NEWAPP is a research project focusing on hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of wet biomass residues.
By means of HTC, wet biomass is converted into carbonaceous solids at relatively high yields in water, with pressure and temperatures at the lower region of liquefaction process. The lack of need for energy-intensive drying before the process opens up new possibilities for waste streams like manures, sewage sludge, municipal solid waste or agricultural waste. These organic waste streams can be used as feedstock for HTC technology, producing hydrochar and carbonaceous liquids, high value products that can be used as fuel, activated carbons for water treatment, soil remediation, carbon sequestration schemes and other applications.
In the year 2011, the EU-27 imported carbon products for a value of 22.666.570.073 €1. At the same time, EU generates yearly 80.000.000 tons of wet biowaste2 that can be effectively recycled to carbon materials by means of HTC. NEWAPP project paves the way to provide economically attractive and environmentally friendly alternatives for the utilization of wet biomass, while strengthening Europe’s competitiveness and reducing resource dependency.
This project is co-funded by the European Commission through the “Research for SME associations” instrument of the 7th Framework program.
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