Periodic Reporting for period 2 - FLEXI-GREEN FUELS (Flexible and resilient integrated biofuel processes for competitive production of green renewable jet and shipping fuels)
Berichtszeitraum: 2022-07-01 bis 2023-12-31
One of the most important challenges of the 21st century is the substitution of fossil fuels by next generation biofuels for shipping and aviation. New technologies should have a commercial potential against other sustainable fuels, should not compete with food production and should have a lower environmental impact including lower GHG emissions than the current renewable alternatives.
FLEXI-GREEN FUELS considers a very flexible biofuels process, capable of treating multiple types of waste biomass to produce a range of marketable shipping and aviation drop-in biofuel product candidates, accompanied by other high value by-products. Two distinct types of biogenic resources have been taken in into consideration, on the one hand lignocellulosic biomass residues and on the other hand the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. As such, the integrated FLEXI-GREEN FUELS biorefinery process will diversify the feedstocks that have previously been used for production of aviation and shipping biofuels.
The FLEXI-GREEN FUELS approach supports forest, agricultural and municipal waste-industries with additional value creation and jobs, using the principles of green circular economy, while increasing possibilities in the production of low GHG footprint renewable fuels and value-added by-products.
FLEXI-GREEN FUELS considers a very flexible biofuels process, capable of treating multiple types of waste biomass to produce a range of marketable shipping and aviation drop-in biofuel product candidates, accompanied by other high value by-products. Two distinct types of biogenic resources have been taken in into consideration, on the one hand lignocellulosic biomass residues and on the other hand the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. As such, the integrated FLEXI-GREEN FUELS biorefinery process will diversify the feedstocks that have previously been used for production of aviation and shipping biofuels.
The FLEXI-GREEN FUELS approach supports forest, agricultural and municipal waste-industries with additional value creation and jobs, using the principles of green circular economy, while increasing possibilities in the production of low GHG footprint renewable fuels and value-added by-products.
The FLEXI-GREEN FUELS’ work performed during the project’s lifetime was successful.
The underlying biorefinery concept consists of raw material pre-treatment (organosolv process to process lignocellulosic bioresidues), conversion of sugars to lipids (enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fungal fermentation, algae dark fermentation or lipid rich black soldier fly larva production), valorisation of hemicellulosic sugars via chemical routes, conversion of lignin by fast pyrolysis, chemical upgrading of crude biofuel intermediates (e.g. hydrodeoxygenation, alkylation) and separation into suited drop-in biofuel fractions for aviation and shipping.
With regard to lignocellulosic biomass, residues of beechwood and wheat straw were treated by the organosolv process, a key process to decompose and fractionate the raw materials into its building blocks cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Besides crucial insights gained into this process, material fractions have been produced as intermediates for downstream processing/upgrading.
Similarly, significant progress was made with regard to the second targeted bioresidue, namely organic fraction of municipal solid waste, i.e. food waste. The project was able to analyse the composition of this starting material delivered by a municipality on a regular basis, within a whole annual cycle. Enzyme hydrolysis of food waste, cellulose and a mixture of both were performed and optimal processing parameters were identified.
Following the pathway towards aviation and shipping biofuels, FLEXI-GREEN FUELS was able to make significant progress in the transformation of biowaste based cellulosic sugars into lipids. The project could manage to produce lipids by all three paths under investigation: fungal fermentation, algae dark fermentation and by black soldier fly larvae.
The microbial electrolysis cell for biohydrogen production was tested. Key areas for improvement in hydrogen production by MEC were identified, including increased resource utilizations, improvements in time for acclimatization and further operating conditions.
Lignin upgrading by pyrolysis was investigated and the resulting lignin-oil fractions were upgraded downstream by hydrodeoxygenation.
Dehydration of hemicellulose sugars towards furans and their conversion into crude biofuels via aldol condensation reactions was achieved using homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts in aqueous and biphasic systems.
Downstream the hydrotreatments, the resulting crude biofuel intermediates were separated into tailored commercialisable value products to be used as drop-in aviation and shipping fuel. Biofuel fractions with the potential of becoming drop-in fuels for aviation were identified by fuel characterisation.
Furthermore lipid wax from black soldier fly larvae was proven to be suited as marine biofuel for direct use in vessels by engine tests.
Finally, the whole integrated FLEXI-GREEN-FUELS biorefinery was modelled for simulation, optimization and assessments of its technical, economic and environmental performance.
The dissemination activities of the project included a number of peer reviewed open access publications in several scientific journals and additional ones are in preparation.
As exploitation of the convincing FLEXI-GREEN FUELS’ results, a follow-up project is planned to demonstrate this biorefinery concept at higher technical readiness levels.
The underlying biorefinery concept consists of raw material pre-treatment (organosolv process to process lignocellulosic bioresidues), conversion of sugars to lipids (enzymatic hydrolysis followed by fungal fermentation, algae dark fermentation or lipid rich black soldier fly larva production), valorisation of hemicellulosic sugars via chemical routes, conversion of lignin by fast pyrolysis, chemical upgrading of crude biofuel intermediates (e.g. hydrodeoxygenation, alkylation) and separation into suited drop-in biofuel fractions for aviation and shipping.
