Imagine creating tiny, man-made bubbles that act like microscopic plants. These bubbles soak up sunlight, water, and CO2 to breathe out oxygen and create a liquid fuel called formate. It is essentially a way to mimic nature's photosynthesis to store solar energy in a stable liquid form.
Current solar technologies like photovoltaics cannot efficiently store energy or capture carbon simultaneously. There is a need for a decentralized way to produce green hydrogen vectors without relying on heavy cabled infrastructure.
The project is building synthetic plankton-like protocells containing two subdomains that convert light, water, and CO2 into oxygen and formate.
If you are a developer dealing with high carbon footprints in urban areas — this project developed synthetic protocells that turn buildings into micro-energy hubs. This allows structures to produce their own green energy vectors while cleaning the air.
If you are a fuel producer dealing with the difficulty of transporting hydrogen gas — this project developed a method to produce formate as a liquid hydrogen vector. This makes the storage and transport of solar-derived energy much safer and easier.
If you are a firm dealing with industrial CO2 emissions — this project developed artificial cells that autonomously convert CO2 into useful energy vectors. This transforms a waste product into a value-added chemical.
Based on available project data, specific implementation costs are not provided; however, the project is supported by an EU contribution of EUR 3,102,816 for research and development.
The project is currently in the fundamental research phase, focusing on assembling the first synthetic protocells. Industrial scaling is a long-term goal linked to the vision of Smart Buildings as Micro-Energy Hubs.
The project has established a specific IP policy to protect fundamental research advances monitored by their innovation radar activities.
The project period runs from 2023-04-01 to 2026-09-30, suggesting that commercial availability will follow the completion of this research phase.
The technology aims to move beyond conventional cabled assets, proposing a decentralized model where buildings act as independent micro-energy hubs.
The consortium is heavily research-oriented, consisting of 7 partners across 5 countries. With 3 universities and 3 research centers, the academic weight is high, while the industry ratio is low at 14% (only 1 technology-based company). This structure indicates a project focused on scientific discovery rather than immediate commercial rollout, though it is supported by a high-profile Scientific Advisory Committee from institutions like Princeton and Berkeley.
Contact the Consorzio Interuniversitario Nazionale per la Scienza e Tecnologia dei Materiali in Italy
Contact us to track the transition of these protocells from lab to pilot scale.
