Award application

Innovation Award “Best CO₂ Utilisation 2025”

Six nominees published!

The “Best CO₂ Utilisation 2025” innovation award is a prestigious recognition shining a spotlight on groundbreaking technologies and products that effectively utilise CO₂. This year, six nominees are driving the future of Carbon Capture and Utilisation (CCU) across various industries, with breakthroughs in novel carbon capture and CO₂ electrolyser systems, sustainable polyurethane technologies, green methanol production, and processes for high-value carbon materials like graphite and carbon nanotubes from CO₂ emissions. 

Innovation in CCU is key to transforming CO₂ into a valuable resource for the chemicals and materials sector, supporting a circular carbon economy. By converting CO₂ into renewable carbon products, these technologies reduce dependence on fossil resources and create new business opportunities.

eChemicals (HU): Low-Temperature Electrolyser Technology for CO₂ Reduction to CO
eChemicles, a recognised Top Innovator by UpLink – World Economic Forum, has developed the world’s first containerised, scalable low-temperature CO₂ electrolyser system to revolutionise the chemical industry, driving its transition towards a better tomorrow. The technology is capable of directly utilising CO₂  in a waste-to-wealth manner, transforming emissions into valuable molecules. The electrolyser technology can be easily integrated with existing industrial infrastructure, enabling faster uptake and lower investment cost, without the need for scrapping previously built assets. It also has the potential to be directly coupled with renewable energy sources, contributing to balancing the intermittency of renewables. The stacked design is scalable, allowing easier transition to larger scales without redesign and providing more flexible scalability.
https://echemicles.com

Far Eastern New Century Corporation (TW): FENC® TopGreen® CO₂-based NIPU
The world’s first CO₂-based NIPU (Non-isocyanate Polyurethane) technology transforms CO₂ into high-performance elastomeric materials. Unlike traditional thermoplastics polyurethanes (TPU), which rely on toxic phosgene and isocyanates, this exclusive NIPU technology offers a safer, sustainable alternative for applications such as waterproof and breathable membranes, shoe uppers, midsoles, elastic fibres, and artificial leather. Utilising Far Eastern Group’s carbon capture technology, CO₂ is converted into chemicals with over 50 % CO₂ content, then combined with advanced polymer production to mass-produce CO₂-based NIPU elastomers, achieving permanent carbon capture. This innovation reduces carbon emissions by up to 58 % compared to traditional TPU manufacturing while delivering exceptional performance and sustainability.
https://www.fenc.com

Oxylus Energy (US): Methanol Producing Electrolyser
Oxylus Energy has developed a direct electrochemical approach to green methanol production. This remarkable carbon electrolysis technology directly converts industrial emissions into sustainable methanol with only renewable electricity and water. With this breakthrough technology, Oxylus can generate carbon-neutral and carbon-negative methanol at a competitive cost to fossil methanol. This approach not only enables direct decarbonisation of industrial emissions via carbon conversion to a liquid product, but also offers an economically viable route to defossilise the hard-to-abate sectors of aviation, shipping, and chemical production, responsible for ~11 % of global emissions.
https://oxylusenergy.com

Skytree (NL): Skytree Stratus
Skytree’s Stratus Direct Air Capture (DAC) Park provides a cost competitive source of CO₂ for Power to X facilities. This park can be connected to an electrolyser, which is fed with the water that is a by-product of the carbon capture process. The DAC Park and the electrolyser plant then provide inputs for the production of sustainable fuels at a synthesis plant. Unlike point source carbon capture (PSC), the DAC Park operates independent of other industrial activities, while climate modules allow global deployment; thus, the approach can optimise the DAC Park location based on electrolyser and electricity costs. The low temperature requirements of this technology allow it to be powered with industrial waste heat, geothermal heat & power, and other renewable energy sources.
https://www.skytree.eu

TNO (NL): Sorption Enhanced DME Synthesis (SEDMES)
The Sorption Enhanced DME synthesis technology – SEDMES – by TNO, provides an essential element in closing industrial cycles and contributing to a circular carbon economy by converting CO₂ efficiently into dimethyl ether (DME). DME has an important market potential in the current energy transition. It can replace diesel and LPG as well as become a major intermitted feedstock for the chemical industry or an important H₂ carrier. SEDMES combines two process steps in one reactor. CO₂ and (green) H₂ is converted to DME in one reactor step with high conversion rates and efficiency due to the in-situ separation of H₂O. The conversion rate increases significantly (>80 %) reducing recycles and downstream steps. Most recent milestone (2024) includes 1000 hrs operation of a state-of-the-art SEDMES pilot plant.
https://www.tno.nl/en

UP Catalyst (EE): Battery-Grade Graphite from CO₂
UP Catalyst has developed a process using Molten Salt CO₂ Capture and Electrochemical Conversion (MSCC-EC) Technology to transform CO₂ emissions into long-lived carbon materials such as graphite and carbon nanotubes (CNT). UP Catalyst’s technology has the lowest energy requirement per tonne of graphite produced. This technology produces carbon materials in a continuous process at 500-750 °C, significantly lower than the 2,800 °C required for conventional production, using 2x less energy to produce graphite compared to conventional synthetic graphite production methods and 20x less energy to produce CNTs.
https://upcatalyst.com

First stage: From now until 7 February 2025

Second stage: 3 March 2025

A jury consisting of representatives of the nova-Institute, the advisory board and sponsors of the conference will nominate the outstanding “Top 6” applicants prior to the conference.
After the jury has selected the “Top 6” candidates among the applicants, their application documents will be made available for download from the conference website to provide our audience and other interested individuals a first glimpse of these innovations.

Third stage: At the conference (29 April 2025)

In a short 10-minute presentation, each of the six companies or institutes will introduce their innovation on the first day of the conference (29 April). Following the presentations, the audience will choose the three winners, who will be presented with their awards at the Innovation Award Ceremony (likewise on 29 April), in the evening.
The “Top 6” will present their innovations in a shared exhibition space provided by the nova-Institute. Additionally, there is the option to book your own exhibition space.

Download: Overview of the past innovation award winners (PDF).