Figure 18 Value chain of technical photosynthesis established by Siemens and Evonik
Socio-economic opportunities and obstacles faced by the project Opportunities and support factors that have been driving the technology development: •
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Evonik and Siemens were driven by the goal of combining technology to prove that artificial photosynthesis was feasible. The focus was to help convert and store renewable electrical energy efficiently. The benefits were, however, proven to be multiple; the Rheticus technology is able to contribute to the reduction of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere, since it uses CO2 as raw material. Moreover, it means chemicals can be produced in a much more sustainable way. Support from the Kopernicus Inititative (which focuses on the energy transition in Germany) is one of the biggest drivers of the project. It will receive €2.8 million in funding from Germany’s Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).78 Another driver appears to be the CO2 tax in Germany, which makes a strong business case for Rheticus as it is now easier to convince companies to get involved in the project. The plant will be easy to adapt to different production requirements. It is modular and flexible regarding the location, the raw material sources and products manufactured. This adaptive characteristic makes the technology very attractive for the specialty chemicals industry.
Obstacles challenging the development of the technology and/or project: •
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The energy source used for the electrolysis needs to be green and renewable, however it is really challenging to secure clean energy sources. A sufficient supply of clean energy is required, which means that the renewable energy sector has to grow to be able to respond to the demands of the project. Moreover, national plans and strategies to move to a greener energy system are still under construction in Germany which makes it difficult to go forward. The main obstacle is linked to the scientific development of the technology and to scale-up. The pilot plant has proven successful, however some elements linked to scientific barriers could go wrong when scaling up. These elements cannot be predicted in advance, but they will have to be dealt with. The present scientific barriers are related to time and to proving the feasibility of the technology.
https://corporate.evonik.com/en/pages/article.aspx?articleId=25100
CCU hub in the North Sea Port
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