Our lives sprout from chemistry: Fuels, plastics, fertilizers, medicines… These products are typically made with the help of catalysts, which are substances that accelerate chemical transformations. Most chemical processes today are based on fossil raw materials such as coal, oil and natural gas. These provide the carbon atoms for the production of our everyday products. Often, their production generates unwanted waste, consumes a lot of energy and releases large amounts of CO₂. Thus, today’s chemical industry contributes to pushing our planet to its limits. Our researchers are developing clean catalytic processes using abundant renewable materials such as water, CO₂ and biomass. They aim to reduce the climate impact of our everyday products and to enable a sustainable society with waste-free, carbon-neutral chemical value chains.