EU-Japan funded project LAURELIN showcases successful results for e-fuel production at its Final Conference – PRESS RELEASE

Brussels, 07 October 2025

After four years of collaborative research between the European Union and Japan, the LAURELIN project concluded its work with a Final Conference titled “Advancing efuel production innovation for sustainable transport”. The event highlighted the project’s scientific
breakthroughs and celebrated the close cooperation between European and Japanese researchers, policymakers, and industry stakeholders.

During the event, LAURELIN consortium members presented key technological results, including:

• Development and potential applications of Microwave-assisted Fixed-bed, Magnetic Induction
  reactor, and non-thermal Plasma reactors for CO2 hydrogenation to methanol;
• Innovative characterization techniques for CO2 conversion processes; and
• Foresight into the potential of the LAURELIN project.

A roundtable discussion on “Renewable fuels production as a key to further decarbonising the transport sector” gathered experts from academia and industry, who stressed the importance of intensified international collaboration, the role of e-fuels in the energy mix and simplified procedures to enable scientific progress.

Roundtable discussion speakers included: Prof. Dr. Joris Thybaut (Ghent University), Dr. Pascual Oña Burgos (ITQ), Ms Marlene Hermfisse (eFuel alliance) and Ms Felicia Mester (The Methanol Institute).

The event also highlighted how, considering the many challenges related to reducing worldwide greenhouse gas emissions, international cooperation among researchers on new e-fuels is essential to urgently find solutions for a more sustainable transport sector.

High-level remarks

H.E. Kazutoshi Aikawa, Ambassador of the Mission of Japan to the European Union, praised the Mission of Japan to the European Union, praised the project’s success in his opening remarks:

I am delighted and honoured today to witness the LAURELIN’s project achievements over the last 5 years. During this time, I have no doubt that the collaboration between Japanese and European teams have strengthened significantly allowing the research to progress productively… Through collaboration between universities and research institutions, Japan and the European Union play an important role in addressing global changes (and) I look forward to further collaboration in this field

H.E. Kazutoshi Aikawa – Ambassador of the Mission of Japan to the EU

The LAURELIN project really embodies what the technological science and economic relationship between Japan and the European Union is all about, supporting our research capacity using its excellence but also its complementarities…I hope the outcome of the project can now feed into industrial ambitions regarding the topic of renewable e-fuels…and that a follow-up can be envisaged as we are making good progress on Japan’s association to Horizon Europe.

H.E. Jean-Eric Paquet – Ambassador of the European Union to Japan

Looking ahead

Concluding the event, Mr. Kazuki Miura, Deputy Director of the Paris Office of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), underlined the strong ties between Japan and the European Union in research, expressing the hope that the collaboration networks established through LAURELIN will continue to foster innovation and nurture the next generation of research talent.

Japan and the EU have longstanding and close relationship in the field of science and technology (and) JST highly values the collaboration within the research consortium LAURELIN where Japanese and EU research institutions worked closely together. JST expects that the networks among the researchers nurtured through this project will sustain and be developed in the future, including the fostering of the next generation of research talent,

Mr. Kazuki Miura, Deputy Director of the Paris Office of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST)