PROCESSES4PLANET: Shaping the transformation

Àngels Orduña, Executive Director A.SPIRE 

Evelina Paunksnyte, Operations Manager, A.SPIRE 

The European Process Industry is undergoing two transitions: their transformation towards climate neutrality and circularity, and an economic transition linked to the context of the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis. Europe cannot afford to become the first climate-neutral continent in the world at the expense of leaving citizens behind. The technological transformation of the process industry and preserving its competitiveness must go hand in hand to achieve a fair transition. 

Edges provide the opportunity for innovation and change. With only two rounds of investments ahead, the urgency to drastically reduce emissions is pushing the investment agenda of the ten sectors engaged in the association A.SPIRE. Developing and scaling up the priority innovations to meet the EU targets for 2030 (55% emissions reduction), 2040 (90% reduction) and 2050 (climate neutrality) is at the core of the decision-making of our industries. The urgency to safeguard their 40.033 industrial facilities and their 10,9M direct jobs in the continent (Eurostat data, 2020) is pushing their decisions on what innovations are to be prioritised in order to keep a competitive advantage. 

From A.SPIRE, we are convinced that innovation is the way to go to increase our process industries' global competitiveness. Some European voices claim the need for a global fair level playing field. Mario Draghi*, the former president of the European Central Bank, has signalled that “Europe must undergo radical change to remain competitive in the face of China and the United States refusal to play by the rules of international trade”. With more than 1.200 signatories of the Antwerp declaration, the industry calls for a European Industrial Deal to complement the Green Deal and safeguard jobs in Europe. 

A systemic R&I agenda for the Process Industry 

A.SPIRE, representing the EU Process Industry, is the private partner of Processes4Planet (P4Planet) Co-programmed Partnership established through a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Commission. The MoU constitutes an agreement between the industry and the public to undertake all efforts necessary to jointly develop and deliver the required solutions on climate neutrality, circularity and competitiveness identified in the P4Planet Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 2050 (SRIA)3, developed by the A.SPIRE community. 

P4Planet’s SRIA sets three high ambitions for 2050: 1) net-zero greenhouse gas emissions; 2) near-zero landfilling and near-zero water discharge; and 3) a thriving EU Process Industry with GVA growing quicker than EU GDP. The SRIA identifies 14 Innovation Areas and 36 Innovation Programs to develop the required solutions. 

Following the portfolio analysis and discussions with the sectors, the main priorities to focus on in the last three years of Horizon Europe are: electrification of the process industries, alternative carriers of energy and their integration, accelerated improvement of energy and materials efficiency, carbon capture and utilization (CCUS), materials and production processes that are safe and sustainable by design, circular economy, and digital and human-centric industry. These priorities will be implemented through Processes4Planet topics in Horizon Europe and projects that will be funded under calls launched from 2025 to 2027.