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Industrial Technologies INNOVATION
Oxalic acid selective hydrogenation to ethylene glycol
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Market Maturity: Business Ready
These are innovations that are putting concrete market-oriented ideas together and are, for example, pursuing market studies, business plans, engagements with relevant partner and end-users. Learn more
Market Creation Potential
This innovation was assessed by the JRC’s Market Creation Potential indicator framework as having a High” level of Market Creation Potential. Only innovations that are showing multiple signals of market creation potential are assigned a value under this indicator system. Learn more
Women-led innovation
A woman had a leadership role in developing this innovation in at least one of the Key Innovator organisations listed below.
Go to Market needs
Needs that, if addressed, can increase the chances this innovation gets to (or closer to) the market incude:
  • Prepare for Market entry
  • Secure capital
  • Scale-up market opportunities
Location of Key Innovators developing this innovation
Key Innovators
UN Sustainable Development Goals(SDG)
This innovation contributes to the following SDG(s)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL 9
Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation

The UN explains: "Investments in infrastructure – transport, irrigation, energy and information and communication technology – are crucial to achieving sustainable development and empowering communities in many countries. It has long been recognized that growth in productivity and incomes, and improvements in health and education outcomes require investment in infrastructure."

The EU-funded Research Project
This innovation was developed under the Horizon 2020 project OCEAN with an end date of 31/07/2022
  • Read more about this project on CORDIS
Description of Project OCEAN
The OCEAN project aims to develop an integrated process for the production of high-value C2 chemicals from carbon dioxide using electrochemistry. This will be achieved by: 1) improving and optimizing a TRL5 technology that can convert carbon dioxide to formate, to TRL6. OCEAN will bring this technology just one-step away from commercialization, by demonstrating this technology at the site of an industrial electricity provider, converting 250 g of CO2 per hour at 1.5 kA/m2. The energy efficiency will be improved by coupling the cathodic reaction to the oxidation of glucose at the anode, using a novel technology to match the kinetics of the reactions at both electrodes. The obtained formate can be converted to oxalate. 2)Developing new electrochemical methodologies to further convert formate and oxalate to formic acid and oxalic acid, respectively. Novel salt-splitting will be investigated using bipolar membranes. Again, this allows for direct coupling with an electrosynthesis step at the anode and/or cathode. 3) Developing new electrochemical methodologies by converting oxalic acid to glycolic acid and other high-value C2-products, these will be benchmarked with conventional hydrogenation. 4) Integrating the TRL6 and new (TRL4-5) electrochemical technologies in an industrial process, aimed at the production of high-value C2 products and polymers thereof by developing the process steps needed to produce oxalate, C2 products and polymers. 5) Demonstrating the economic feasibility by performing a market analysis and making a business case and exploitation strategy. Overall, OCEAN aims at addressing the critical elements that are currently hindering new electrochemical processes by targeting high value products that have the corresponding production margin to introduce this technology on the market, lower the power costs by combining oxidation and reduction, and a trans-disciplinary approach that is needed for the introduction of these advanced technologies.

Innnovation Radar's analysis of this innovation is based on data collected on 08/09/2022.
The unique id of this innovation in the European Commission's IT systems is: 109357