{"id":181738,"date":"2026-09-30T07:37:00","date_gmt":"2026-09-30T05:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=181738"},"modified":"2026-09-24T14:12:34","modified_gmt":"2026-09-24T12:12:34","slug":"new-eu-funded-project-uncover-to-advance-the-market-uptake-of-co2-utilisation-technologies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/new-eu-funded-project-uncover-to-advance-the-market-uptake-of-co2-utilisation-technologies\/","title":{"rendered":"New EU-funded project UNCOVER to advance the market uptake of CO2\u00a0utilisation technologies"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n
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\u00a9 CO2 Value Europe<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Advancing Europe’s climate neutrality and circular economy<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) is a key component of Europe\u2019s transition towards climate neutrality and a more circular economy. It turns captured CO\u2082\u00a0into useful products, reducing reliance on fossil-based and resource-intensive feedstocks, and, as a result, also cutting their imports, strengthening Europe\u2019s energy resilience.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the wider deployment of CCU technologies is still constrained by high energy demand, technology costs, the use of virgin critical raw materials, the limited technology readiness of some conversion routes and insufficient integration across the CCU value chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNCOVER will address these challenges by demonstrating how CO\u2082\u00a0conversion technologies can be scaled up while improving their sustainability and economic viability. The project will work with CO\u2082\u00a0emissions from three representative European industries: a biogas upgrading unit at a waste management plant, a biomass boiler at a wood manufacturing plant and a clinker kiln at a cement plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From CO<\/strong>\u2082 emissions to ten marketable products<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Starting in September 2026, the four-year project will bring together 19 partners from eight European countries to demonstrate six innovative CO\u2082\u00a0Conversion Technologies (CCTs) and one Secondary Conversion Technology (SCT). The technologies will convert CO\u2082\u00a0into ten products, including three pigments, microalgal biomass, biomethanol, bioformaldehyde, microbial protein, polyhydroxybutyrate and carbonated cementitious materials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

These products will be validated for applications across the chemicals, fuels and construction sectors, with the aim of demonstrating their potential to replace fossil-based and resource-intensive alternatives. UNCOVER will assess the technologies and products through integrated life-cycle assessment (LCA) and techno-economic analysis (TEA), providing evidence on their environmental performance, energy requirements, costs and scalability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cUNCOVER is about proving that CO\u2082\u00a0can be used as feedstock to produce biodegradable plastics, wood-panel resins, low-carbon fuels and cement-based materials, competing on cost, performance and sustainability with fossil-based alternatives. By demonstrating seven CCU routes at industrial scale across three real industrial emission sources, we are building the evidence base European industry needs to scale up CO\u2082\u00a0utilisation and accelerate industrial decarbonisation,”\u00a0says Pablo Gonz\u00e1lez, UNCOVER Project Coordinator, ITA (Instituto Tecnol\u00f3gico de Arag\u00f3n)<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

From demonstration to industrial deployment<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UNCOVER\u2019s ambition extends beyond the four-year project. By 2032, the project aims to support the deployment of three large-scale CCTs, with three to five CO\u2082-based products beginning to displace fossil- and resource-intensive feedstocks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking further ahead, the project estimates that 31 UNCOVER CCTs could be deployed by 2040, capturing around 0.1 Mt of CO\u2082\u00a0and generating an estimated 150 new jobs and \u20ac180 million in profit for CCT developers. By 2050, the wider deployment of UNCOVER technologies could contribute to capturing up to 250 Mt of CO\u2082\u00a0across Europe, including 1.6 Mt captured through UNCOVER technologies, while helping reduce Europe\u2019s dependence on imported fossil resources by up to 10%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A multidisciplinary European consortium<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

UNCOVER will be implemented by a multidisciplinary consortium including six large industries, five SMEs, three research and technology organisations, four universities and one sectoral association.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coordinated by the\u00a0Instituto Tecnol\u00f3gico de Arag\u00f3n (ITA), with the\u00a0University of Valladolid (UVA)\u00a0as technical coordinator, the consortium brings together complementary expertise covering the full innovation chain, including:<\/p>\n\n\n\n