10 new Moonshot Flanders projects approved under Call 2025

Ten new Moonshot Flanders projects from the 2025 call have been approved, all of which aim to drastically reduce CO₂ emissions from the Flemish industry. Six of the approved projects focus on Early Stage Innovation (ESI) to feed the innovation pipeline, while the remaining four are Later Stage Innovation (LSI) projects in the pilot or demonstration phase. The projects will start in the first quarter of 2026. 

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Moonshot Call 2025

Each year since 2020, the Flemish Government has invested 15 to 20 million euros in Moonshot Flanders projects aiming to develop breakthrough technologies to drastically reduce industrial CO₂ emissions. The research is conducted at universities and knowledge institutes, with companies actively guiding the work through their participation in industrial advisory boards. This close collaboration between universities, research institutes and industry helps ensure that breakthrough technologies can turn into solutions with real industrial impact.

As of the 2025 call, the programme has placed greater emphasis on Later Stage Innovation (LSI) projects, which aim to bridge the gap between experimental process or product development and industrial implementation. Early Stage Innovation (ESI) projects continue to play an essential role in feeding the innovation pipeline, but LSI projects are now given priority to accelerate the transformation of our Flemish industry towards climate neutrality.

Below you can read more about the ten new Moonshot Flanders projects approved in the 2025 call.

Six Early Stage Innovation (ESI) projects approved

BIOVALCOR
  • Full title: Biobased value-added products from an oil biorefinery with maximised carbon valorisation
  • Path 1
  • Budget: € 2.310.573
  • Coordinator: An Verberckmoes (Ghent University)
  • General objective: BIOVALCOR aims to demonstrate an integrated, zero-waste biorefinery concept using rapeseed meal (RSM), a byproduct of rapeseed oil production, as a feedstock. The overall goal is to achieve comprehensive valorization of all RSM components, i.e., proteins, hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs), carbohydrates, lignin and lipids.
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RUB-UP
  • Full title: Advanced Recycling of Waste Tyres via Devulcanization and Chemical Valorization for Sustainable
    Material Recovery
  • Path 2
  • Budget: € 2.014.539
  • Coordinator: Dirk De Vos (KU Leuven)
  • General objective: RUB-UP aims to tackle the global problem of discarded car tires. The goal is to develop an integrated, multi-step valorization platform that converts vulcanized rubber waste into high-quality chemicals and functional materials. Through innovation in devulcanization, selective purification, and catalytic conversion, RUB-UP aims to unlock the full chemical potential of polymers from car tires. This not only addresses environmental issues, but also creates a scalable path to circularity within the elastomer sector so that complex waste streams can be valorized.
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CENTRAL
  • Full title: Coupling Electrochemical Nitration and Reduction for Aniline Synthesis
  • Path 3
  • Budget: € 2.627.925
  • Coordinator: Yuvraj Birdja (VITO)
  • General objective: The CENTRAL project focuses on the development and validation on a laboratory scale of a fully electrified and continuous process for the synthesis of aniline from nitrogen, benzene, water and renewable electricity. This bypasses the conventional, energy-intensive and CO₂-intensive route via Haber-Bosch and Ostwald by cleverly combining electrochemical oxidation, nitration and reduction processes in a single integrated electrolysis cell. The knowledge development within the project includes the development of new electrocatalysts, fundamental insight into kinetics and interactions through modelling, and the integration of the individual sub-processes into a proof-of-concept at TRL3. The intended innovation is both at product level, with sustainable aniline production and significant CO₂ reduction, and at process level through the development of an efficient and flexible electrochemical system that can be used with renewable electricity. In addition, valuable expertise is being built up that can also be applied more broadly in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries.
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SHAPE
  • Full title: Sustainable Hydrogen and grAphite from Pyrolysis of biogas and biomEthane
  • Path 3
  • Budget: € 2.602.188
  • Coordinator: Patrice Perreault (University of Antwerp)
  • General objective: The SHAPE project aims to develop an innovative, electrically powered catalytic process that converts biogas into two high-value products at low temperatures (below 1000 °C): low-carbon turquoise hydrogen and battery-grade graphite. SHAPE is designed to interact with the intermittent nature of renewable energy and guarantees precise control over the formation and removal of graphite—an essential step towards a cleaner and smarter energy system.
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HEATCAP
  • Full title: Low-Grade Waste Heat Assisted Carbon Capture
  • Path 3
  • Budget: € 2.894.808
  • Coordinator: Joeri Denayer (VUB)
  • General objective: The HEATCAP project aims to develop a new carbon capture (CC) technology that enables low-grade residual heat to be used efficiently as the main low-energy-intensity energy source, thereby drastically reducing the costs and ecological footprint of the capture process.
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HORTA
  • Full title: High-performing Organic Redox flow bATteries
  • Path 4
  • Budget: € 2.989.078
  • Coordinator: Bart Mantels (VITO)
  • General objective: The aim of the HORTA project is to develop high-performance organic redox flow battery (ORFB) technology as a safe, sustainable and affordable solution for long-term energy buffering (LDES), which supports the large-scale integration of renewable energy sources, strengthens local resilience in Flanders and the EU, and offers a competitive option for energy-intensive Flemish industry.
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Four Later Stage Innovation (LSI) projects approved

