Recycling organic wastes for sustainable bioenergy and biomaterials production
Advanced biofuels and innovative bio-based production from wastes and residues have a positive impact on GHG emissions reduction, water and soil quality as well as biodiversity. Europe already plays a crucial role in the bio-based sector. Its innovation potential relies on the combination of a wide range of sciences and industrial technologies, to be thus encouraged, but with enhanced transparency of all aspects of its development, and with equally strong sustainability safeguards. Information concerning the availabilities of the waste and residue streams, the opportunities for processing, and the benefits to consumers must be further enquired and reliable results have to be disseminated to the whole society.
EUBIA is committed in disclosing the potential of bio based chemicals and materials production. We achieved valuable projects and many are going to start!
Promising market perspectives for jet biofuels
Reducing the carbon footprint of the aviation industry is seen as a primary means to tackle the GHG emission reduction for the transport sector. Biofuels are already used on commercial flights and the focus of the industry has now turned to second generation sustainable aviation fuels that do not compete with food supplies nor are major consumers of prime agricultural land or fresh water.
EUBIA is currently engaging with jet biofuels opportunities and the benefits related to their integration in other biobased industry sector.
An highly flexible energy carrier: biomethane
Biogas can be upgraded into Biomethane by removing hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide and moisture. It offers a climate friendly way of substituting fossil natural gas and is a flexible energy carrier for fuel, electricity and heat applications. In fact it can be stored for future use, either as liquefied biomethane (LBM) or compressed biomethane (CBM).
Direct injection into existing natural gas grids is an efficient and cost-effective transport solution. It facilitates the transition to a renewable source of gas which can be used as vehicle fuel too. In many EU countries, the access to the gas grid is guaranteed for all biogas suppliers, allowing biomethane produced in rural areas to be delivered to more densely populated areas.
Biomethane can otherwise be used to generate electricity and heating from within smaller decentralized, or large centrally-located combined heat and power plants. It can be used by heating systems with a highly efficient fuel value, and employed as a regenerative power source in gas-powered vehicles.
Biomass for Energy in the Developing Countries
Off-Grid energy systems are more and mored diffused as an independent source of energy, satisfying electricity needs of individual households or smaller communities, in particular rural areas of developing countries. Biomass is an ideal feedstock for off-grid or mini-grid electricity generation and a lot of research is focussing on conveninet biomass technology applications.
Biomass gasification represents an important part of the off-grid electricity access in rural areas. It was successfully applied in India where rice-husk gasification is a widely deployed technology. Piles of rice husks are fed into small biomass gasifiers producing a gas fuelling internal combustion engines. The resulting by-product is rice-husk ash, to be recycled in concrete production. Husk Power Systems (HPS) are being promoted by The International Finance Corporation (IFC) and HPS in Kenya and Nigeria. In Benin, GIZ (Germany) is promoting biomass gasification for combined heat and power (CHP) generation in decentralised settings as an economic alternative to grid extension in remote areas of the country. Investment costs are low (USD 1 000 to USD 1 500/kW) and overall efficiencies are between 7% and 14%, but they are labour-intensive in O&M as there is significant fouling. One of the keys to their success has been the recruitment of reliable staff with a vested interest in the ongoing operation of the plant to ensure this regular maintenance.