T-REX – On the transition to more renewable energy in power-to-X applications
T-REX focuses on Power-to-X, the use of electricity to produce other fuels and raw materials. The project is funded by the energy transition fund (ETF), and focuses on the conversion of CO2 into renewable materials via electrified routes. By making direct use of solar energy or connecting to a green grid, this project aims to increase the share of renewable energy in Belgium as much as possible. The detailed analysis of the catalysts, their stability and efficiency are central to the project and is supported by reaction modelling and techno-economic and life cycle analysis.
The EU has committed itself to a renewable energy transition and contribution to reach the Paris Agreement goals on climate change, limiting the average global temperature increase to well below 2°C before 2100. This was translated in a EU legislation with binding climate and energy targets for 2030 including each Member States National Energy and Climate Plan (NECP), setting out how to reach its national targets. The Belgian climate ambitions involve a 35% GHG reduction compared to 2005 by 2030 and at least 80% reduction compared to 1990 by 2050. It is clear that the impact of corresponding measures on competitiveness should be minimized for the industry. As the refining, chemical, iron & steel industries are energy-intensive and important CO2 emitters, appropriate technologies should be developed and implemented to realize this shift. This involves the decarbonization of energy production and ‘de-fossilization’ of fuel and chemical production, and encompasses different stakeholders, such as the industry, mobility and energy sector.
The large-scale deployment of renewable energy production requires buffering solutions, due to its intermittent nature, to stabilize the electricity grid. Depending on the operational boundary conditions, different strategies are available such as batteries for short-term storage, while Power-to-X approaches allow to store large seasonal electricity surpluses in chemical energy, in the form of hydrogen or liquid fuels. In the other sense, the Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) strategies rely on low-carbon energy, next to CO2 as carbon feedstock. For the setup of economic feasible value chains, recommendations were done in the European SET (Strategic Energy Technologies) Implementation plan, by WG9 in the context of CCU and CCS. These insights serve as the starting point for the T-REX project, as illustrated in Figure 1.
The (intermittent) availability of renewable electricity is taken as main boundary condition and value chains assessed, based on fully electrified, direct-solar and indirect grid-linked CO2 conversion processes (Figure 2). Ideally, these technologies can handle less pure CO2 streams (% content and impurities) from different industrial sources to lower upstream CO2 capture and pre-treatment costs. For this purpose, the processes would rely on robust catalyst systems, that enable high operational stability and overall energy efficiency. The full potential/impact is evaluated on roadmaps and their ambitions/targets for CO2 reduction, considering timeline and geography and positioned together with other heat-driven and/or H2 mediated CO2 conversion processes. The focus is on renewable fuels as relevant CCU end products (methanol, ethanol and H2) with given production cost and environmental footprint and their fit within regulatory frameworks (REDII).
The T-REX project consists of 3 work packages (WP1-3), that involve low TRL research within the process technology platforms of electro-, plasma- and photo-based catalysis (Figure 3). This is supported by fundamental atomistic insights by models on CO2-based reactions on the catalyst interphase in WP4. The research parameters and their sensitivity on the innovation’s feasibility are evaluated in WP5 by techno-economic models to set research targets, direct and follow-up the trajectory. In parallel and integrated with life cycle analysis the outcome is used in a decision-support framework and technology positioning in roadmaps (e.g. Deloitte’s roadmap study and context analysis on carbon circular and low-carbon Flemish Industry, Dechema roadmap and position paper, …) together with proper innovation benchmarks and the state-of-the-art.
