Professor Miguel Madeira recognised by multinational Air Liquide

Luís Miguel Madeira, full professor of Chemical Engineering Department at FEUP and scientific coordinator of the Laboratory for Process, Environmental, Biotechnology and Energy Engineering (LEPABE/ALiCE), has been awarded a prize of 50,000 euros as part of the 3rd edition of Air Liquide’s Scientific Challenge, aimed at innovative solutions for decarbonising industrial ecosystems in the area of “Energy storage using essential small molecules”.

Renewable energies are intermittent by nature. To ensure their widespread adoption and contribute to the decarbonisation of the energy sector (among others), it is essential to develop new ways of storing and reusing energy using essential small molecules. The award-winning project centres on the development of a new technology based on an innovative cyclical system to produce methane (CH₄) as an energy vector from CO₂ captured by industry and renewable hydrogen (H₂).

The award also gives the team the opportunity to develop a project with Air Liquide over the next three to four years to develop this technology. The team is made up of Miguel Soria, Cláudio Rocha and Joana Martins (among other DEQ colleagues) and will have access to a line of funding fully sponsored by the French multinational.