A new European Commission-backed project has been established to develop sustainable hubs in diverse industrial areas of the process industry by focusing on the key areas of resource efficiency, renewable energy production, and waste prevention. The Horizon Europe Innovation Action project, entitled “Sustainable circular economy transition: from industrial symbiosis to hubs for circularity (IS2H4C)”, will promote industrial, urban, and rural symbiosis, using innovative technologies such as carbon capture and electrolysis.

The four-year project involving a consortium of 35 partners, led by the University of Twente (Enschede, Netherlands; www.utwente.nl), aims to develop four demo industrial hubs: Hub Twente in the Netherlands, Basque Hub in the north of Spain, Höchst Industrial Park in Germany, and Izmir-Manisa Hub in Turkey. The European Commission has granted EUR 20 mn to the initiative, bringing the total budget to EUR 23.5 mn.

“IS2H4C is not just a project; it’s a movement and systemic shift towards a sustainable and circular future,” said Devrim Murat Yazan from University of Twente’s sustainable circular economy research team. “Our collaboration among European partners is a testament to what we can achieve when we align innovation with environmental consciousness in different geographical contexts and achieve ‘high-tech, human touch’ ”.

The ambition is to set a new standard in sustainable regional development models, making a profound impact on industrial practices, societal well-being, and environmental sustainability, the partners said. The project will use a digital collaboration platform to manage the sharing of resources, infrastructure, and information across the hubs via the embedding of decision-support modules. IS2H4C aims to reduce energy use, waste emissions, and carbon emissions by at least 10%, 20%, and 30% respectively. The project will also apply novel financial schemes and social innovation approaches to unlock public and private investment.

Looking at the Twente area, this contains a small-scale hydrogen hub that will be developed into a positive energy district by becoming independent from natural gas and fossil-based electricity. Planned synergies include the production of green hydrogen gas with electrolysis based on solar and wind energy. This hydrogen gas will be transported via existing natural gas pipelines and proposed hydrogen gas pipelines, and will also be used in a crematorium. A wastewater treatment unit will use the oxygen gas also formed during electrolysis for water purification. The treated water can then be used for electrolysis, completing the circle.

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In Turkey, the Izmir-Manisa area contains oil and gas and household appliances companies. Planned collaborations include producing green hydrogen through electrolysis using renewable energy and capturing carbon dioxide from oil refining via carbon capture adsorption. This green hydrogen and captured carbon dioxide are then used to make eco-methanol. The captured carbon dioxide is utilised again, this time to make non-isocyanate PU, which can be used in the production of refrigerators, contributing to more environmentally friendly manufacturing processes, the partners said. Consortium partner Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (Karlsruhe, Germany; www.isi.fraunhofer.de/en) is contributing to the Turkish hub its expertise in the field of methanol synthesis and the synthesis of dicarbamates from carbon dioxide.

The Industriepark Höchst in Germany contains chemicals and pharmaceuticals companies. Planned collaborations involve capturing carbon dioxide, for example from waste incineration plants, and using hydrogen obtained from existing electrolysis. Both the captured carbon dioxide and hydrogen are then used to produce chemical raw materials such as eco-methanol, which can be used in the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. 

The Basque hub contains oil refining, steel, pulp and paper, and lime industries, plus a public wastewater treatment plant. Planned collaborations include using oxygen and hydrogen in the steel industry, potentially from electrolysis in the oil refining sector. In addition, carbon dioxide will be captured from the lime industry and used to make methane or, in the future, to create synthetic fuels. A further plan is to use the captured carbon dioxide from the lime industry to turn steel waste into building materials for the cement industry.