With regard to lignocellulosic biomass, residues of beechwood and wheat straw were treated by the organosolv process, a key process to decompose and fractionate the raw materials into its building blocks cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Besides crucial insights gained into this process, material fractions have been produced as intermediates for downstream processing/upgrading.
Similarly, significant progress was made with regard to the second targeted bioresidue, namely organic fraction of municipal solid waste, i.e. food waste. The project was able to analyse the composition of this starting material delivered by a municipality on a regular basis, within a whole annual cycle. Enzyme hydrolysis of food waste, cellulose and a mixture of both were performed and optimal processing parameters were identified.
Following the pathway towards aviation and shipping biofuels, FLEXI-GREEN FUELS was able to make significant progress in the transformation of biowaste based cellulosic sugars into lipids. The project could manage to produce lipids by all three paths under investigation: fungal fermentation, algae dark fermentation and by black soldier fly larvae.
The microbial electrolysis cell for biohydrogen production was tested. Key areas for improvement in hydrogen production by MEC were identified, including increased resource utilizations, improvements in time for acclimatization and further operating conditions.
Lignin upgrading by pyrolysis was investigated and the resulting lignin-oil fractions were upgraded downstream by hydrodeoxygenation.
Dehydration of hemicellulose sugars towards furans and their conversion into crude biofuels via aldol condensation reactions was achieved using homogeneous and heterogeneous acid catalysts in aqueous and biphasic systems.
Downstream the hydrotreatments, the resulting crude biofuel intermediates were separated into tailored commercialisable value products to be used as drop-in aviation and shipping fuel. Biofuel fractions with the potential of becoming drop-in fuels for aviation were identified by fuel characterisation.
Furthermore lipid wax from black soldier fly larvae was proven to be suited as marine biofuel for direct use in vessels by engine tests.
Finally, the whole integrated FLEXI-GREEN-FUELS biorefinery was modelled for simulation, optimization and assessments of its technical, economic and environmental performance.
The dissemination activities of the project included a number of peer reviewed open access publications in several scientific journals and additional ones are in preparation.
As exploitation of the convincing FLEXI-GREEN FUELS’ results, a follow-up project is planned to demonstrate this biorefinery concept at higher technical readiness levels.
The integrated FLEXI-GREEN FUELS biorefinery concept reduces the environmental impact and results in social benefits, on the one hand in urban areas, making use of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste, and on the other hand in rural areas, making use of lignocellulosic biomass residues. FLEXI-GREEN FUELS’s concept to produce sustainable biofuels for shipping and aviation, to achieve near to zero waste generation, reducing the GHG emissions associated with waste treatment and minimising the overall environmental impact has been proven.
The future implementation of the FLEXI-GREEN FUELS project results will directly contribute to 8 of the 17 UN Sustainability Goals, namely:
GOAL 2 – Zero hunger: by replacing food crops currently used with non-edible organic wastes for the production of biofuels.
GOAL 7 – Affordable and clean energy: by optimising and integrating processes to produced advanced aviation and shipping fuels from waste feedstocks.
GOAL 8 – Decent work and economic growth: creating jobs and economic growth in the forest, agricultural, waste handling, and bioprocessing industry.
GOAL 9 – Industry innovation and infrastructure: by implementation of the innovative processes and by presenting a new industrial opportunity.
GOAL 11 – Sustainable cities and communities: by creating more sustainable aviation and shipping fuels and by optimising waste utilisation and valorisation (circular economy).
GOAL 13 – Climate action: by the GHG emission savings offered.
GOAL 15 – Life on land: by promoting forest and agricultural industry and better management of forests and agricultural residues.
GOAL 17 – Partnerships for the goals: FLEXI-GREEN FUELS represents a European partnership for all of the above goals. The project combines acknowledged expertise and acts on a wide geographic basis.
Furthermore, the FLEXI-GREEN FUELS approach will increase the energy security in Europe by reducing the dependency from fossil crude oil and the import of biofuels.
The future implementation of the FLEXI-GREEN FUELS project results will directly contribute to 8 of the 17 UN Sustainability Goals, namely:
GOAL 2 – Zero hunger: by replacing food crops currently used with non-edible organic wastes for the production of biofuels.
GOAL 7 – Affordable and clean energy: by optimising and integrating processes to produced advanced aviation and shipping fuels from waste feedstocks.
GOAL 8 – Decent work and economic growth: creating jobs and economic growth in the forest, agricultural, waste handling, and bioprocessing industry.
GOAL 9 – Industry innovation and infrastructure: by implementation of the innovative processes and by presenting a new industrial opportunity.
GOAL 11 – Sustainable cities and communities: by creating more sustainable aviation and shipping fuels and by optimising waste utilisation and valorisation (circular economy).
GOAL 13 – Climate action: by the GHG emission savings offered.
GOAL 15 – Life on land: by promoting forest and agricultural industry and better management of forests and agricultural residues.
GOAL 17 – Partnerships for the goals: FLEXI-GREEN FUELS represents a European partnership for all of the above goals. The project combines acknowledged expertise and acts on a wide geographic basis.
Furthermore, the FLEXI-GREEN FUELS approach will increase the energy security in Europe by reducing the dependency from fossil crude oil and the import of biofuels.