BioRefineries Blog

Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS. The Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) and the University of Hohenheim are setting up a small-scale biorefinery for farms. Their joint initiative is targeted at finding economic and sustainable technical solutions for the use of biogenic residues: small biorefineries, located on farms, supply materials and energy carriers, close cycles locally and contribute to the protection of nature and climate. Besides conventional agricultural products, the farm of the future will also produce basic chemicals from plant biomass. Press release: “ Biorefinery on the farm of the future ”, 28/04/2021. Figure 1. In the future, straw and other agricultural residues might be converted into materials and energy carriers directly on the farm (Photo: KIT) At the “Unterer Lindenhof” experimental station of the University of Hohenheim, the partners are expanding an existing biorefinery plant, bringing together technological innovations. Basic chemicals ser...

Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. Clariant and Ineratec have entered a partnership to develop and commercialize novel technologies for the production of renewable fuels and chemicals. Clariant will provide its extensive catalysis expertise to support Ineratec’s small scale (container-sized) technologies. Press release: “ Clariant catalysts powers Ineratec's green fuel production technology ”, 9/7/2020. Figure 1. Clariant and Ineratec join forces to develop emerging technologies for small-scale production of green fuels and chemicals Ineratec, spin-off of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), is specialized in modular chemical reactor technologies. The striking feature of this company’s solution is that the entire chemical process is carried out in transportable container units. The microstructured core of the modular Ineratec reactors provides a large surface for heat and mass transport. Highly exothermic reactions, such as methanol synth...

Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS. The project Agrimax has launched a new online service which enables crop producers, food processers and agricultural cooperatives to sell their waste as feedstock for two pilot biorefineries: one in Spain and one in Italy. Press release: “ New online platform connects crops and food producers to biorefineries ”, 3/3/2020. Related post: “ AgriMax project – Harnessing the wastes of the European agro-food industry ”, 14/11/2016. Online service registration: http://agromax.iris.cat/#/login . Figure 1. Interface of the new online service In Europe, around 90 million tons of food and 700 million tons of crop are wasted every year. To tackle this growing problem, the EU-funded Agrimax project has designed and built two flexible, multi-feedstock biorefineries that convert residues and by-products from farming and food processing into high-value products which can be used in the food, packaging, chemical and agricultural sectors. ...

Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS. Oberon Fuels (company aimed at decarbonizing transportation) and SHV Energy (the world’s largest distributor of propane fuel) are partnering to accelerate the use of renewable dimethyl ether (rDME) to reduce the carbon footprint of transportation fuel. When blended with propane, rDME enables a significant reduction of the carbon intensity. Press release: “ SHV Energy partners with Oberon Fuels to accelerate use of renewable DME (rDME) to decarbonise transportation ”, 11/2/2020. Related posts: - “ Neste starts up the world's first large-scale renewable propane production unit in its Rotterdam biorefinery ”, 22/3/2018. - “ Oberon Fuels obtains a grant from the State of California for production of renewable dimethyl ether ”, 14/6/2019. Figure 1. Oberon and SHV Energy join forces to accelerate use of renewable DMR in transportation Using its proprietary small-scale process, Oberon Fuels focuses on the production of rDM...

Versión en Español Section: SMALL-SCALE BIOREFINERIES Type of post: PROJECT PROFILE. At the beginning of 2017, FACCE SURPLUS launched a joint call for transnational research projects focused on the small-scale biorefinery concepts and their potential role in enhancing the sustainability and productivity of EU agriculture, as well as their scope to benefit the rural economy. Just before the end of that year, eight projects were selected to receive funding under the framework of the call. The project FLEXIBI, aimed at designing e decision support tool assessing the different pathway for the establishment of small-scale biorefinery by evaluating all parameters accounting for the more sustainable solution, was one of them. Figure 1. FLEXIBI – Decision support for small-scale flexi-feed biorefineries Key data Title FLEXIBI (Decision Support for Small-scale Flexi-feed Biorefineries) Consortium The FLEXIBI consortium consists of six partn...

Versión en Español Type of post: NEWS. Production of biofuel by gasification of biomass residues was successfully validated within the framework of the COMSYN project last month. The process performance was verified with bark in an 80 hour-long test run at VTT . The syngas conversion to Fischer-Tropsch (FT) products was conducted by INERATEC GmbH . Press release: “ Complete production chain from biomass residues to Fischer-Tropsch products successfully validated ”, 26/9/2019. Figure 1. COMSYN logo with slogan The project COMSYN is a four-year EU Horizon 2020 project that lasts from 2017 to 2021 with a budget of EUR 5.1 M€ (Grant Agreement No 727476). The project consortium consists of seven partners from four different countries combining research institutes, SME and top-level European industry. COMSYN aims to develop a new BTL (Biomass-To-Liquid) production concept by means of a compact gasification and s...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. Greenbelt Resources Corporation (Greenbelt) and New Age Renewable Energy, LLC (NARE) have announced a technology collaboration agreement to provide a cost-effective solution for converting dairy processing wastes into bioproducts. Press release: “ Greenbelt Resources and New Age Renewable Energy Team Up for Joint Project Sales Collaboration ”, 2/7/2019. Figure 1. Greenbelt ECOsystem (organic waste to ethanol) set up in New South Wales (taken from the press release) NARE (a privately held upstate New York based company) has developed a formulation to convert acid whey, whey permeate and other milk derivatives into bioethanol and a high quality protein concentrate.  However, adoption of the technology has been challenged by supply chain issues, scalability and operational expenses. Collaboration with Greenbelt resolves those challenges. Greenbelt’s modular design (ECOsystem) enables low cost operations and provides an ideal platform f...

