Innovative Carbon Utilization Pathways for Supporting Europe’s Just Transition: Insights from the LIFE CO2toCH4 Project

The Just Transition of coal-dependent regions represents one of the most demanding challenges within Europe’s ongoing energy transformation. The progressive phase-out of coal-fired power plants is associated with socio-economic implications, particularly in regions historically reliant on fossil-based energy production. At the same time, the transition must ensure energy security, industrial continuity, and the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in a rapidly changing energy landscape. Within this context, carbon mitigation strategies that go beyond simple emission reduction are gaining increasing attention. Carbon Capture and Utilization (CCU) technologies offer a promising pathway by transforming carbon dioxide emissions into valuable products. The LIFE CO2toCH4 project (https://co2toch4.eu/) addresses these challenges by developing and demonstrating an integrated CCU and hybrid energy storage system based on biological methanation, converting captured carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen into biomethane on-site through a mobile, autonomous unit. This approach contributes to emissions mitigation while enhancing energy system resilience and supporting a more circular use of carbon.

Beyond pilot-scale demonstration, the long-term impact of such technologies critically depends on their replicability and transferability across diverse geographical and industrial contexts. This work presents a structured replication and transferability framework supporting the large-scale deployment of CCU technologies across Europe. Replicability is addressed through the development of a replication roadmap, focusing on the identification of suitable power plant sites across Europe for the deployment of the CO2toCH4 technology. This assessment is based on a structured set of criteria, including the intensity of carbon dioxide emissions, geographical representativeness, and the commitment of installations to future sustainability pathways. The analysis is supported by comprehensive databases and corresponding maps of European non-renewable power plants, as well as a refined spatial representation of the selected priority sites identified as the most suitable candidates for replication. The transferability assessment highlights that the biogas sector emerges as particularly well-suited, as the carbon dioxide fraction of biogas can be further upgraded to methane, increasing biomethane yields and improving overall plant efficiency. Given the widespread deployment of biogas installations across the European Union, this application highlights the significant replication potential of the technology. Techno-economic assessments indicate that, despite relatively high upfront investment costs and uncertainties linked to early-stage deployment, the technology shows economic viability at large scales. Successful implementation, however, depends on supportive policy frameworks, access to targeted funding mechanisms, and regulatory recognition of CCU-derived fuels. Overall, LIFE CO2toCH4 illustrates the potential role of innovative CCU solutions in supporting the Just Transition, by exploring pathways for the utilization of carbon dioxide within emerging circular energy systems.

Acknowledgements

The project “LIFECO2toCH4 - Demonstration of a mobile unit for hybrid energy storage based on carbon dioxide capture and renewable energy sources” (LIFE20 CCM/GR/001642) is co-funded by LIFE, the EU’s financial instrument supporting environmental, nature conservation and climate action projects throughout the EU.