The main objective of BIOCON-CO2 is to develop and validate in industrially relevant environment a flexible platform to biologically transform CO2 into added-value chemicals and plastics. The versatility and flexibility of the platform, based on 3 main stages (CO2 solubilization, bioprocess and downstream) will be proved by developing several technologies and strategies for each stage that will be combined as puzzle pieces. BIOCON-CO2 will develop 4 MCFs based on low-energy biotechnological processes using CO2 from iron&steel industry as a direct feedstock to produce 4 commodities with application in chemicals and plastics sectors using 3 different biological systems: anaerobic microorganisms (C3-C6 alcohols by Clostridia), aerobic microorganisms (3-hydroxypropionic acid by Cupriavidus necator) and enzymes (formic acid by recombinant resting E. coli cells and lactic acid by multi-enzymatic system). The technologic, socio-economic and environmental feasibility of the processes will be assessed to ensure their future industrial implementation, replicability and transfer to other CO2 sources, such as gas streams from cement and electricity generation industries. BIOCON-CO2 will overcome the current challenges of the industrial scale implementation of the biotechnologies routes for CO2 reuse by developing engineered enzymes, immobilization in nanomaterials, genetic and metabolic approaches, engineered carbonic anhydrases, pressurized fermentation, trickle bed reactor using advanced materials and electrofermentation. The project aims to capture at least 4% of the total market share at medium term (1.4Mtonnes CO2/year) and 10% at long term (3.5Mtonnes CO2/year) contributing to reduce EU dependency from fuel oils and support the EU leadership in CO2 reuse technologies. Policy recommendations and public perception and acceptance will be explored and a commercialization strategy will be executed by a detailed exploitation plan and technology transfer.

Key Enabling Technologies (KET´s) deployment will be the driving force for a significant part of the goods and services that will be available in the market in the next decade. Amongst KET´s, nano-enabled surfaces and membranes must be highlighted due to their huge potential to offer material solutions to address Sustainable Development Goals resulting in positive and sound impacts for the society and key industrial sectors NewSkin aims to create an Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB) to provide the Innovation Ecosystem with the necessary resources and services to uptake a set of game changing, efficient and cost-effective innovative processes to manufacture nano-enabled industrial and consumer products. During the Grant execution the Consortium partners will create an OITB, as well as its structure and procedures establishing a single-entry point, and will validate the OITB capacity to provide services to the I.E executing 165 showcases. After the Grant execution the OITB aims to generate €66.17 million revenues in 5 years creating a €6.7 billion KET market to be absorbed by an end user market of valued at €1 trillion. In 2029, end users markets will obtain economic benefits of about €52.6 billion savings per year mostly devoted to lower energy consumption, increased resources efficiency as well as a reduction of the carbon and volatiles footprint of 184CO2 MT per year and 0.57 MT of VOC’s per year.