Projects

VIVALDI

A change of tune for the chemical industry: VIVALDI turns CO2 emissions into sustainable bio-products

VIVALDI H2020
The valorisation of industrial CO2 emissions is a cornerstone in EU strategies for climate change and circular economy

  • Grant agreement ID: 101000441

  • Total project budget: 6.969.835,81€

  • Start Date: 01/06/2021

    End Date: 31/05/2025

  • Project website: www.vivaldi-h2020.eu/

Project summary:

To reach climate targets, industries need to accelerate the transition towards a low-carbon, resource efficiency and circular economy. The chemical sector is one of the most challenging, but also a very promising one, in that context. At the forefront of waste reutilization, bio-based industries (BIs) have the potential to lead the way and create a new and more sustainable sector based on the principle of “carbon capture and utilization”, also called CO2 recycling. Based on this circular concept, BI’s will reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, their dependency on fossil carbon import and the exploitation of key resources such as energy, raw materials, land and water.

Starting from June 2021, the EU Horizon 2020 project VIVALDI – innoVative bIo-based chains for CO2 VALorisation as aDded-value organIc acids, will develop a set of breakthrough biotechnologies to transform real off-gases from key BI sectors (Food & Drinks, Pulp & Paper, Bioethanol and Biochemicals) into novel feedstock for the chemical industry. The core of VIVALDI solution is to capture, enrich and transform in a two-steps process (electrochemical and biological) the CO2 captured into four platform organic acids. These resulting compounds have various applications: they can be used in the same site, enhancing the sustainability and circularity of BIs processes and products, or open new business opportunities as building blocks for novel biomaterial (e.g. bioplastics and animal feed). By integrating this concept, industries will “kill two birds with one stone”: not only BI’s carbon emissions will be reduced, but the production of organic compounds that today is very energy intensive will become cheaper and more sustainable. Replicability will be a key aspect of VIVALDI solutions, allowing other biorefineries and other industrial sectors to become more circular and reduce their environmental impact.