REUSE: Innovative CO₂ Recycling: An EU Project Explores New Approaches to Circular Chemistry

The REUSE project, funded by Horizon Europe, is setting new standards in CO₂ capture and reuse. Using a state-of-the-art rotating packed bed (RPB), REUSE combines carbonic anhydrase enzymes with innovative solvents to efficiently extract CO₂ from biogenic sources.

The captured CO₂ is then converted into valuable chemicals such as carbon monoxide (CO) and formic acid (FA) through a CO₂ reduction process.

The REUSE project picks up right where existing CO₂ utilization technologies reach their limits. Current challenges include the following:

• Limited use of refuse-derived fuel (RDF) in biomass blends, which reduces fuel efficiency.

• Fluctuating exhaust gas compositions, which make reliable emission control difficult.

• Catalysts used for tar removal quickly lose their activity because they are easily deactivated or poisoned.

• Lack of research on suitable solvents for rotating packed bed (RPB) systems in combination with carbonic anhydrase (CA) or CO₂ reduction processes (CO₂R).

• Focus on low-productivity systems that hinder industrial-scale production.

• The inadequate performance of existing catalysts, as well as a lack of research on their corrosion behavior.

• Limited understanding of the interactions between BCS, RPB, and CO₂R, which hinders integrated process development.

• The lack of model-based analyses that would be necessary for efficient upscaling.

From 2024 to 2027, REUSE will address key challenges in CO₂ utilization—ranging from optimizing fuel blends and stabilizing exhaust gas compositions to developing new catalysts and scaling up sustainable CO₂ recycling processes.