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Dear Bio4Fuels supporters,
In this newsletter, among other news, we'll give you some updates from our management team as well as a reminder to sign up for Bio4Fuels Days 2024, and invitations to our next webinars, "Biogas production and digestate utilization as fertilizer" 16 May and "Biomass Gasification" 30 May. Please also check out the updates from our Sub-projects.
We would like to thank our partners and supporters for your contributions and wish you a wonderful run-up to the summer ☀
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Updates from the Bio4Fuels management team
The urgency of deployment and implementation is increasing, with the transport sector being the only sector that has achieved minimal impact, with current projections that this sector will represent over 50% of the EU’s total emissions by 2030.
The policy drive towards alternative solutions for the hard to de-fossilize sectors of transport is a continuing topic both nationally and within Europe.
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- In Norway, the new National Transport Plan highlights the role of advanced biofuels in the transition towards net zero
- In Europe, the commission presented the EU 2040 Climate Pathway, raising the ambitions to 90% net green house reductions by 2040 and establishing the new Industrial Carbon Management framework to promote the drive towards the EUs goals.
For Bio4Fuels, our main focus in the last period of the Centre is on raising general awareness around the challenges and opportunities for new technologies and production, as well as coordination with our stakeholders in addressing the bottlenecks and barriers, both in terms of technology as well as societal and economics.
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Don't miss Bio4Fuels Days 2024
Welcome to Bio4Fuels Days 2024 - our final conference! Planning is well underway and you can already now sign up to attend, and book your hotel room and flights.
Key Topics
- Bioresources, Environment Climate
- Liquefaction, Biochemical, and Gasification Processes
- Process Design and End Use
Visit to VTT’s Bioruukki and FutureHub2
State-of-the-art research and piloting facilities
We look forward to seeing you in Helsinki 12-13 June! |
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Podcast on Biofuels
Since transport accounts for by far the largest share of greenhouse gas emissions in both Norway and Europe, this episode on biofuel in the Norwegian Polytechnic Society’s series on "
Fuel for a greener world" is very relevant.
Through the panel discussion between Duncan Akporiaye, centre leader Bio4Fuels head of Research at SINTEF, Einar Gotaas, technical director at Drivkraft Norge, and host Pedram Nadim, you will get an overview of the important role alternative sustainable fuels have in achieving the climate goals.
This podcast is recorded in Norwegian. |
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Panel discussion at the FME conference
Photo: Martin Hansen
@NTNU Energy Transition Initiative
Bio4Fuels at the FME conference at NTNU Energy Transition Week
This first of a kind conference was co-organized by all the currently running FMEs and NTNU's Energy Transition Initiative. Bio4Fuels arranged a session together with NTRANS and MoZEES with the title
Towards a decarbonized transport. |
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Bergene Holm and Biozin will study a biofuel project with Equinor
The Bio4Fuels’ stakeholders Biozin and Equinor have agreed to share their competence and perform a study on the planned biofuel production site at Åmli, Noway.
Biozin and Bergene Holm’s agreement with Shell to produce biofuel from forest residues as well as residues from the local forest industries at Åmli was terminated last year. Now Equinor wants to evaluate Biozin’s plans to see if there is a potential to start biofuel production. |
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Carlos Dinamarca joins Bio4Fuels
We are happy to share that Carlos Dinamarca has joined Bio4Fuels' management team.
Carlos is a Senior Scientist at SINTEF, Department for Process Technology. He has been a project manager in numerous biofuels related projects the last 20 years, in Norway and abroad.
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Photo taken at Den Magiske Fabrikken AS
A significant share of projects has been connected to biogas process design, optimization & monitoring, syngas fermentation, biological and electrochemical sulphide removal, and bioelectrochemical systems for methanation. Carlos has collaborated in the development of several industrial bioprocesses involving CSTR, Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket (UASB) reactors, Expanded Granular Sludge Bed (EGSB) reactor and Hybrid design solutions.
Carlos also holds a position as Professor II in Environmental Process Technology at USN. |
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Webinar 16 May 13:00-14:00
Biogas production and digestate utilization as fertilizer
Hans Langeveld from Biomass Research and Henrik Bjarne Møller from Aarhus University will share their work and research with us in this webinar.
