Avantium gets EU grant

Avantium said it will use the EU grant from the Horizon Europe programme for its participation in the 4-year research and development programme WaterProof. This programme aims to demonstrate the value of electrochemical conversion of carbon dioxide (CO₂ ) into high-value chemicals.In the project, Avantium will evaluate its proprietary Volta Technology that uses electrochemistry to convert CO₂ to high-value products and chemical building blocks such as formic acid, oxalic acid and glycolic acid. The latter two are key building blocks for polyesters and other materials, allowing the poly-condensation of CO₂-negative plastics.

The WaterProof programme, which will be kicked-off in this June, aims to demonstrate the full value chain of a closed carbon cycle. Under this programme, the coordinator Avantium and 11 partners will convert CO₂, from wastewater purification and waste incineration into formic acid using its proprietary catalytic electrochemistry platform: Funditec (Spain), Tecnalia (Spain), Stichting Waternet (Netherlands), Ecover (Belgium), Nova Institut GmbH (Germany), Nordic Fish Leather (Iceland), Izes GmbH (Germany), Frames Renewable Energy Solutions BV (Netherlands), CoatemaGmbH (Germany), HVC (Netherlands), CTA (Columbia). The consortium will receive an EU Horizon Europe grant of €9.2m.

Annelie Jongerius, senior scientist at Avantium and scientific coordinator of WaterProof, said: “Electrochemistry has the potential to use CO₂ as a feedstock for the sustainable production of chemicals and materials and this is seenas a ’game-changer’ for the chemical industry. Leading the WaterProof programme is a fantastic opportunity for us to work with like-minded organisations towards a fossil-free future.”