Periodic Reporting for period 1 - FUELPHORIA (Accelerating the sustainable production of advanced biofuels and RFNBOs - from feedstock to end-use)
Berichtszeitraum: 2023-10-01 bis 2025-03-31
FUELPHORIA will demonstrate the establishment of sustainable complete value chains for advanced biofuels and RFNBOs for providing Europe with sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply schemes. The project will practically showcase a portfolio of nine complete Value Chains (VC) which will be set up and tested in real environment contexts with the active participation of all key players including: the feedstock suppliers (two biogas plants, a winery plant, an urban waste treatment plant); the technology providers who will convert through chemical, electrochemical, biological, thermochemical, and photobiological processes the feedstock (CO2, digestate, urban/ municipal biowaste) into an array of advanced biofuels and RFNBOs (CH4, medium/long chain hydrocarbons, biodiesel, and ethanol, methanol) that meet quality specifications as defined by the end users in the transport sector and in the power production sector. These VCs will be tested via four demonstration (DEMO, TRL7) plants in Europe, while European export potential through international collaboration with Africa is also envisaged. Specifically:
DEMO 1: Hydrotreated and esterified TAGs production from CO2 derived from a biogas upgrading plant via a 2-step fermentation (Belgium). This DEMO covers VC1 (towards aviation and maritime fuel), VC2 (towards road transport fuel) and VC3 (towards biodiesel).
DEMO 2: Methane production from CO2 from fermentation and renewable H2 via an innovative methanation catalyst (Spain). This DEMO covers VC4 (towards road transport fuel) and VC5 (towards power plant fuel).
DEMO 3: Production of biodiesel from microalgae lipids grown in high N-concentration digestate (Greece). This DEMO covers VC6 (towards road transport fuel) and VC5 (towards power plants for island energy systems).
DEMO 4: Bioethanol and biomethanol production from organic urban waste (Spain). This DEMO covers VC8 (bioethanol via fermentation, ethanol via catalytic CO2 hydrogenation and biogas via anaerobic digestion) and VC9 (methanol via catalytic CO2 hydrogenation).
In order to achieve a comprehensive sustainability assessment of the concept of FUELPHORIA, the operation of the DEMO plants will be combined with scaled-up (TRL9) process modelling and the relevant Life Cycle Assessments to explore the impact of each value chain as an integrated part of a larger system. Based on these data, FUELPHORIA will define and setup business models and marketing concepts and will prepare market entry of the technology solutions as well as of the end products. Finally, policy recommendations will be developed for realising the energy system transition potential.
DEMO 1: Hydrotreated and esterified TAGs production from CO2 derived from a biogas upgrading plant via a 2-step fermentation (Belgium). This DEMO covers VC1 (towards aviation and maritime fuel), VC2 (towards road transport fuel) and VC3 (towards biodiesel).
DEMO 2: Methane production from CO2 from fermentation and renewable H2 via an innovative methanation catalyst (Spain). This DEMO covers VC4 (towards road transport fuel) and VC5 (towards power plant fuel).
DEMO 3: Production of biodiesel from microalgae lipids grown in high N-concentration digestate (Greece). This DEMO covers VC6 (towards road transport fuel) and VC5 (towards power plants for island energy systems).
DEMO 4: Bioethanol and biomethanol production from organic urban waste (Spain). This DEMO covers VC8 (bioethanol via fermentation, ethanol via catalytic CO2 hydrogenation and biogas via anaerobic digestion) and VC9 (methanol via catalytic CO2 hydrogenation).
In order to achieve a comprehensive sustainability assessment of the concept of FUELPHORIA, the operation of the DEMO plants will be combined with scaled-up (TRL9) process modelling and the relevant Life Cycle Assessments to explore the impact of each value chain as an integrated part of a larger system. Based on these data, FUELPHORIA will define and setup business models and marketing concepts and will prepare market entry of the technology solutions as well as of the end products. Finally, policy recommendations will be developed for realising the energy system transition potential.
By the end of the first reporting period all (9) value chains have been defined, all related technologies are under development and all the relevant infrastructure for the TRL7 pilot plants is either operational or at the last stages of construction. Specifically, in DEMO 1, final preparations for the installation of the gas fermentation mobile unit are underway. Productivity optimisation experimental work has reached the target for acetic acid and it is expected to reach its target for TAGs within the following months. In DEMO 2, the CO2 capture and electrolysis systems are both installed and operational. Also, methanation catalysts are under development and screening. For DEMO 3 the construction of the main infrastructure (microalgae ponds and greenhouse) has been completed, with the final utilities connections and controls remaining for the plant to be operational. A small inoculation pond is already operational for the optimisation of microalgae cultivation. Also, a camera has been procured for the growth monitoring of microalgae and a relevant AI algorithm is under development. Finally, regarding DEMO 4, urban waste sources have been determined, as well as the mixture composition. Laboratory tests have been conducted for the processes of all stages of the bioethanol line (VC8) and major construction work has been completed. Similar work is underway for the catalytic branch (CO2 hydrogenation for VC8 and VC9) with catalysts screening.
All VCs have been mapped (overall structure, added value in each step and actors involved). A market analysis was also conducted based on the VC maps. This was a SWOT analysis carried out around the 5 “C” of Marketing (Customers, Competitors, Collaborators, Capabilities, and Context). Market analysis was coupled with a demand and capacity assessment to assess the demand for the VCs’ products and producers’ potential capacity to meet this demand. The demand assessment focused on market size, estimated prices, market trends and growth prospects and the capacity assessment on the on the estimated production quantities, as reported by DEMO producers, for the next two years (short-term) and the next five years (medium-term). Also, business models for the VCs are also being designed, with substantial progress made on DEMO 1. The approach for each VC was at three levels: economic, environmental and social. Results from these workshops will be will be consolidated, refined, and integrated in the final business models that will be ready by M24. Furthermore, preliminary exploitation plans for the results of the value chains have been conceived encompassing the management of innovation and IPR in the framework of FUELPHORIA, setting up the context for the smooth exploitation and sustainability of its results after the end of the project. This is achieved via identifying background and foreground IP, as well as exploitable results and potential exploitation paths, clarifying access needs and rights, as well as ownership and exploitation claims, identifying possible conflicts in IPR, making decisions on the protection of each key exploitable result (KER) and implementing those decisions in an appropriate way depending on the chosen exploitation route and ownership status. Finally, a mapping of biofuel companies in Egypt has been conducted coupled with engagement with local stakeholders, as well as a preliminary investigation of the interest of European financial players of biofuels and RFNBOs industries in North African markets.