SUNERGY is an open community advocating for solar fuels and chemicals as the new paradigm for a climate-neutral Europe in 2050. The community consists of a wide-range group of experts from industry, academia and society. SUNERGY aims at becoming a large European Research and Innovation initiative working towards the conversion and storage of renewable energy into fossil-free fuels and chemicals.

The challenge

The European Union is clear to stay on a steady path to climate neutrality through its plan against greenhouse emissions, the 'Fit for 55' package, with the EU Green Deal as a blueprint. Unless deep cuts are made in carbon dioxide (CO₂) and other greenhouse gas emissions, it will be very challenging to reach that goal. Renewable energy based on photovoltaics and wind energy needs to be supplemented with energy carriers to supply fuels to sectors and processes difficult to electrify, and to create non-fossil carbon feedstock for the chemical industry. These so-called solar fuels and chemicals are most often analogous to their fossil counterparts and can be incorporated into the existing energy value chains with minimal adjustments to the existing infrastructure — based on the transformation of abundant compounds, such as carbon dioxide, water and nitrogen, into synthetic fuels, chemicals and materials by using renewable energy.

The solution

By using energy from renewable sources (sunlight, wind) and abundant molecules (CO₂, water, nitrogen), we can produce fuels and chemicals that contribute to stopping global warming:

• Storage of renewable energy as fuels
• Production of fossil-free base chemicals for industry and agriculture
• Technologies with a negative CO₂ footprint

Our approach

Started under Horizon 2020, SUNRISE and ENERGY-X joined forces under the name SUNERGY. SUNERGY's goal is to develop a large-scale research and innovation initiative, as a public-private partnership or another instrument.

There is an urge to complement the scope of existing European partnerships and initiatives and enable the full decoupling of economic growth from the utilization of resources at the local, regional, national and European levels, for a sustainable resilient growing economy that leaves no one behind.

While current public-private partnerships focus on improvements on the demand side with limited impact, SUNERGY proposes a pipeline of high-impact technologies that boost efficiency on the supply side — with light-to-products and fuel conversion from atmospheric CO₂ at high yields up to 2,500 ton/ha.yr.

Thanks to the SUNER-C project — "SUNERGY Community and Eco-System for Accelerating the Development of Solar Fuels and Chemicals" (EU-funded CSA) — supporters joining the community are able to more easily connect and collaborate with colleagues from around Europe, join interesting events, and contribute to a joint roadmap and supporting strategies.