BAC-TO-FUEL aimed to respond to the global challenge of finding new sustainable alternatives to fossil fuels by developing, integrating and validating a disruptive prototype system at TRL5 which is able to transform CO2/H2 into added-value products in a sustainable and cost-effective way which:

1- Mimics the photosynthetic process of plants using novel inorganic photocatalysts which are capable of producing hydrogen in a renewable way from photocatalytic splitting of water in the presence of sunlight.

2- Uses enhanced bacterial media to convert CO2 and the renewable hydrogen into biofuels (i.e. ethanol and butanol both important fuels for transport) using a novel electro-biocatalytic cell which can handle fluctuations in hydrogen and power
supply lending itself to coupling to renewable energy technologies
BAC-TO-FUEL is a multidisciplinary project which brings together leaders in the fields of materials chemistry, computational chemistry, chemical engineering, microbiology and bacterial engineering. BAC-TO-FUEL will validate a prototype system at TRL5 which is able to transform CO2/H2 into added-value products in a sustainable and cost-effective way specifically for the European transport sector.

BAC-TO-FUEL has been looking to validate at TRL5 a prototype system for advanced renewable fuel production through biological conversion of CO2 and renewable hydrogen. It is one of three projects selected under the call LC-SC3-RES-2-2018 – Disruptive innovation in clean energy technologies. Although the validation of the overall system in a relevant environment has not been fulfilled, the consortium has achieved valuable results at the level of different work packages with significant potential for innovation and exploitation, with the publication of eight peer reviewed publications and a patent filed to protect the technology.