More sober and sustainable, the new French energy model, promoted by the energy transition law for green growth, provides for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the reduction of energy consumption and dependence on fossil fuels, said Veolia. There are also the issues of energy sovereignty and the autonomy of supplies. All of these topics, and more specifically the decarbonization of industry and the circular economy, are at the heart of this unique partnership between industrial and scientific players, experts in the fields of CO2 recovery and recovery, the company announced.       

The shared skills of the partners will be concentrated on the development of a new technology for the electrochemical transformation of CO2 into formic acid, methanol and methane. Unlike existing technologies, this technology would make it possible to optimise energy consumption and costs and could therefore be easily installed on existing industrial sites without disrupting their operation, as per the statement.

The first stage of the research will be to demonstrate the feasibility of this process. Depending on the initial results, the manufacture of a compact and modular prototype could be installed on wastewater treatment plants initially, then on waste incineration and methanisation facilities. It will be used to prepare the stages of the change of scale within the framework of industrial and commercial exploitation of the CO2 transformation technology.

"We are proud to be able to join forces with the world's best research teams on this theme - the Collège de France and the CEA - and the SIAAP, the largest public sanitation service in Europe, to bring out a new way of valuing CO2,” commented Antoine Frérot, Chairman and CEO of Veolia. “Technologies related to the treatment of CO2, a crucial area for ecological transformation, are among the strategic priorities for Veolia. I am enthusiastic about the research project we are launching today, which makes it possible to advance the subject and in the future generate industrial solutions capable of providing an answer to the challenges of energy sovereignty and decarbonization.”

According to Marc Fontecave, professor at the Collège de France, “energy and environmental transition requires more than ever an alliance between basic research, technological research and industrial research. As such, the Collège de France is fully committed to building a new world that is more respectful of the environment and fairer, as evidenced by its new "Sustainable Common Future" initiative and multidisciplinary research in experimental, human and social issues associated with this program. This is also the direction of the efforts of the Collège de France chairs in the field of energy and the environment and of their industrial partnerships, such as the exemplary one set up with Veolia, the SIAAP and the CEA.”

“The question of carbon neutrality is at the heart of industrial issues, in particular those of wastewater treatment. To meet this challenge and provide concrete answers, this partnership between industrial players and scientists takes on its full meaning. The recovery and recovery of materials, and in particular carbon, and our ability to make our WWTPs (water treatment plants) StaRRe (Water Resource Recovery Stations) are a strong focus of our innovation,” said François-Marie DIDIER, President of SIAAP.