The Centre objective is to boost Norway's position as a leading provider of environmentally-friendly processes based on natural gas.

Subgoals

• Funding and research training of 22 PhD students and 12-15 temporary researchers
• At least 100 publications in high-ranked journals, and 100 oral and poster presentations at conferences
• Hosting an International School of Catalysis
• Personnel exchange (8 man-years) between industry and academia
• A number of patent applications
• To provide advanced methodology and fundamental insight into catalyst technology to industry partners, thereby promoting higher productivity in existing plants, a systematic approach to development of improved catalysts and processes and the basis for creating radically new natural gas processes and products

Project summary
One of the most critical challenges for science and society is to meet the increasing demand for energy and consumables with concepts that will minimize emissions of green-house gases and other pollutants. Petroleum is the world-wide dominating source of energy and bulk chemicals, natural gas being the most environmentally favorable component. Catalysis appears as the main key towards more cost-efficient and environmentally-friendly industrial processes and energy conversion. The scientific focus of this CRI is to create a platform for breakthrough innovation based on fundamental insight into key areas of catalyst technology. For this purpose, the composition of the CRI partnership is ideal: Three industry partners that have shown ability and willingness to develop and implement new technology in an international petrochemical market, two leading technologically-oriented catalysis activities at NTNU and SINTEF, having the required insight into process requirements and industrial catalysis research, and the materials-scienceoriented catalysis research at UiO and SINTEF, with a proven record of new porous materials structures and fundamental understanding of catalytic reaction mechanisms. By the proposed bridging of the fundamental and applied expertise of the partners this CRI will become quite unique on an international scale.

The CRI will through its use of advanced experimental and theoretical tools develop detailed understanding of processes on the atomic scale. The industry partners have defined selected technologies where the objective is to further strengthen their international competitive position. In addition to generic projects promoting these technologies, the CRI will establish projects on new chemistry and catalysis for chemical conversion of natural gas that potentially could lead to new conversion routes. These concepts will be based on generic insight gained in the Centre and in closely related parallel projects.