COupling BIocatalysis and heterogeneous CATalysis for the production of aviation fuel from renewable resources (COBICAT)

The conversion of renewable resources (e.g. biomass, CO2, etc.) to medium- and high volume molecules via catalytic processes (e.g. homogeneous catalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, etc.) is one of the pillars of the bio-based transition. Yet, when considered individually, most catalytic technologies have intrinsic limitations and critical bottlenecks that hamper their development. Coupling biology and heterogeneous catalysis in tandem reactions has been postulated as a powerful way forward to circumvent individual process bottlenecks and establish novel, more cost-efficient and sustainable catalytic technologies to help make the transition to a bio-based society. COBICAT is an interdisciplinary project that will explore the coupling of biocatalysis and heterogeneous catalysis to produce aviation fuel from renewable resources, as a proof-of-concept to demonstrate the potential of such catalytic tandem coupling.