Biotechnology application for CCU

The Horizon Europe call HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-08 focuses on the "Biotechnology application for CCU," aimed at developing innovative life sciences-based technologies for carbon capture and utilization. This opportunity is structured as an Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a total budget of €12 million, providing two grants of €6 million each, open to applicants from EU member states and associated countries. The call opens on April 20, 2027, and closes on September 22, 2027, requiring a single-stage submission.

Eligible applicants include small and medium enterprises, large companies, research institutions, and universities, particularly those with capabilities in biotechnology and industrial processes. The funding mechanism employs a lump sum grant model, allowing for flexibility in budget usage, with no mandatory co-funding required.

Projects are expected to address various activities like developing and validating technologies that convert gaseous carbon into sustainable feedstock for industrial processes, emphasizing environmental and economic sustainability and scalability. Collaboration with diverse partners and alignment with EU initiatives is encouraged, focusing on enhancing the carbon neutrality objective and promoting circular economy strategies.

While specific success rates are not provided, the typical competition suggests a success rate between 10% and 39%. The application process includes detailed guidelines and support resources, ensuring clarity regarding eligibility, evaluation criteria, and submission procedures. The initiative is positioned to advance the EU's objectives related to carbon removals, clean industrial processes, and sustainability within the bioeconomy framework.

This is a Horizon Europe (HORIZON) call, specifically Call 01 single stage (2027) (HORIZON-CL6-2027-01). The topic is Biotechnology application for CCU, specifically HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-08. It is a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant [HORIZON-AG-LS] Model Grant Agreement (MGA). The deadline model is single-stage. The planned opening date is 20 April 2027, and the deadline date is 22 September 2027 at 17:00:00 Brussels time.

The expected outcome is that successful proposals should contribute to the objectives of the EU Carbon Removals and Carbon Farming Certification (CRCF) Regulation and the Clean Industrial Deal, allowing industrial operators to use a sustainable carbon source as feedstock. They should facilitate innovators to scale up promising solutions in scope of the Strategy for European Life Sciences and the Biotech Act, also supporting the implementation of the EU Startup and Scaleup Strategy as well as the EU strategy on research and technology infrastructure. Project results are expected to contribute to innovative and improved purification and conversion of gaseous carbon, developed and scaled up to provide feedstock for industrial processes promoting circularity and climate neutrality, and advanced industries applying life sciences technologies and biotechnology contribute to the climate neutrality objective.

The scope includes increasing industrial productivity and competitiveness without unsustainable exploitation of resources, making the sustainable sourcing of non-virgin-fossil carbon (i.e., carbon from sustainable sourced biomass, gaseous carbon, waste) essential for European industries, especially considering the production of chemicals and materials. Proposals should address the following activities: review the up-to-date progress of R&I in the use of life sciences-based technologies for Carbon Capture and Use (CCU) phases taking into account the capture of gaseous carbon from any industrial emission and the atmosphere and its purification and conversion into products, provide an assessment of their technological readiness, strengths and weaknesses and their potential of carbon storage in products, develop and test innovative and effective life sciences-based technologies, either synthetic biology and/or living microorganisms, to concentrate, purify and convert gaseous carbon efficiently into suitable feedstock to produce products, products in scope exclude food/feed and biofuels/syngas, perform a preliminary assessment of the environmental impacts, the social and economic viability and business case of the developed technologies, including their scalability and the identification of markets for their output bio-based products, demonstrate one or more technology(ies) among those developed and tested, with the highest environmental, economic and social sustainability, evaluate and disseminate the replication potential of the demonstrated solution(s), including technical and economic/financial recommendations for SMEs and industrial operators in general, and assess the feasibility of establishing a spin-off to implement the results from the best technology(ies) demonstration. International cooperation is encouraged, as well as in the development of innovative technologies and evaluation of their replication potential. Synergies with activities under Cluster 5 and the Circular Bio-based Europe (CBE) Joint Undertaking are encouraged. Projects funded under this topic should collaborate, for example within the activities concerning the exploitation of the IP of the developed technologies and at least within the dissemination activities.

The general conditions include: Admissibility Conditions, described in Annex A and Annex E of the Horizon Europe Work Programme General Annexes, with proposal page limits and layout described in Part B of the Application Form available in the Submission System. Eligible Countries are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes, with specific provisions for non-EU/non-Associated Countries outlined in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide. Other Eligible Conditions are described in Annex B of the Work Programme General Annexes. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in Annex C of the Work Programme General Annexes. Evaluation and award criteria, scoring, and thresholds are described in Annex D of the Work Programme General Annexes. Submission and evaluation processes are described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes and the Online Manual. The indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement is described in Annex F of the Work Programme General Annexes. Legal and financial set-up of the grants includes the granting authority's right to object to a transfer of ownership or exclusive licensing of results for up to 4 years after the action's end, as set out in Annex 5. Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021. Annex G of the Work Programme General Annexes also applies.

