The KlimPro-Industrie II funding initiative by Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF – Federal Ministry for Education and Research) aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to industrial processes in Germany.

The second funding round provides funding for joint basic industrial research and development projects that are marked by a significant innovation potential and scientific risk. The focus is on projects in their early stages up to technology readiness level TRL5. There are no restrictions in terms of the types of technologies or sectors addressed, however, sectors associated with high levels of greenhouse gas emissions are of particular interest. To support the transfer of research results into practice, collaborative approaches across disciplines and sectors are particularly encouraged. Projects should ideally bring together all the relevant stakeholders for a systematic approach and subsequent implementation of the research.

Particularly encouraged are projects addressing the following current challenges:

• Electrification and conversion to hydrogen as a fuel for heat supply in industrial processes.
• Development of fossil-free carbon sources, including through the use of biomass.
• Increasing the energy efficiency of novel process approaches.
• Linking value chains from different industries.

Project proposals may also include the coupling of economic sectors, cross-sectional technologies (eg heat recovery/storage/transport), the use of renewable energy sources and other research and development aspects of cross-sectoral relevance (eg energy efficiency or electrification).

Applications can be submitted by institutions of higher education, non-educational research institutions, commercial companies (in particular SMEs), as well as civic society actors such as associations, societies and foundations. The consortium must be led and coordinated by an industry partner.

The funding period is four years. Institutions of higher education and non-commercial research institutes can expect to receive full funding of project-related costs.

Outline proposals must be submitted by the deadline of 30 June 2025.