eCO₂EP is a three-year programme that brings together researchers from the University of Cambridge, the University of California, Berkeley, the National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) to develop ways of transforming carbon dioxide (CO₂) emitted as part of the industrial process into compounds that are useful in the chemical industry supply chain.

Singapore’s National Research Foundation has approved funding of S$5m (£2.8m) for the eCO₂EP project within the Intra-CREATE programme. eCO₂EP is co-led by Prof. Alexei Lapkin, from Cambridge’s Centre for Advanced Research and Education in Singapore (CARES Ltd), and Prof. Joel Ager, from the Berkeley Education Alliance for Research in Singapore (BEARS Ltd).

The aim of the eCO₂EP project is to produce a “table-top chemical factory” that uses electrochemical processes to convert CO₂ into ethylene or to 1-propanol – two molecular products widely used in the chemical industry. Earlier research carried out at CREATE has demonstrated that CO₂ molecules can be transformed into hydrocarbons through the application of electricity. Intra-CREATE’s research will, among other things, study the viability of large-scale CO₂ reduction processes, including the use of off-peak renewable electricity in areas with excess capacity. The project will allow the exploration of a new energy-chemistry solution for a more sustainable future.

This research is supported by the National Research Foundation, Prime Minister’s Office, Singapore under its Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) programme.