SUNRISE – Solar Energy for a Circular Economy

Key information:

• EU funding: € 1 Million
• Total budget: € 1.08 Million
• Duration: 12 months [March 2019 – February 2020]

Background: M2i will ensure the management of the SUNRISE CSA, on behalf of the coordinator Leiden University, Prof. Huub de Groot. CSAs are Coordination and Support actions meant to streamline the efforts of the European scientific community active in a specific technology field. SUNRISE CSA is a collaborative project funded by Horizon 2020 to prepare a roadmap for a large scale European research initiative on solar energy conversion in chemical bonds, using sunlight and abundant elements to create fuels and commodity chemicals that will end the mankind’s dependence on fossil fuels. Such roadmaps were previously organised as Flagship initiatives, such as Graphene and Human Brain Projects , funded by the Future Emerging technologies (FET) programme. Currently, large scale research initiatives are being planned in the new structure of the emerging Horizon Europe programme and are expected to cover the full innovation spectrum, from fundamental research to innovation and commercial deployment.

SUNRISE targets three synergistic S&T approaches for a large scale research programme: 1. electrochemical conversion with renewable power; direct conversion via 2. photoelectrochemistry and 3.biological and biohybrid systems.
In 10 years, SUNRISE will bring renewable fuel production to TRL 9 at a cost of 0.4 €/L and atmospheric CO₂ photoconversion at TRL 7. The ambition is to convert up to 2500 tons of CO₂ and produce > 100 tons of commodity chemicals (per ha per year), realizing a 300% energy gain over present best practices and deploying devices on the 1000 ha scale. SUNRISE will make Europe the leading hub of disruptive technologies, closing the carbon cycle and providing a solar dimension to the chemical industry, with enormous economical, societal and environmental benefits.
In SUNRISE, M2i is a so called “third linked party”, under the direct responsibility of the coordinator Leiden University. Besides managing the CSA project, M2i will contribute its expertise to the creation of a sustainable business plan for the SUNRISE products, supported by a large industrial network.

Impact:
SUNRISE CSA will prepare the required groundwork to establish a fully developed large scale research initiative that will deliver the unifying goal of turning sunlight and molecules from our atmosphere into valuable fuels and base chemicals, using technologies that are scalable on the gigawatt and terawatt scales. SUNRISE will develop technologies that allow for the transformation of the energy and chemical industry sectors into a circular and sustainable resource economy. SUNRISE offers a solution to the long-term and large-scale storage of renewable energy from fluctuating primary sources. When implemented, SUNRISE will make Europe the global leader of a future clean-energy technology with major societal impact and ensure Europe’s energy independence.