Redefining CO₂ as a Resource
08-05-2025
Over the next four years, the European ICO2NIC consortium will develop Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) technology that transforms industrial CO2 waste into valuable resources. Funded with €14 million by the European Union, the consortium aims to render CCU economically viable, and pave the way to substantially reduce global emissions. TNO will contribute with a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) that will evaluate the environmental performance of the developed CO2 capture and conversion process.
Launched in January 2025, ICO2NIC (Innovative electrochemical CO2 Conversion to Versatile Feedstock) will combine advancements in CO2 capture technology based on polymer membranes with a new gas diffusion electrochemical cell to convert CO2 into formic acid. This formic acid will then be processed through biochemical methods to produce high-value goods and materials such as formic acid, microbial oils, microbial proteins and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).
ICO2NIC will create opportunities for substantial long-term CO2 capture in the EU refinery sector, supporting decarbonisation efforts. The ICO2NIC consortium includes industrial partners in the full CCU value chain as well as leading Research and Technology Organisations (see the full list below). The latter will validate the concept's cost-effectiveness, environmental performance, and scalability.
Combined scientific expertise and industry knowledge
TNO will contribute by conducting a comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) led by Arjan van Horssen (project manager) and Rajesh Mehta (Senior Consultant Energy and Materials Transition). “TNO is working at the forefront of Energy Transition and Power-to-X technologies”, says Rajesh Mehta. “With our combined scientific expertise and industry knowledge, we will provide insights to the ICO2NIC consortium to enhance the sustainability and economic performance of the ICO2NIC technologies, thereby reducing technology risks and accelerating the scale-up of the CO2 to formic acid conversion pathway.” TNO's expertise in LCA will provide critical insights into the environmental impact of the technologies used, helping to optimize the process for maximum efficiency and minimal ecological footprint. TNO will also contribute to the techno-economic assessment of the project, collaborating with project leader SINTEF to validate the cost-effectiveness and scalability.
Want to know more? Contact Arjan van Horssen and/or Rajesh Mehta.
About
The ICO2NIC consortium will be led by SINTEF and will establish a comprehensive value chain, from the CO2 emitter, on-site demonstrator and executor (TUPRAS) to the end consumers (TUPRAS and Procter & Gamble). The process consists of carbon collection and purification (Cool Planet Technologies), electrochemical conversion to formic acid (Avantium), followed by bioconversion and up-grading (b.fab and NoPalm Ingredients), and the scaling up the fermentation process (BBEPP) to microbial oils. These oils and their chemical derivatives will be evaluated by Procter & Gamble as surfactant for fabric/beauty care products and by and by TUPRAS as a feedstock for the Hydrotreated Esters and Fatty Acids (HEFA) process in Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) production. This industrial model could provide a viable economic framework for all stakeholders, even without external financial support, and will be validated through the project’s implementation. By integrating renewable energy systems with digital monitoring and control technologies (Idener), leading Research and Technology Organisations will validate the concept's cost-effectiveness, environmental performance, and scalability through the development of a strong Technical and Economic Assessment and process design (SINTEF) and Life Cycle Assessment (TNO). The communication and dissemination of ICO2NIC will be led by the European association CO2 Value Europe.
Acknowledgement
ICO2NIC project has received funding from the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme Ref: 101177459.
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