The European-funded CO₂SMOS project officially concludes this month after four years of collaborative research and innovation aimed at supporting the bio-based industry in reducing its carbon footprint. With €7 million in funding from the Horizon 2020 programme, the project has developed and scaled technologies that convert biogenic CO₂ emissions into valuable chemicals and materials, bringing them closer to real-world application.

Launched in May 2021, CO₂SMOS (Advanced chemicals production from biogenic CO₂ emissions for circular bio-based industries) brought together a multidisciplinary consortium of 15 partners from across Europe, coordinated by CARTIF Technology Center. The aim was to develop cost-competitive technologies for transforming CO₂ emissions from bioindustrial processes into renewable chemicals, durable polymers, and biodegradable biomaterials, contributing to Europe’s climate goals and the development of a sustainable circular economy.

Turning Biogenic CO₂ Into Valuable Products

CO₂SMOS focused on technologies that transform biogenic CO₂, generated from processes such as fermentation, into intermediate building blocks like acetate, syngas, and other valuable compounds. These were then used to create renewable polymers, biochemicals, and biodegradable materials. Key achievements include:

• Biotechnological and Electrocatalytic CO₂ Conversion: Lab-scale innovations included the biological production of bio-acetate using acetogenic bacteria and the electrocatalytic generation of green syngas and intermediates. In the first lab-scale approach, continuous fermentation processes were scaled up to 10L, successfully producing acetate at industrially relevant titers.
• Synthesis of Monomers and Intermediates: Novel catalysts and microbial strains enabled the transformation of CO₂-derived acetic acid into value-added monomers such as PHB, PHA, and 2,3-BDO, as well as the cycloaddition of CO₂ to biomass derivatives to produce cyclic carbonates with potential as plasticisers. Physicochemical approaches delivered efficient separation and purification processes, including solid electrolyte reactors and advanced membrane technologies.
• Pilot-Scale Success: At the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, several of the project’s CO₂-based value chains were successfully scaled. CO₂-derived acetic acid was used to produce kilograms of high-purity PHB, while mcl-PHA was generated at a 150L scale, surpassing industry benchmarks. These materials were then validated in industrial applications.

From Innovation to Real-World Applications

The three end users within the consortium demonstrated the practical potential of the materials derived from CO₂SMOS technologies: