Skip to main content
Go to the home page of the European Commission (opens in new window)
English English
CORDIS - EU research results
CORDIS

Sustainable aviation and shipping fuels from microalgae and direct solar BES technologies

Project description

Turning sunlight into sustainable fuels

With rising concerns over climate change and fossil fuel dependency, there is an increasing need for sustainable fuel alternatives. In this context, the EU-funded ALGAESOL project is exploring ways to convert sunlight into renewable fuels. Specifically, it aims to harness micro-algae and cutting-edge solar technologies to transform CO2 and organic waste into methanol, methane, and bio-oils, suitable for aviation and shipping. The project promises to cut production costs by a quarter and boost conversion efficiency. Through advanced systems, smart reactor designs, and a circular bio-economy approach, ALGAESOL will not only enhance fuel sustainability but also align with the European Green Deal. This initiative is expected to reduce environmental impact by 20 % and strengthen Europe’s leadership in green technology.

Objective

ALGAESOL will develop and evaluate several solutions for the sustainable conversion of sunlight into fuels. The project will advance current state-of-the-art by creating and consolidating new value chains for shipping and aviation fuels based on micro-algae and direct solar renewable fuel technologies. ALGAESOL will reduce production costs by 25%and improve efficiency of converting solar energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) and organic wastes into renewable methanol (CH3OH), methane (CH4) and biooils, forming the basis for aviation and shipping fuels. Various systems (biologic, photoelectrochemical, electrochemical and bioelectrochemical) will be evaluated and smart reactor design will be combined with process improvements. Targeted are microbial contamination control strategies, the increase solar to chemical energy conversion efficiencies, and improved algal strains to generate lipid superproducers will facilitate extraction, followed by innovative purification and hydro-processing technology to deliver the fuels. Enhanced sustainability of the developed fuels, is also based on a circular bio economy approach by using waste streams and about 80% of residual biomass generate in the ALGAESOL value chain will be re-circulated as input for the conversion process. The economic and environmental, as well as social sustainability will guide the design and scale-up at process level and for the whole value chain in alignment with the European Green Deal priorities. Used will be computational modelling and process simulations, Life Cycle Analysis (LCA), Life Cycle Costs (LCC), and Social Life Cycle Analysis (S-LCA) as well as practical engineering approaches. Through this approach is the overall reduction of the environmental impact when producing biofuels expected to be about 20% relative to today's processes. The project will reinforce the European scientific basis, technology leadership and competitiveness through international collaborations.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.

You need to log in or register to use this function

Keywords

Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)

Programme(s)

Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.

Topic(s)

Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.

Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

See all projects funded under this funding scheme

Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-02

See all projects funded under this call

Coordinator

NORCE RESEARCH AS
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 1 264 701,25
Address
NYGARDSGATEN 112
5838 BERGEN
Norway

See on map

Region
Norge Vestlandet Vestland
Activity type
Research Organisations
Links
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 1 264 701,25

Participants (6)

My booklet 0 0