Publications
| Involved partners (*corresponding partner) |
Title | Type (publication, report, ppt, review, …) | Link (if available: doi,….) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
imec* |
Effects of Iron Species on Low Temperature CO2 Electrolyzers |
Review article | Link |
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
Shining light on hybrid perovskites for photoelectrochemical solar to fuel conversion |
Review article |
Link |
|
VITO |
Carbon free gas diffusion electrode |
Patent |
Link |
|
VITO |
Unlocking Long-Term Stability in Metal-Based Gas Diffusion Electrodes for CO₂ Electroreduction |
Research article |
EES Catalysis, 2026, DOI: 10.1039/D5EY00330J |
|
VITO*, UMONS |
Restoring Formate Selectivity: In Situ Raman Study of Deactivated Electrodes for CO2 electroreduction |
Research article |
J. Phys. Chem. C |
|
UAntwerp |
Plasma catalytic dry reforming of methane: metal oxides vs. metallic catalysts |
ppt |
N.A. |
|
UAntwerp |
Plasma catalytic dry reforming of methane: metal oxides vs. metallic catalysts |
Research article |
N.A. |
|
UAntwerp |
Evaluating The Impact Of Different Metal Oxides On Plasma Catalytic Dry Reforming Of Methane |
Research article |
N.A. |
|
imec (imo-imomec), Uhasselt |
Origin of photoelectrochemical CO2 reduction on bare Cu(In,Ga)S2 (CIGS) thin films in aqueous media without co-catalysts |
Research article |
EES Catalysis, 3(2), 327, 2025 |
|
imec (imo-imomec), Uhasselt |
Elucidating Carrier Dynamics and Interface Engineering in Sb2S3: Toward Efficient Photoanode for Water Oxidation |
Research article |
ChemSusChem, 18, 14, e202402764, 2025 |
|
imec (imo-imomec), Uhasselt |
Precursor driven reconfiguration of bulk and interface enhances the solar-driven water splitting performance of carbon nitride photoanode |
Research article |
Nano Letters (just accepted), 2025 |
|
imec (imo-imomec), Uhasselt |
Surface Reconstruction Governs CO₂ Reduction Activity of Stable Cu(In,Ga)S₂ Photocathodes in Aqueous Media |
Research article |
ACS Energy Letters, 2025 |
|
imec (imo-imomec), Uhasselt, UMONS |
Fully textured monolithic Sb2S3/Silicon tandem for unbiased and stable solar-driven water splitting paired with iodide oxidation reaction |
Research article |
Advanced Science, 2025 |
|
VITO*, UMONS |
Restoring Formate Selectivity: In Situ Raman Study of Deactivated Electrodes for CO2 electroreduction |
Research article |
J. Phys. Chem. C |
Dissemination at conferences, symposia, workshops etc.
| Involved partners (*corresponding partner) |
Title |
Name of conference / symposium |
Link (e.g. conference website, etc.) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
VITO (ELEC) |
Unraveling the degradation mechanism in Metal-based electrodes for CO2 electroreduction with in-situ Raman spectroscopy |
8th Baltic Electrochemistry Conference |
Link |
|
VITO (ELEC) |
Improving the durability of metal-based electrodes for electrochemical CO2 reduction |
1st symposium on electrochemical conversion |
Link |
|
VITO (ELEC) |
Electrochemical CO2 conversion |
Workshop SPIN-NL |
personal invitation to VITO |
|
UAntwerp |
Supported metal oxide materials for plasma-catalytic dry reforming of methane |
Europacat 2023 |
|
|
UAntwerp |
Supported metal oxide materials for plasma-catalytic dry reforming of methane |
HAKONE XVIII – 18th International Symposium on High Pressure Low Temperature Plasma Chemistry, Italy |
|
|
UAntwerp |
Evaluating The Impact Of Different Metal Oxides On Plasma Catalytic Dry Reforming Of Methane |
11th ENMIX Young Researchers Meeting, Portugal |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
High performing carbon nitride photoanodes realized via chemical modification |
SURFCAT Summer School 2024 |
|
|
UMons |
Spin and transient delocalization in organic semiconductors |
CIMTEC 2024 ‘Materials in an explosively growing informatics world’ |
|
|
UMons |
Transient delocalization in conjugated organic materials |
11th triennial congress of the International Society of Theoretical Chemical Physics (ISTCP 2024) |
|
|
VITO |
CCU and EU Legislation |
Workshop on Plasma Catalysis |
|
|
VITO |
Cobalt Tetracationic 3,4-Pyridinoporphyrazine for Direct CO2 to Methanol Conversion Escaping the CO Intermediate Pathway |
5th International Solar Fuels Conference, Newcastle |
|
|
VITO |
Challenges in Upscaling Electrochemical Processes |
Annual Belgian–Dutch Electrochemistry Symposium, Antwerp |
|
|
UAntwerp |
Plasma catalytic dry reforming of methane: metal oxides vs. metallic catalysts |
Europacat 2025 |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
PV-Integrated Electrolyzers for Green Hydrogen |
ETF stakeholders event |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
Photoelectrochemical CO2 Reduction on Bare Cu(In,Ga)S2 Surface: Addressing the Stability and Selectivity Challenge in Photocathode Materials |
E-MRS Spring, Strasbourg, France |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
Engineering Cu(In,Ga)S2 (CIGS) Photocathodes with Tunable Co-Catalysts for Selective CO2 Photoelectroreduction |
247th ECS Meeting |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
Addressing the Stability and Selectivity Challenge in Photocathode Materials : Cu(In,Ga)S2 for PEC CO2 reduction |
5th International Solar Fuels Conference, Newcastle |
|
|
imec (imo-imomec)* |
Tunable chalcogenide semiconductors as versatile platform for photoelectrochemical fuel production |
MATSUS Fall meeting,Valencia |
|
|
UMONS |
Organic radicals for OLEDs, photovoltaics and quantum information science |
ECME conference, Cambridge, UK |
