Project description
Turning CO2 into clean fuel for the future of shipping
From cargo ships to inland vessels, heavy-duty transport faces a major challenge of cutting emissions without sacrificing efficiency. Hydrogen fuel cells show great promise, but storing and handling hydrogen safely remains expensive and complex. The EU-funded IsoPROPEL project aims to develop a new, carbon-neutral alternative: renewable isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as an e-fuel. Made from CO2 and green hydrogen, IPA can be produced through an electrified process and used directly in next-generation fuel cells that generate power without emitting CO2. Tested in inland waterway transport, this innovative closed-loop system could pave the way for clean, circular fuels that drive the decarbonisation of heavy-duty mobility.
Objective
The use of condensed, synthetic energy carriers offers a prominent solution to decarbonizing heavy-duty transport, such as waterborne mobility. Fuel cells offer superior efficiency and emissions reduction over internal combustion engines for onboard energy retrieval. Hydrogen is considered the major contender energy carrier for fuel cell propulsion, but high compression costs and costly infrastructure for safe storage and bunkering in compressed or liquefied forms hinder widespread adoption. Methanol emerged as an alternative, enabling onboard hydrogen generation via reformers integrated with hydrogen fuel cells. However, its use releases significant amounts of CO2. IsoPROPEL aims to revolutionize this paradigm by pioneering the synthesis of isopropyl alcohol (IPA) as a renewable e-fuel of non-biological origin. Leveraging recent breakthroughs by the partners in electrified chemical-looping and tandem catalysis, an innovative process to selectively produce IPA from CO2 and renewable hydrogen will be validated at TRL4. Additionally, IsoPROPEL will advance the direct isopropanol fuel cell (DIFC) to TRL4 after developing fuel cell components with enhanced tolerance to this cell’s unconventional working medium. This emerging fuel cell technology enables direct energy recovery from liquid IPA via selective electro-dehydrogenation to acetone (ACE), eliminating CO2 emissions onboard and the need for alcohol reformers. It also enables seamless cycling between ACE (discharged) and IPA (charged) energy carrier forms via mild hydrogenation “recharging,” without pressurized or liquefied hydrogen throughout fuel synthesis, use, and recycling. Inland waterway transport serves as a test case. IsoPROPEL will optimize e-fuel production, DIFC integration with ship powertrains, and double-liquid fuel logistics. Techno-economic and life-cycle analyses in EU inland shipping corridors will assess the feasibility and sustainability of this renewable energy carrier for DIFC-powered vessels
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.
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.
- engineering and technology environmental engineering waste management waste treatment processes recycling
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fuel cells
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
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.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.5.2 - Energy Supply
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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.
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.
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
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-02
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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.
28006 Madrid
Spain
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.