Specific conditions are described in the specific topic of the Work Programme. Application and evaluation forms and the model grant agreement (MGA) include application form templates available in the Submission System (Standard application form (HE RIA, IA)), evaluation form templates (Standard evaluation form (HE RIA, IA)), the HE Programme Guide, Lump Sum MGA, call-specific instructions, a detailed budget table (HE LS), and guidance on lump sums. Additional documents include the HE Main Work Programme 2026-2027 (General Introduction, Food, Bioeconomy, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Environment, and General Annexes), the HE Programme Guide, the HE Framework Programme 2021/695, the HE Specific Programme Decision 2021/764, the EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, the Decision authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, the EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, the Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, and the Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

The budget overview lists several topics, their budget in EUR for the year 2027, the type of action, the stages (single-stage), the opening date (2027-04-20), the deadline (2027-09-22), the contributions, and the indicative number of grants. The topics include various HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions (HORIZON-RIA), HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions (HORIZON-CSA), and HORIZON Innovation Actions (HORIZON-IA) related to biodiversity (BIODIV), circular bioeconomy (CIRCBIO), and zero pollution (ZEROPOLLUTION). The contributions and indicative number of grants vary for each topic.

Partner search announcements are available for collaboration on this topic. LEARs, Account Administrators, or self-registrants can publish partner requests. The submission system is planned to open on the date stated on the topic header. There are no topic Q&As listed. General FAQs are available.

Support is available through careful reading of all provisions, the Online Manual, the Horizon Europe Programme Guide, the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, the Research Enquiry Service, National Contact Points (NCPs), the Enterprise Europe Network, the IT Helpdesk, the European IPR Helpdesk, CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk and ETSI Research Helpdesk, the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for their recruitment, and the Partner Search tool.

In summary, this Horizon Europe call focuses on promoting biotechnology applications for carbon capture and utilization (CCU) to support the EU's climate and industrial goals. It seeks proposals for innovation actions that develop and scale up life sciences-based technologies for converting gaseous carbon into valuable feedstocks, excluding food, feed, and biofuels. The call encourages international collaboration, synergies with other EU initiatives, and the involvement of SMEs. Funding will be provided as a lump sum, and projects are expected to assess the environmental, economic, and social sustainability of their technologies, as well as their potential for replication and spin-off creation. The call provides a comprehensive framework for applicants, including eligibility criteria, evaluation procedures, and support resources.

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types are not explicitly stated, but the call is part of the Horizon Europe program, which generally includes a wide range of applicants such as universities, research institutes, SMEs, large enterprises, and other organizations. The call encourages participation from SMEs and industrial operators.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically a HORIZON Innovation Action (HORIZON-IA) with a HORIZON Lump Sum Grant (HORIZON-AG-LS). Eligible costs will take the form of a lump sum as defined in the Decision of 7 July 2021 authorising the use of lump sum contributions under the Horizon Europe Programme – the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2021-2027) – and in actions under the Research and Training Programme of the European Atomic Energy Community (2021-2025).

Consortium Requirement: The need for a consortium is not explicitly mentioned, but collaboration is encouraged. Partner search tools are available, suggesting that consortia are welcome and possibly expected.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility includes EU and non-EU/non-Associated Countries. A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects. See the information in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Target Sector: The target sectors are biotechnology, life sciences, circular bioeconomy, climate neutrality, industrial processes, carbon capture and utilization (CCU), and technologies related to carbon purification and conversion.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are mentioned, but the opportunity is open to EU member states, associated countries, and potentially other non-EU countries as specified in the Horizon Europe Programme Guide.

Project Stage: The project stage is aimed at scaling up promising solutions, demonstrating technologies, and evaluating replication potential, suggesting a focus on demonstration and validation stages, potentially leading to commercialization.

Funding Amount: The budget for the topic HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-08 is EUR 12,000,000. The indicative number of grants is 2, suggesting an average contribution of around EUR 6,000,000 per project. Other topics in the same call have different budgets and indicative contributions. For example, HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-BIODIV-04 has a budget of EUR 24,000,000 and expects to award around 3 grants, each around EUR 8,000,000.

Application Type: The application type is an open call with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of a lump sum grant to support research, development, demonstration, and innovation activities.

Application Stages: The application process is a single-stage process.

Success Rates: The success rates are not explicitly mentioned, but the indicative number of grants for each topic provides some insight into the expected number of funded projects.

Co-funding Requirement: The presence of a co-funding requirement is not explicitly stated, but Horizon Europe actions often imply that the lump sum covers a certain percentage of the total eligible costs, with the beneficiaries covering the remainder.

Summary: This Horizon Europe call, specifically topic HORIZON-CL6-2027-01-CIRCBIO-08, focuses on "Biotechnology application for CCU," aiming to scale up biotechnological solutions for carbon capture and utilization. The call seeks proposals that contribute to the EU's objectives for carbon removals, carbon farming certification, and the Clean Industrial Deal. It targets innovators in life sciences and biotechnology to develop technologies for purifying and converting gaseous carbon into sustainable feedstock for industrial processes. The funding is provided as a lump sum grant, and projects are expected to demonstrate their technologies, assess their environmental and economic viability, and evaluate their replication potential. The call encourages international cooperation and collaboration with other EU initiatives. Eligible applicants include a wide range of organizations, including SMEs and industrial operators, from EU member states, associated countries, and potentially other non-EU countries. The overall goal is to increase industrial productivity and competitiveness while promoting circularity and climate neutrality through the sustainable sourcing of non-virgin-fossil carbon. The call is a single-stage open call with a deadline in September 2027.