A project of the Bioeconomy Institute of the University of Valladolid (BioEcoUVa) on CO2 capture and reduction has been the winner of the 1st Edition of the Prize for Research and Technological Innovation in the field of energy awarded by the Naturgy Foundation, with the support and collaboration of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). The winning proposal, led by the principal researcher Ángel Martín Martínez, proposes an innovative technology in the field of CO₂ capture and reduction processes.

The project ‘CO2UP: Scaling up of the hydrothermal CO₂ reduction process using biomass as a reductant on CO₂ valorisation’ will receive an endowment of 100,000 euros, which will allow the research team to design, build and operate a pilot plant that will increase the level of development of the technology to TRL=5. The researchers will thus be able to implement an innovative technology in the field of CO₂ capture and reduction processes, replacing the regeneration of an ad/absorbent with a hydrothermal CO₂ reduction process, using biomass-derived compounds as reducing agents.

The award ceremony took place on 29 June in Madrid, in a ceremony in which the president of the Naturgy Foundation, Rafael Villaseca, stated that, with this new initiative, “the Naturgy Foundation once again demonstrates its commitment to the development of actions aimed at accelerating the energy transition, as it will allow to promote, with full guarantees, research and scientific development in the field of energy in Spain”.

For her part, the president of the CSIC, Eloísa del Pino, said that “the award is also testimony to the shared commitment of the Naturgy Foundation and the CSIC to support advanced research focused on a new economic model centred on renewable production, decarbonisation and low greenhouse gas emissions”.

The jury highlighted the originality of the proposal of the Bioeconomy Institute of the University of Valladolid, whose results obtained at laboratory scale indicate that sufficient development has been achieved to successfully address the proof of concept, which will consist of the development at pilot plant scale during the two-year duration of the project. The jury also highlighted the group’s capabilities and proven experience in CO₂ reduction processes, which guarantee the correct execution of the project.

Some 20 nominations

In its first edition, the call for proposals received 18 eligible proposals, developed by 11 universities, 5 research institutes and 2 non-profit foundations, based in 9 autonomous communities. The proposals were evaluated by a scientific committee, coordinated by the CSIC and a jury of experts.

The other five finalists were presented by research groups from the Fundació Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (FUOC), the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA-UIB-CSIC), the Catalan Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (ICN2-CSIC), the Institute of Catalysis and Petrochemistry (IPC-CSIC) and the University of Salamanca (USAL).

Of all of them, the jury recognised the degree of innovation and the quality of the proposals submitted, which addressed topics of interest such as energy efficiency and its calculations, CO₂ recovery, renewable energies and electrocatalysis.

The award jury, chaired by Eloisa del Pino, was made up of María Benjumea, founder of Spain Startup and the International Women Forum España; Mariano Marzo, professor emeritus at the University of Barcelona and director of the Energy Transition Chair at the UB; Diego Pavía, founder and CEO of KIC InnoEnergy; Jorge Barredo, general director of Renewables, New Business and Innovation at Naturgy; María Eugenia Coronado, general director of Fundación Naturgy.