SOMMER Project Kicks Off with Successful Meeting
The SOMMER project officially launched with a successful kick-off meeting held on November 23-24, 2023, at the DLR headquarters in Cologne. Hosted by the DLR Institute of Future Fuels, the event marked the beginning of an exciting collaborative journey.
SOMMER aims to develop a carbon-neutral technology that uses concentrated sunlight to produce syngas from CO2 and water. The innovation of the EU-funded project SOMMER: heat from concentrated sunlight is used as a direct energy source in a catalytic membrane reactor. Here, a special membrane makes it possible to reduce the required reaction temperature for direct CO2 and water splitting from over 2,500 °C to less than 1,500 °C.
Nicole Neumann and Asmaa Eltayeb from DLR, the project coordinators, warmly welcomed the participants and delivered the initial project presentation. Luca Bondi, the EU Project Officer, provided an insightful introduction to the Horizon Europe programme, under which SOMMER is funded.
The meeting featured presentations from each of the seven project partners, showcasing their respective organizations. The work package leaders also gave detailed overviews of the objectives and tasks associated with each work package.
SOMMER brings together a strong consortium comprising DLR as the coordinator, along with two other leading European research institutions and four innovative companies:
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