Production of Carbon Fiber with Low Carbon Dioxide Footprint

Faurecia, a company of the Group FORVIA, is a tier‑one automotive supplier with a carbon neutrality target over the coming years. Faurecia has an important activity in hydrogen (H2) storage tanks. It is well known that carbon fibers have a huge emission factor, and thus significantly impacts Faurecia’s carbon footprint. The Sustainable Materials Division at Faurecia aims at developing low carbon footprint carbon fibers for H2 storage tanks to decrease carbon dioxide (CO2) emission factors. The cost will also be a challenge for the democratisation of H2 propulsion technology.

Approaches of Interest:

• Using low carbon footprint carbon fibers for H2 storage (long fibers). Investigations at both the precursor side and carbonization process side are of interest
• Open to all types of carbon fiber precursors (e.g., PAN‑based, pitch‑based) with precursors from bio‑, recycled‑ or CO2‑based solutions being of the highest interest e.g., rayon‑based, lignin‑based, glycerol‑based etc
• Technological solutions to optimize the carbon fiber production process e.g., less energy, new pathway, more eco-friendly, such as the use of solar radiation to help carbon fiber carbonization
• Technological solutions that produce a substitute of carbon fiber with similar mechanical properties for use in H2 storage vessels but with a better life cycle assessment (LCA) than current carbon fibers

Stage of Development:

• Technology readiness level at TRL 2 and above is of interest, with a particular interest in technologies with a validated proof of concept

Submission Information:

Submission of one page, 200-300 word briefs are encouraged, along with any optional supplementary information e.g., relevant publications and patents. In submitting to this campaign, you confirm that your submission contains only non-confidential information.

Opportunity for Collaboration:

Faurecia is open to a wide range of collaboration opportunities and are keen to discuss all potential avenues of collaboration. Possible outcomes include, but not limited to: licencing of assets, investment, project/PhD funding, and research collaborations.