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Exploring the synergies between direct carbon-capture, nutrient recovery and next-generation purification technologies for cost-competitive and sustainable microalgal aviation fuel

Project description

Sustainable and cost-competitive model for microalgal aviation fuel development

Microalgae could play a crucial role in the EU’s goal to increase the share of sustainable aviation fuels (SAFs) in the aviation industry from 2 % in 2025 to 64 % by 2050. The EU-funded SusAlgaeFuel project aims to develop a circular production model for cost-effective and efficient microalgae-based SAFs. The project will employ direct CO2 capture from biogas upgrading, the use of waste liquid digestate for algae growth, new in-line process analytical technology, cascading biorefinery processes, and algae-specific thermocatalytic pathways for efficient fuel conversion. It will also assess scalability and create a commercialisation plan, culminating in the creation and operation of a first-of-its-kind microalgal facility in Ireland .

Objective

Microalgae can play a critical role in meeting EU targets to increase the share of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) in the aviation industry from 2% in 2025 to 64% by 2050. SusAlgaeFuel will develop integrated approaches in a circular production model towards the first cost-competitive (reduced by 49% from 12.3 to 6.3 $/kg HEFA) and efficient microalgae SAF: a) direct capture of CO2 emissions from biogas upgrading from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) and utilisation of waste liquid digestate as low-cost nutrient source to support algae growth; b) novel in-line process analytical technology complemented with machine learning and selective UV irradiation to monitor and purify bacterial contamination in algae culture; c) cascading biorefinery that relies on energy-saving autolysis and maximises solvent recycling to fractionate biomass into lipids (for jet fuel), protein serum (for feed) and cellulose-rich biomass residue (for further fuel conversion) at low energy & solvent requirements; d) algae-specific thermocatalytic pathways for efficient conversion of algae-lipids to Hydroprocessed Esters Fatty Acids-Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (HEFA-SPK) and residue to kerosene followed by a range of purification methods for fuel refinement to meet international aviation standards & certification.
Process simulations, techno economic & LCA will be performed to assess scalability from economic, social & environmental perspectives and to identify process improvements. A dedicated commercialisation plan and policy recommendations will be produced to guide future technology transfer from lab to industry. SusAlgaeFuel will culminate in the building & operation of a pilot-scale algal facility on an AD operator site in Ireland (TRL5) with the capacity to directly capture CO2 from AD flue gas, use waste digestate and produce ≥10 kg of algae lipids per year. Successful future scaling of the technology has the potential to deliver 20% of EU’s projected SAF requirements of 5Mt in 2030.

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

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HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions

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Call for proposal

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(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-02

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Coordinator

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DUBLIN, NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND, DUBLIN
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 876 416,25
Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 876 416,25

Participants (7)

Partners (1)

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