We are proud to congratulate our members: Verso Energy (part of the DEZiR and ReSTart projects), LanzaTech (part of SLALOM 2.0), and Carmeuse (part of LEOPARD) whose projects have been selected among the 61 advanced net-zero technology initiatives under the EU Innovation Fund 2024, specifically in the Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) area.
These projects are at the forefront of net-zero technologies and industrial decarbonisation, each contributing to Europe’s transition to a low-carbon economy:
🔵DEZiR: Pioneering aviation defossilisation with one of Europe’s first large-scale electric sustainable aviation fuel (eSAF) plants. The project integrates biogenic CO₂ capture and Methanol-to-Jet conversion at commercial scale, raising technology readiness for eSAF and supporting Europe’s low-carbon jet-fuel market.
🔵ReSTart: Developing a large-scale e-SAF production plant in France, using biogenic CO₂ from cellulose production. ReSTart supplies major airports like Paris-CDG and Amsterdam-Schiphol, creating a high-tech industrial value chain and accelerating Europe’s low-carbon aviation fuel market.
🔵SLALOM 2.0: Building a commercial pilot plant in Norway that converts industrial off-gases into ethanol via advanced gas-fermentation technology, which is then transformed into sustainable aviation fuel. Its scalable, high-efficiency bioreactor design supports significant emissions reductions and renewable fuel market growth.
🔵LEOPARD: Transforming lime production with a hybrid solution combining kiln retrofits for CO₂ preconcentration and membrane-based carbon capture. This water-neutral, electricity-powered approach lowers costs, avoids extra emissions or waste, and is applicable to over 80% of European lime plants.
Approximately 33% of the selected projects are from the industrial carbon management value chain, with 8 focused on CCU and 4 on capture, including projects like ENDOR (Arcadia) and TAKE KAIR (Hynamics).
The European Commission has allocated €2.9 billion from the Innovation Fund, financed through the EU Emissions Trading System. Across 19 sectors in 18 countries, these projects target defossilisation in heavy industry, renewable energy, clean mobility, buildings, cleantech manufacturing, and carbon management. Collectively, they are expected to reduce ~221 million tonnes of CO₂-equivalent in their first 10 years, driving Europe closer to climate neutrality by 2050.
List of selected projects here.
More on the EU Innovation Fund here.