Type of post: FLASH NEWS. Last February, the European Commission Directorate General for Agriculture and Rural Development and the EIP-AGRI Service Point organized a workshop on “Opportunities for farm diversification in the circular bio-economy” in Vilnius (hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture of the Republic of Lithuania). The event forms part of a continuing exploration of the opportunities available to farmers and foresters through the circular bioeconomy and how these opportunities might best be captured. The aim was to identify, share knowledge of and promote a set of promising co-operation mechanisms and business models for the circular bioeconomy, allowing for diversification of economic activities in rural areas, increasing farm income, minimising risk and enabling a healthier environment. Recently, a report has been issued summarising the findings: EIP-AGRI Workshop - Opportunities for farm diversification in the circular bio-economy .   Figure 1. Cov...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. Quantum Energy Inc. (Quantum) and its subsidiary FTPM Resources have entered into Non-Binding Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with a target company (its name has not been disclosed) that designs, manufacturers, operates and sells its patented small-scale, modular biorefineries (1, 2 and 5 million gallon per year) for the production of alternative liquid biofuels from organic waste streams. Press release: “ Quantum (QEGY) Enters into MOU with Target Company ”, 10/5/2019. Figure 1. Quantum logo According to the press release, the biofuels generated by these small-scale modular systems can be mixed with, or can selectively replace, gasoline derived from fossil sources. They can also be used to power distributed electric generators. The biorefineries are centrally manufactured and can be shipped anywhere in the world, which enables the target company to bring new energy sources to locations that would otherwise not have access to it. Pu...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. According to a recent press release of Greenbelt Resources Corporation (Greenbelt), Biofuels and Energy, LLC (B&E) has selected a site location in Center (Colorado, USA) for its SLV Biopro Project. Press release: “ Greenbelt Resources Announces Colorado B&E Project Location ”, 29/1/2019. Figure 1. Distillation and dehydration modules of Greenbelt installed at the University of Florida Stan Mayfield Biofuel Center (taken from the Greenbelt website) B&E is a privately held project development company building on years of team members’ expertise in marketing transportation fuels. SLV Biopro was announced earlier this year as the first of B&E’s projects committed to using Greenbelt’s ECOsystem technology. Such technology is based on an automated, modular, small scale sustainable energy production system that enables local cost-effective processing of food, beverage and cellulosic waste to be converted into commercial products ...

Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF. VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd has developed a new solution to produce transport fuels and chemicals from forest industry by-products (such as bark, sawdust and forestry waste) in a sustainable way. This new approach uses gasification to turn biomass into intermediate products (liquid hydrocarbons, methanol or methane) in units integrated with communal district heating plants or forest industry power plants. The intermediate products are processed further in oil refineries to make renewable fuels or chemicals. Press release: “ VTT develops a new sustainable way to turn forestry waste into transport fuels and chemicals ”, 15/1/2019. VTT developed and piloted the new gasification process and evaluated the competitiveness of plants based on the technique in the course of a recently concluded project called BTL2030 (part of the Finnish Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment's transport biofuels development programme). ...

Type of post: PROJECT PROFILE. Beginning in 2019, a new EIP-Agri project focused on small-scale green biorefining will illuminate the way of the rural bioeconomy in Ireland. It is not the first time that the Blog features an initiative of this European Innovation Partnership (EIP), which is aimed at promoting the sustainable and productive agriculture providing an interface between agriculture, bioeconomy, science and other users. Let us know the highlights of this promising project. Key data Title Biorefinery Glas Activities - Demonstrate a small-scale mobile biorefinery on multiple farms in the South West of Ireland, supporting farmers in evaluating opportunities to diversify into the bioeconomy. - Ensure that each component of grass is used at its highest value, with the simultaneous generation of multiple products. - Promote farm-to-farm symbiosis and cooperation. - Facilitate several knowledge exchange activities, including t...

Type of post: COMPANY PROFILE. The company Nettenergy BV is a Dutch company devoted to develop technology and manufacture mobile installations to convert biomass into energy and valuable products. It started in 2006 and, from the beginning, the flash pyrolysis process formed the basis for its technology. The firm is focused on local markets in which the raw materials (wood, grass, crop residues) for the pyrolysis process are already present. Nettenergy enables owners of these resources (municipalities, forest managers, farmers…) to generate electricity, heat and biobased products. Figure 1. The autarkic mobile pyrolysis plant of Nettenergy (courtesy of Nettenergy) Nettenergy BV is specialized in: - Developing innovative and scalable pyrolysis technology. - Manufacturing of installations based on its proprietary technologies. - Licensing its technology to third parties. It uses an international network of business partners to serve local markets. The ...