Baden-Württemberg is investing 3 million euros in climate technologies!

Baden-Württemberg is investing 3 million euros in climate technologies!

In a latest initiative, the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Economics, Labor and Tourism has announced funding for innovative projects that aim at sustainable technologies. Specifically, it is about the projects “DACscale” and “HyReference”, which are supported at the Center for Solar Energy and Hydrogen Research (ZSW) with a sum of around three million euros from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This funding could prove groundbreaking in strengthening competitiveness and climate goals in the European Union. Baden-Württemberg will receive around 279 million euros from the ERDF in the current funding period until 2027, as baden-wuerttemberg.de reports.

But what is behind these projects? The ZSW is a leader in research on direct air capture (DAC) and electrolysis technologies. As part of “DACscale”, the DAC technology, which makes it possible to remove CO2 directly from the atmosphere, is to be made suitable for mass use. The large-scale “DAC-10” system, which is already one of the largest of its kind in Germany, plays a key role here. This will be further optimized as part of the project and subjected to trial operation. The need to remove carbon from the air is becoming increasingly urgent worldwide, especially in light of climate goals and the Paris Agreement, as equinor.com highlights.

Strategic technologies in focus

The “HyReference” project, on the other hand, aims to facilitate market access for the electrolysis industry. An existing electrolysis system is integrated into a practical operating environment that will be operated at the ZSW Ulm location for a period of around 15 months. These measures are intended to help increase the competitiveness of the electrolysis industry. The state's research strategy also supports these projects in order to advance innovations and climate protection technologies.

The initiative is part of the Strategic Technologies for Europe (STEP) program launched by the EU in March 2024 to promote critical and emerging technologies. The focus is primarily on the development and establishment of these technologies, which are crucial for achieving climate goals. What does this mean specifically for the industry? A liquid-based approach to DAC can be powered entirely by renewable energy, creating both environmental and economic benefits. In the early phase, test results were achieved that exceeded expectations, as Equinor's reports show.

Conclusion and outlook

In summary, it can be said that the funding of these projects not only contributes to strengthening Baden-Württemberg as a location for innovation, but also represents an important step towards a climate-neutral future. ZSW's commitment and collaboration with industrial partners and technology developers could be exactly the key to successfully overcoming the challenges of the climate crisis. If everything goes well, we can look forward to the progress that the “DACscale” and “HyReference” projects will bring in the coming years - because not only is the future programmatically at stake here, but also all of our responsibility for a planet worth living in.