PURE-SCALE

PURE-SCALE

  • Full title: PolyUrethane REcycling SCALEup
  • Path 2
  • Budget: € 1.070.294
  • Coordinator: Dirk De Vos (KU Leuven)
  • General objective: PURE‑SCALE focuses on developing a 5 L pilot setup to evaluate two innovative PU recycling technologies (i.e. an ammonolysis‑based process developed in the CHRONICLE Moonshot ESI project and a patented process based on blocking agents) on a relevant scale and under real process conditions (TRL 6). The aim is to bring at least one of these technologies closer to industrial implementation in Flanders by 2040. This pilot setup will enable (i) the translation of optimal batch methods into (semi‑)continuous processes, (ii) the production of kilogram‑scale quantities of recycled building blocks for industrial quality validation through the creation of new PU materials, (iii) an accurate comparison of the new recycling routes with the state‑of‑the‑art, and (iv) the substantiation of techno‑economic evaluations and validation of the business cases.
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HYDRA

HYDRA

  • Full title: High-throughput hydrogen production through dry-cathode alkaline electrolysis
  • Path 3
  • Budget: € 1.926.062
  • Coordinator: Philippe Vereecken (imec)
  • General objective: The HYDRA project aims to develop innovative dry‑cathode electrolysis cells for the production of green hydrogen, combining the advantages of both alkaline water electrolysis (AWE) and anion exchange membrane electrolysis (AEM). These new cells leverage the proven membrane stability and system robustness of AWE, together with the high throughput capacity, efficient nanostructured electrodes and low shunt‑current characteristics of AEM. The technology will be demonstrated at kW scale through a 5 kW system.
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PROMETHEUS

PROMETHEUS

  • Full title: Powerful Rapid Olefin Manufacturing with Electric Turbocharged High-Efficiency Unit for Steam Cracking
  • Path 3
  • Budget: € 1.994.742
  • Coordinator: Kevin Van Geem (Ghent University)
  • General objective: The PROMETHEUS project is developing a revolutionary electrified reactor concept for steam cracking, based on supersonic turbo‑reactors that heat gases to over 1000 °C within milliseconds. This approach increases the yield of light olefins, reduces coke formation, and enables greater flexibility for integrating renewable energy. Through modelling, experiments and a modular pilot plant, the project builds knowledge on reactor design, upscaling and sustainable operation. This will lay the foundation for CO₂‑neutral, circular chemical production with higher efficiency and lower costs.
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Upheat-B2I

Upheat-B2I

  • Full title: Upheat-INES brought to industry
  • Path 4
  • Budget: € 2.000.000
  • Coordinator: Steven Lecompte (Ghent University)
  • General objective: The objective of the consortium is to demonstrate the industrial high‑temperature heat pump concept, developed and tested in the Upheat‑INES 1.0 and 2.0 projects (UI‑HP, Upheat‑INES high‑temperature heat pump), under relevant industrial conditions. This includes developing a prototype suitable for medium‑temperature heat supply (up to at least 200 °C) in chemical batch processes, with optimal integration of thermal storage and grid flexibility. The project focuses on achieving higher efficiency, longer service life, precise monitoring, extensive stress testing and benchmarking, as well as scaling up the technology from 80 kWth to MWth scale.
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