The decarbonisation of natural gas – the biggest energy import product into the EU today – through the production of renewable methane from bio-e-methanation (“e-methane”), a natural gas equivalent, is one of the cornerstones of the European energy transition. Our highly productive microorganism strain and pressure bioreactor design carry the potential to solve the challenge of providing cost-effective large-scale energy storage and a multi-purpose e-fuel. Echaea are the only company worldwide to have validated a biological methanation technology in industrial prototypes that turn CO2 into e-methane, using curtailed renewable power, and storing it in existing gas grids. The fully biogenic e-fuel can be used across sectors, for transportation, power generation or industrial heating. Our technology has shown to produce grid-quality e-methane in a continuous process at a 1MW scale (Biofos, DK Solothurn, CH) and now needs to be scaled up to commercial size. The EIC grant funded project will de-risk Echaea’s Power-to-Methane solution to market-readiness. Subsequently we will build a full 10MWe commercial demonstration plant at Roslev, Denmark, funded by the EIC equity facility. Once industrial operations have been demonstrated, the technology is ready for international roll-out. Expressions of interest for 12 10MWe plants have already been received. We have assessed a market potential today of around 500 biological methanation plants and of 5,000 in the EU, more around the world, by 2050. Green Deal impact: One 10MW plant will convert 5,700 mt of CO2 a year and produce 2,8m Nm3 e-methane, sufficient to heat 2,400 homes. By 2050, this technology could convert 0.8% of annual CO2 released in the EU. Echaea is a venture-backed company and co-led by a female executive, Doris Hafenbradl. A multi-disciplinary team of 33 employees is pursuing the mission of becoming the global leader for renewable methane production at scale.

CarbonNeutralLNG targets the truly carbon neutral use of biogenic carbon to replace fossil fuels for the transportation sector with renewable electricity enhanced bioLNG. Non-electric transport will depend on liquid and gaseous energy carriers like Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG). BioLNG is particularly advantageous as high density liquid fuel for the heavy duty truck and the marine transportation sector. A proposed hybrid catalytic process combines chemical catalytic and biological methanation with electro methanogenesis in order to reduce process complexity and maximise carbon efficiency. Low-cost renewable electricity will be the main driver for reduced marginal costs for the bioLNG’s production. The experimental work addresses the hybrid catalytic process chain’s main units and focuses on the development and testing of a “Sorption enhanced e-gasifier” (WP1), and additively manufactured “Chemical Catalytic Raw Methanation” reactor (WP2) and the “Biological Methane conditioning” (WP3) by means of biological methanation and electro-methanogensis. Work packages 4 and 5 will include an “Impact assessment at environmental and socio-economic level” (WP4) and a “Roadmap to replication: market and policy assessment” (WP5). They will mainly address monitoring and avoidance of fugitive methane emissions facing the upcoming Regulation (EU) on “Methane emissions reduction in the energy sector” and will in particular prepare technical and legal recommendations to avoid methane emissions in LNG infrastructures. Artificial Intelligence (AI) based “Advanced Process Control and Scale-up considerations” (WP6) and the operation of the complete process chain will finally provide a proof-of-concept for the proposed process at TRL 3-4. The work package „Coordination and Dissemination” (WP7) establishes a “Technology transfer and Dissemination Multiplier Board” with stakeholders and policy makers and will include several workshops, conferences and social media communication.

REACT will demonstrate the potential of large-scale deployment of RES and storage assets on geographical islands to bring economic benefits, contribute to the decarbonisation of local energy systems, reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and improve air quality.To do so, REACT will deliver a scalable and adaptable cloud-based ICT platform for RES and storage enabled infrastructures, supporting a holistic cooperative energy management strategy at the community level. REACT will combine an optimal control of community owned energy assets, both conventional and renewable, with cooperative demand response (DR) actions, both explicit and implicit, to maximally exploit the flexibility of energy demand. To achieve this, REACT will leverage on energy production and consumption modelling, grid operation fault detection and diagnostics, multi-carrier supply optimization and optimal energy dispatching, while enabling synergies between different energy networks and micro-grids of island. REACT will deliver effective business models making a synergy of grid- and community-centric approaches for sustainable RES solutions, increased renewable energy exploitation, integrated and digitalised smart grids, and DR programs. Moreover, REACT will provide a solution that is fully compliant with contemporary regulatory and legal aspects, while respecting the data security and applying suitable data protection measures. REACT will target to enhance the overall energy security of geographical island with an inherent possibility for scale-up and deliver at least 10% energy savings, energy costs savings and GHG emission reduction both by 60%, and at least 50% increase in RES generation and similar reduction in fossil fuel consumption. REACT solution will be validated in 3 demo islands, while replication plans will be made for 5 other “follower” islands across EU.

This proposal is an application to the EU programme “Horizon 2020” and its topic “Large scale energy storage” (LCE-09-2015). The presented project “STORE&GO” will demonstrate three “innovative Power to Gas storage concepts” at locations in Germany, Switzerland and Italy in order to overcome technical, economic, social and legal barriers. The demonstration will pave the way for an integration of PtG storage into flexible energy supply and distribution systems with a high share of renewable energy. Using methanation processes as bridging technologies, it will demonstrate and investigate in which way these innovative PtG concepts will be able to solve the main problems of renewable energies: fluctuating production of renewable energies; consideration of renewables as suboptimal power grid infrastructure; expensive; missing storage solutions for renewable power at the local, national and European level. At the same time PtG concepts will contribute in maintaining natural gas or SNG with an existing huge European infrastructure and an already advantageous and continuously improving environmental footprint as an important primary/secondary energy carrier, which is nowadays in doubt due to geo-political reasons/conflicts. So, STORE&GO will show that new PtG concepts can bridge the gaps associated with renewable energies and security of energy supply. STORE&GO will rise the acceptance in the public for renewable energy technologies in the demonstration of bridging technologies at three “living” best practice locations in Europe.

United Circles project will demonstrate, with 46 partners across 14 countries + 1 international body, three Industrial-Urban Symbiosis value chains, to upcycle of urban Food Waste, urban Wastewater Solids, and urban Construction & Demolition Waste (C&DW). To close urban and industrial water loops to reduce freshwater use in drought prone regions, and integrate energy co-generation technology in upcycling pathways. Made possible by advancing innovative technologies from TRL5 to TRL7 in combined integrated value chains, to enable zero waste cities and a decarbonised Process Industry. The value chains cover collection, sorting, upcycling and production of new upcycled products. To demonstrate how: 1) a demolish building’s C&DW can be transformed into a new 2 storey 3D printed building with upcycled low-carbon cement, cement bonded particle boards, and insulation foam; 2) a waste-water treatment plant can become a resource recovery centre for all materials, water and energy, in an integrated manner. By supplying high quality gas to the local gas grid, by providing upcycled cellulose as industrial feedstock to pulp & paper industries, and by providing clean water and fertilizer for agriculture; 3) food waste in the form of used cooking oil can be upcycled in a first application of 2nd generation biorefinery to create novel fully biodegradable and food waste origin bioplastic products for complete replacement of fossil fuels. The United Circles 3 value chain demonstrators will each be integrated in a Hub 4 Circularity, that will underpin their Industrial-Urban networks governance and evolution, using advanced governance frameworks, feasibility towards financing methodologies, digital tools, social and environmental innovations, and a material and products observatory. The H4C in the proposal will enable business to territory plans, with their regional stakeholder network, that seek to expand the demonstrator integrated technologies to higher TRL levels.