Description du projet
Révolutionner la production de combustible solaire vert
La photosynthèse artificielle (PA) est une technologie prometteuse susceptible de faire progresser la recherche et la production de combustibles solaires. Cependant, les itérations actuelles de la PA sont coûteuses, et leur efficacité et leur adéquation aux applications industrielles doivent encore être améliorées. Le projet SUNGATE, financé par l’UE,entend relever ces défis en s’appuyant sur la photoélectrocatalyse et la technologie des microréacteurs à flux pour révolutionner la production de combustible solaire. Le projet développera une technologie de microréacteur modulaire, à cellule complète et à flux continu, conçue pour convertir la lumière du soleil, l’eau et le CO2 en méthanol et en carburants solaires à base de formiate, dans le but de remplacer les matières premières dangereuses ou rares présentes dans les technologies actuelles. SUNGATE combinera également des technologies respectueuses de l’environnement dans une structure modulaire, ce qui lui permettra de s’adapter à la production évolutive de combustibles solaires.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation ActionsCoordinateur
80686 Munchen
Allemagne