Objective
The transition to a sustainable circular economy requires not only decarbonizing energy production but also rethinking carbon sourcing and material inputs for fuels, chemicals, and advanced materials. Conventional recycling faces limitations, while emerging industrial approaches offer new ways to transform waste into valuable resources.
CO2 conversion into chemicals, fuels, polymers, and minerals remains limited. A 2023 report estimates a production capacity of 1.3Mt CO2/year, compared to 50-60Mt CO2 captured globally. Ethylene (C2H4) is a high-value target, mainly for PET packaging, agricultural, pharmaceutical, and construction applications.
Current industrial ethylene production relies on petroleum or natural gas via steam cracking, following a linear carbon economy. Zero-carbon CO2-based routes are under development, typically involving four steps: capture, desorption, electro-conversion to CO, and conversion to C2+ molecules. These are limited by energy intensity, catalyst efficiency, feedstock variability, scalability and economic factors.
CONVERT-IL aims to simplify this route by eliminating two steps and using ionic liquids as a single chemical vector for both capture and electro-conversion, creating an all-in-one device. Ionic liquids provide electrochemical stability, ionic conductivity, tunable CO2 solubility, and low vapor pressure, enabling efficient capture and recycling. Iolitec will design the IL composition, fine-tuned with SINTEF’s machine learning, while CEA will develop a compatible catalyst for selective CO2-to-C2H₄ conversion. eChemicles will develop and scale an IL-compatible electrolyser, and EKIUM will perform techno-economic and life-cycle analyses. The project will demonstrate feasibility with industrial CO2 and assess scalability, economic viability, and environmental performance.
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
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy petroleum
- engineering and technology environmental engineering energy and fuels fossil energy natural gas
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry aliphatic compounds
- social sciences economics and business economics sustainable economy
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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.3.1 - The European Innovation Council (EIC)
MAIN PROGRAMME
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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-EIC - HORIZON EIC Grants
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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-EIC-2025-PATHFINDERCHALLENGES-01
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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.
75015 Paris
France
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.