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Webinar 30 May 09:00-09:45
Biomass Gasification
Hear Ask S. Sødahl present his PhD when he talks about experimental studies using model tar components; steam reforming of biomass gasification tar impurities with Ni-Co/Mg(Al)O catalysts. |
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SP1 Bio-resources, Environment and Climate
Advancing the environmental impact analysis of emerging bio-based technologies
Unlike the fossil-based alternatives, many emerging bio-based technologies are still at the early lab or pilot scale and are not representative of optimised industrial conditions. This makes a robust comparison of their environmental performances via life-cycle assessment (LCA) challenging. |
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In an article published in "Sustainable Production and Consumption" the authors propose a framework based on process simulations and inventory modelling to combine scaling-up projections of early-stage technologies (ex-ante LCA) with the influence of future socio-economic scenarios (prospective LCA). |
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SP2 Liquefaction Processes
New associated project
ICARUS – International Cooperation for Sustainable Aviation Biofuels is a new EU funded project, started in October and has a duration of 36 months. The project has four scientific work packages (WP) addressing critical technology barriers identified in three SAF production value chains:
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Photo @ICARUS
biocrude from hydrothermal liquefaction to SAF, isobutanol from lignocellulosic biomass to SAF, and synthetic Fischer-Tropsch from biomass gasification to SAF. In addition, important aspects of framework conditions for SAF development in Europe and Mission Innovation Countries (MIC), cost-effectiveness and sustainability assessments, as well as best practices and concepts for up-scaling of SAF production value chains are addressed as well. ICARUS also implements several other activities focusing on dissemination, communication and exploitation of project results and capacity building. More information about the project and the consortium is available at the project's website. |
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SP2 Liquefaction Processes
New publication in WP2.2 Hydrothermal liquefaction
Ayaz Ali Shah, a previous visiting PhD student from Aalborg University has now published a paper describing his work at SINTEF Energy Research Facilities within the Bio4Fuels project. |
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Ayaz visited SINTEF for 3 months at the end of 2020. Ayaz's work has mainly consisted of performing batch and continuous experiments in the continuous hydrothermal liquefaction rig. He tested several feedstocks and several process conditions. He was responsible for collecting and separating the products as well. Back in Aalborg he performed the analyses on the products. |
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SP3 Biochemical Processes
Optimization of ex-situ biomethanation process in trickle bed reactor
A recent publication by NIBIO researcher Michal Sposob highlights the importance of slight H2/CO2 ratios adjustments on trickle bed reactors for biomethanation.
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SP4 Gasification Processes
Congratulations, doctor!
Ask Sødahl Lysne successfully defended his PhD 8 March. Dr. Lysne has been working on his academic thesis
“Steam reforming of biomass gasification tar impurities with Ni-Co/Mg (Al)O catalysts - Experimental studies using model tar components” |
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as a part of Bio4Fuels work package 4.2 Gas Conditioning with his supervisor Edd Blekkan at NTNU. Dr. Lysne will continue his work as an employee at SINTEF Energy Research. |
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SP4 Gasification Processes
Successful gasification of blends of wood powder and seaweed
Seaweed has the ability to grow rapidly, exceeding many terrestrial plants in terms of speed and biomass production. Locally harvested seaweed was dried and milled, to be made suitable as Entrained Flow gasification feedstock.
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SP5 Process Design and End Use
TEA of an integrated biorefinery for spruce valorization is ready. ESCAPE-34 is waiting for us!
SP5 Process design and Use End has conducted a preliminary techno-economic assessment (TEA) to evaluate the feasibility of a biorefinery converting spruce chips into bioethanol and bio-oil combining biochemical and thermochemical processes.
The main focus, in a joint effort with SP1, is comparing the impact of different hydrogen sources (grey, blue, green) on the economic and environmental sustainability of the process. We are excited to announce that we will present the final model of the optimized process and the preliminary TEA at the ESCAPE-34 conference in Florence (Italy) 2-6 June 2024. |
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