The Dutch Research Council (NWO) and National Growth Fund (NGF) programme GroenvermogenNL are awarding this substantial amount to the HyCARB project. This large research programme, which brings together Dutch universities, research institutes and industrial companies, aims to make fuels and materials from industrial waste gases and CO2 using sustainable energy and hydrogen. TNO is leading the project, and will coordinate HyCARB in the next five years, together with Utrecht University and Eindhoven University of Technology.
The chemical industry is one of the largest users of fossil raw materials, such as crude oil and natural gas. It accounts for a significant share of global CO2 emissions. To help the Dutch chemical industry become more sustainable and thus remain competitive, a transition to renewable feedstock and energy is needed.
Sustainable processes with green hydrogen
The aim of HyCARB is to work on the future of the industry by developing the technology base for industrial end users worldwide for carbon-based chemicals production using hydrogen, green electrons and captured CO2. New scientific approaches will be pursued to achieve breakthroughs for cost- and energy-efficient sustainable production of fuels and chemicals.
Researchers will do so by identifying, developing and testing improved catalyst materials for the thermal and electrochemical conversion of CO2. In addition, key components, such as reactors, electrolysers and innovative approaches for electrified heating will be improved. Research using the latest generation testing and analytical equipment will be combined with techno-economic and lifecycle assessments of a range of technologies to help industry decarbonise step by step.
Huge collaboration
HyCARB is a collaboration between nine universities, five universities of applied sciences, three research institutes and thirty companies (see full list below). According to the researchers, the diversity of the partners’ backgrounds contributes to the project’s success, including the industrial companies.
“The aim of the project is to directly apply the findings within the chemical industry. The companies bring essential expertise in implementation and scaling up”, says prof. dr. ir. Bert Weckhuysen from Utrecht University. He is one of the project coordinators. “Without their involvement, progress would stall at TRL 4 or 5, whereas full implementation requires reaching TRL 9.” TRL stands for Technology Readiness Level. It is a scale developed to assess the maturity of a technology.
Utrecht University’s role
The consortium was formed during two intensive workshops in which all parties came together to draw up a single research proposal. Utrecht University representatives Weckhuysen and prof. dr. Petra de Jongh accepted a leading role during the first workshop, after which dr. Ward van der Stam was added to the team. Weckhuysen will continue to act as one of the project coordinators; De Jongh will co-lead one of the main work packages that focuses on the production of green fuels and platform molecules from green hydrogen and CO2.
Other Utrecht University researchers who are actively participating in HyCARB are: dr. Florian Meirer, dr. Matteo Monai, dr. Jessi van der Hoeven, and dr. Matteo Gazzani. Together, they will perform a substantial part of the research.
This article was first published on 22 July by Utrecht University.
Receive the Funding Newswire [full access requires a subscription] each Tuesday, our Policy Bulletin each Thursday, and news about bridging Europe’s east-west innovation gap twice a month in The Widening. 
A unique international forum for public research organisations and companies to connect their external engagement with strategic interests around their R&D system.