Over 45 million euros for sustainable industry with green hydrogen: NWO and the National Growth Fund programme GroenvermogenNL are awarding this substantial amount to the HyCARB project led by TNO. This project is the result of the call “Hydrogen and green electrons for carbon-based chemistry”.
The chemical industry is one of the largest users of fossil raw materials such as oil and natural gas and accounts for a significant share of global CO2 emissions. To help the Dutch chemical industry become more sustainable and thus remain competitive in the future, a more sustainable form of energy is needed. This involves sustainably produced hydrogen and electrons.
Martijn de Graaff, project leader at HyCARB, agrees: "With this project, we are working on the future of the industry by developing innovative and competitive chemical processes and value chains. We focus on producing fuels and materials from industrial waste gases and CO2 through the use of sustainable energy and hydrogen. This makes the project a perfect fit with the ambitions of the GroenvermogenNL programme. The partners in the project, consisting of knowledge institutions, large companies, start-ups and scale-ups, aim to deliver internationally renowned results, such as new integrated hydrogenation processes, CO2 electrolysers and electrified high-temperature reactors. In addition, a great deal of attention is being paid to analytical equipment and skills, as well as to building knowledge and experience among the next generation. Ultimately, our ambition is to ensure that the Netherlands achieves a leading global position in the field of circular carbon and hydrogen technology.
About the call
The call “Hydrogen and green electrons for carbon-based chemistry” originates from the National Growth Fund (NGF). The NGF programme GroenvermogenNL and NWO are funding this project with €35.3 million. Co-funding will provide the consortium with over €10.3 million for a total investment of €45.7 million.
The consortium behind HyCARB was formed during two intensive workshops in which all parties came together to draw up a single proposal. HyCARB is a collaboration between nine universities, five universities of applied sciences (UAS), three research institutes and thirty companies.
The awarded project: HyCARB: Green Hydrogen and Electrons for Carbon-based Chemistry
The research project HyCARB brings together Dutch clean-tech companies, universities and research institutes to develop the technology base for industrial end users worldwide for carbon-based chemicals production using hydrogen, green electrons and captured carbon dioxide. New scientific approaches will be pursued to achieve breakthroughs for cost- and energy-efficient sustainable production of fuels and chemicals by identifying, developing and testing improved catalysts, key components such as reactors, electrolysers and innovative approaches for electrified heating. Laboratory work using the latest generation analytical equipment will be combined with techno-economic and lifecycle assessments of a range of technologies to help industry decarbonise.
Main applicants: Ir. M.P. (Martijn) de Graaff (TNO), prof. dr. ir. B.M. (Bert) Weckhuysen (UU), dr. M.C. (Marta) Costa Figueiredo (TU/e).
DIFFER is one of the consortium partners involved in this project.
Author: NWO
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