Funded by the Climate and Energy Fund, this project is part of the 2022 Energy Research Program. "The four-year ZEUS (Zero Emissions throUgh Sectorcoupling) project, coordinated by the metallurgical competence center K1-MET, aims to conduct research into electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction and and build a demonstration plant.

JKU chemist Univ. Prof. Wolfgang Schöfberger conducts research into new catalysis processes in his own lab and remarked: “This would be an important step becoming CO₂ neutral and being able to sustainably produce energy.” He has succeeded in producing special molecular catalysts and with their help, CO₂ can bind to metal and respond in a way that, for example, converts into ethanol and methanol.

Chemically Converting CO₂
The result is that instead of environmentally harmful CO₂, we now have substances suitable to support industrial processes. Schöfberger, assistant department head at the JKU’s Institute for Organic Chemistry, is now going one step further as he wants to use artificial intelligence methods to model catalysis processes and conduct research on the underlying physical-chemical processes in an effort to accelerate the catalyst design.

The companies involved in the consortium will bring in their extensive expertise in industrial technology to help advance integrating the process into current production processes. JKU Rector Stefan Koch praised those involved in this pivotal project and added: “The ZEUS project is a prime example of how industry and academia can work together to produce groundbreaking technologies that address mankind’s most pressing challenges. The considerable amount of financing in the amount of €16.8 million will drive R&D forward and pave the way towards a more sustainable future.”

Schöfberger appreciates the voestalpine's involvement and support, adding: "These kinds of projects are only possible thanks to financially strong industrial partners as we are, of course, only able to conduct our experiments on a small scale and under laboratory conditions. Doing this on a large scale would hardly be possible in the absence of partners."

The road to reducing CO₂ by electrocatalytic means holds the promise of a future in which industry and environmental protection work hand-in-hand to tackle global warming and reduce our dependency on fossil fuels. The project is funded by the Climate and Energy Fund and is being carried out as part of the 2022 Energy Research Program.

Partners:

K1-MET Ltd., the Energy Institute at the Johannes Kepler University Linz, GIG Karasek Ltd., Johannes Kepler University Linz – Institute of Organic Chemistry, Montanuniversität Leoben - Department of Process Engineering for Industrial Environmental Protection, Zementwerk Hatschek GmbH, Vienna University of Technology - Institute of Process Engineering, Environmental Engineering and Technical Biosciences, VERBUND AG, voestalpine Stahl GmbH, WIVA P&G - Hydrogen Initiative Vorzeigeregion Austria Power & Gas