The University of Cantabria (UC), through its DePRO Research Group, is playing a leading role in the CAPTUS project by demonstrating how industrial CO₂ emissions can be converted into formic acid through electrochemical processes. This technology is being developed and scaled for operation at a cement plant operated by Cementos Portland Valderrivas in Mataporquera (Cantabria), one of three industrial demonstration sites across Europe.
UC’s role focuses on scaling up innovative reactor technologies from laboratory settings to a semi-industrial level, tailored to real operational conditions. The electroreduction of CO₂ into formic acid is a line of research that the DePRO group has been advancing for over a decade.
The choice of the cement sector as a demonstration target is deliberate, given its status as one of the highest CO₂-emitting industries globally. The Spanish pilot is one of three industrial-scale demonstrations within CAPTUS, alongside sites in Belgium and Portugal, each focused on producing a different high-value energy carrier from captured CO₂.
The involvement of UC, alongside other CAPTUS partners such as Apria Systems S.L., SINTEF Industry, and Fundación CIRCE, reinforces Europe’s scientific and technological leadership in the development of circular carbon technologies.
Watch the video below to get more insights into CAPTUS and the exiciting research field of the University of Cantabria. To read the full Spanish article and watch the original video, click here.