Europe emits approximately 506.7 million tonnes of biogenic CO₂ a year, according to a 2020 study in the Journal of CO₂ Utilization. Sources include wine making, waste treatment and bioethanol production. CERNET, funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking, sets out to show that this carbon can be captured and used as a feedstock rather than released. Through three demonstrators, with activities in Italy, Belgium, Bulgaria, Slovenia and Spain, the project aims to convert biogenic CO₂ and methane into six ingredients and chemicals: L-alanine, protein hydrolysate, L-malic acid, sorbitol, PHA and ectoine.

The project started on 1 June 2025 and runs for four years. As we reach month 18, here is what the consortium has achieved so far, and what comes next.

What we have achieved so far

A shared framework for four value chains. The first year focused on establishing the baseline framework required for the implementation and monitoring of the CERNET value chains. Work Package 2 was completed at month 12, providing four key project deliverables covering Safe and Sustainable by Design, energy integration, KPI monitoring and feedstock management:

·      a Safe and Sustainable by Design (SSbD) framework that sets the safety and sustainability criteria every CERNET value chain will be judged against;

·      an energy audit of each production route, measured per kilogram of final product, showing where renewable heat, electricity and green hydrogen can replace fossil energy;

·      a monitoring framework of 69 key performance indicators and 55 supporting indicators covering technical, environmental, economic and social performance at the three demonstrators;

·      a feedstock plan describing how biogenic CO₂ and methane will be captured, cleaned, stored and moved, including a cross-border route from Bulgaria to Slovenia.

The first pilot is on site. At Bodegas Matarromera in Spain, the carbon capture and purification unit for Demonstrator 3, developed with CARTIF, has been installed and prepared for its first operational campaign. The unit is designed to purify the CO₂ released during wine fermentation and investigate the recovery of valuable aroma compounds.

A stronger consortium. Approved amendments to the Grant Agreement have brought new partners into the consortium, including i-Foria and Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP), and updated roles across the value chains. For Demonstrator 1, a significant part of the experimental work will use existing, validated pilot infrastructure at BBEPP instead of new pilot capacity. This reduces implementation risk, while the project's objectives remain unchanged.

Measuring impact from the start. Led by DREVEN, partners took part in life cycle assessment and life cycle costing workshops, working through scenarios for each demonstrator. Data collection has started, so that environmental and cost performance can be assessed alongside scale-up rather than only at the end.

A consortium that meets and works together. Since the kick-off in Zaragoza on 27 June 2025, partners have met every quarter in the Steering Committee, held technical sessions in Odense, Denmark, and gathered for the first General Assembly in Bazancourt, France.

What to expect in Phase 2

The second phase focuses on moving from design to demonstration. Each demonstrator follows its own route:

·      Demonstrator 1, Italy and Belgium: CO₂ captured from biogas upgrading at an organic waste treatment plant in Italy will be used in oxyhydrogen gas fermentation trials at BBEPP, aiming to produce L-alanine and protein hydrolysate.

·      Demonstrator 2, Bulgaria and Slovenia: CO₂ from bioethanol production will be converted into methanol, which microbes will then turn into L-alanine, L-malic acid and sorbitol.

·      Demonstrator 3, Spain: CO₂ from the winery and a biogas plant will be used to make PHA, a biodegradable plastic, while methane from the same biogas plant will be turned into ectoine, a cosmetic ingredient.

The main planned steps are set out below. Timing may differ between demonstrators, as each follows its own schedule.

1.     Capture and purification systems (month 18, November 2026): the demonstrators are completing the preparation, testing and optimisation of their capture and purification systems, taking into account the specific requirements and schedule of each site.

2.    Demonstration preparation and integration (from month 24, May 2027): integration of the conversion technologies at the demonstration sites and preparation of the first runs under relevant industrial conditions, in accordance with the updated schedule of each value chain.

3.    Process optimisation (planned for month 30, November 2027): optimisation and integration of the conversion processes, followed by the first analysis of products from scaled-up runs.

4.    First business models (planned for month 36, May 2028): led by ENCO, together with a first version of the exploitation strategy and a prototype decision support tool to help other bio-based industries replicate CERNET.

5.    Demonstration and product validation (planned for month 42, November 2028): ingredients and chemicals to be tested against the quality requirements of the food, cosmetics, cleaning and packaging sectors, and the life cycle, cost and social assessments to be completed.

Alongside the technical work, the project will identify and develop its Key Exploitable Results, map the regulatory and certification steps needed to bring the products to market, and assess the potential regulatory and economic relevance of captured biogenic carbon, including its possible treatment under applicable EU climate and carbon-accounting frameworks. By the end of the project, CERNET aims to demonstrate the capture and conversion of biogenic gaseous carbon at its demonstration sites and validate six bio-based products.

Get involved

CERNET brings together research centres, technology developers and industrial partners from across Europe, including the wineries, waste operators and bioethanol producers that release the gases in the first place. If your organisation emits biogenic CO₂ or methane, or could use bio-based ingredients like those CERNET aims to produce, we would like to hear from you.

Follow progress on cernetproject.eu, on LinkedIn and on X, and subscribe to the newsletter for updates from the demonstrators.