Slovenian chemists entered a competition of over 200 innovations in the sustainability stream, which was one of the three competing categories, the other two being healthcare and materials.

In the final rounds, only two contributions beat the Slovenian Chemistry Institute team, University of Ghent's chemical pump for recovery of industrial waste heat and InfinityPV's ultra-thin foil-based photovoltaic device.

The Chemistry Institute award-winning invention enables an efficient conversion of methane and carbon dioxide (biogas) into a synthesis gas without any water steam.

This further enables the conversion of numerous gas mixtures, acquired from renewable sources, into liquid fuel and other high added-value compounds.

The Emerging Technologies Competition is an annual innovation competition aimed at accelerating the commercialisation of the most impactful ideas in healthcare, energy and sustainability, and materials.