scienceseconomics and businessbusiness and managementbusiness models
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringcarbon capture engineering
- agricultural sciencesagricultural biotechnologybiomass
Keywords
Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
00193 Roma
Italy