Revolutionizing the production of solar fuels

In light of climate change and the energy transition, solar fuels represent a sustainable solution for environmentally friendly energy supply—whether in mobility, private households, or industrial sectors with high CO₂ emissions. Artificial photosynthesis is a promising approach to producing solar fuels. However, artificial photosynthesis is currently too expensive, and its efficiency and suitability for industrial applications need to be improved.

The overarching goal of SUNGATE is to provide technology that can ensure a cost-efficient global energy supply and contribute to climate neutrality by 2050.

The interdisciplinary SUNGATE consortium, consisting of 12 industry and research partners from six EU countries and Turkey, aims to counteract these limitations by combining the principles of artificial photosynthesis with photoelectrocatalysis, flow microreactor technology, and biotechnology. The unique modular and scalable SUNGATE technology is designed to enable flexible, defossilized production of solar fuel for a wide range of applications. This should pave the way for a unique, modular technology system that, unlike established photoelectrochemical systems, does not use toxic or critical raw materials.

SUNGATE uses sunlight as its sole energy source, while water and CO₂ serve as inexhaustible raw materials that are then converted into solar fuels such as methanol or formate. At the same time, SUNGATE researchers combine environmentally friendly technologies in a modular structure, making the production of solar fuels scalable.

In addition to project coordination, Fraunhofer IME is responsible for developing a robust multi-enzyme cascade for reducing CO2 to methanol as part of SUNGATE and is playing a key role in improving the properties of photoactive components of the single-celled red algae Cyanidioschyzon merolae using genome engineering.