Researchers are testing a new method of capturing CO₂ from energy-intensive industries and converting it into valuable chemicals and fuels.

In a potential game-changer for heavy industry, a magnesium-oxide mine in Greece received seven special containers in November 2024 with equipment designed to capture CO₂ and transform it into a valuable chemical, right there on site.

Long blamed for driving up the planet’s temperature, CO₂ could now be converted into jet fuel for passenger aircraft—cutting emissions from both mining and transport.

“We just started capturing CO₂, which is an amazing milestone,” said Dr. Haris Yiannoulakis, research and development manager at Grecian Magnesite, the producer of magnesium oxide.

The containers came from the Petrobrazi oil refinery in Romania. There, the carbon capture technology had been tried out as part of a project called ConsenCUS, involving seven countries and three test sites.

Getting down

The EU has set its sights on slashing greenhouse gas emissions by 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. The ultimate goal: climate neutrality for industry by 2050.

ConsenCUS brings together new technologies to trap CO₂ from three notoriously hard-to-abate industries: oil refining, mining and cement production. These sectors face a double challenge, as CO₂ is generated both from burning fossil fuels and from the raw materials themselves.

For example, at the Grecian Magnesite mine site, raw material magnesite—a natural mineral found in rocks—is mined and heated up to 2,000°C to yield magnesium oxide. This material is crucial to a wide range of European industries, from steel and glass to fertilizers, animal feed and pharmaceuticals.

The downside, however, is that the thermal treatment releases CO₂ both from the decomposition of magnesite and the fuel required for the process.

Three steps

The pilot plant in Greece is now tackling CO₂ conversion in three steps, explains Sara Vallejo Castaño, a chemical engineer at Wetsus research institute in the Netherlands.

First, a capture column separates CO₂ from factory gases, mixing it with water and potassium hydroxide. The CO₂ dissolves and reacts, forming potassium carbonate, which locks the gas in liquid form.

The second step uses electricity to raise the acidity of the solution, which releases CO₂.

This method is simpler and greener than traditional heating or hazardous chemicals because it uses only electricity and water as resources.

A third step turns the CO₂ into formic acid (or formate), a simple, naturally occurring chemical that can be found in nettles and ant bites.

“Formic acid is a well-known molecule used in the chemical sector,” said Dirk Koppert, the coordinator of ConsenCUS at New Energy Coalition, a nonprofit organization in the Netherlands.

One Dutch company, Coval Energy, already produces formic acid in this way from CO₂. The acid is then fed to microbes to make fats and proteins. The proteins could be ingredients in cattle and fish feed, while the fatty acids could one day be used as a replacement for jet fuel.

Tough cement

The first testing site for the new technology was at Aalborg Portland in northern Denmark. This is one of the largest cement manufacturers in Europe, producing up to 1.8 million tons of gray cement and 0.8 million tons of white cement annually and operating since 1889.

Sustainability is a major selling point for its cement. The factory now uses non-fossil fuels for more than 30% of its heating needs for gray cement production, for example.

“We are reducing our dependence on fossil fuels and reducing CO₂ emissions,” said Jesper Damfoft, sustainability director at the company.

But the manufacturing of cement still releases CO₂ in the process.

The main cement ingredients in Aalborg are sand, dredged from the Limfjord waterway, and chalk from a local quarry. This calcium-rich chalk is heated to temperatures of about 1,500°C to produce lime (calcium oxide), which is essential for manufacturing cement.

When heated, the chalk’s carbon and oxygen atoms combine to form CO₂ gas, making cement production a major source of global emissions—by some estimates, accounting for 7%–8% of the world’s total.

A way forward is to capture and store CO₂ underground, or put it to other uses, such as by making formic acid.

Under the EU’s emissions trading scheme, the price per excess ton of CO₂ that companies have to pay stood at around €73 in June 2025, but it is expected to rise.

“Carbon prices are relatively low, but are predicted to be €150 per ton in 2030, and who knows what they will be beyond that,” said Yiannoulakis. Clearly, European industries must prepare.

The new capture technology remained in Greece until June for testing. The hope is to move the technology closer to a commercial plant and put it to work to capture CO₂.

Working out the technicalities of how to capture CO₂ gas and produce a desirable chemical required a dozen industry and research partners to come together, including those from universities in Canada and China.

“Without EU funds, we would not be able to build this project and test these technologies,” said Koppert.

Bringing communities on board

However, technical expertise is only part of the story.

Jacob Nielsenat from Robert Gordon University in Scotland has been investigating how to give citizens a voice in these new technologies.

He quickly realized that “lots of people didn’t know what carbon capture is, so we were asking people to give us their opinion on something they didn’t know anything about.”

Along with his colleague Kostas Stavrianakis, he invented a card game to prompt discussions on carbon capture. Both believe that results will come. “Most citizens are perfectly able to understand the complexities around these technologies,” said Stavrianakis.

He emphasized that the industry needs to talk to local people. “If you want a project to go ahead, it is always better to involve communities so they can feel part of it.”

This article was originally published in Horizon the EU Research and Innovation Magazine.