Project description
The future of flight can be grown, harvested and recycled
Aviation’s flight toward net-zero is stalled by the high cost of sustainable fuel. Moreover, since most biofuels rely on farmland, every acre used to power a jet is an acre taken away from the global food supply. This means aviation must compete with global food supplies for land and resources. The EU-funded ToFuel project aims to create a circular solution by transforming tomato processing waste (stems, skins, and pomace) into high-grade jet fuel. The project is pioneering a CO2-neutral biorefinery model. Using algae for carbon capture and advanced microbial fermentation, the project aims to reach cost parity with fossil fuels while producing animal feed and fertiliser as byproducts.
Objective
The production of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF) from renewable feedstock, such as agricultural waste streams, is vital in reducing the carbon footprint of the aviation sector and achieving the European climate neutrality goals. The ToFuel project focuses on converting waste streams from tomato production and processing into SAF, animal feed, fertiliser and nutritional oil via an innovative, efficient biorefinery concept. The innovative biorefinery concept efficiently processes a variety of feedstock, including agricultural residues and organic waste. Addressing key challenges in biorefining- such as low product concentrations and complex, variable input streams, and water management, all of which contribute to high energy demand- the ToFuel project aims to develop advanced, integrated CO2-neutral SAF production technologies. The overall process includes biomass fractionation via extrusion and hydrothermal liquefaction, carbon capture using algae cultivation, microbial lipid fermentation on both liquid and solid media, the pre-concentration and purification of process streams by developing and adapting new technologies, and the upgrade to SAF via the HEFA route, to achieve cost parity with other biofuels.
The project will provide open-access models for process simulation, (social) life-cycle assessments, and life-cycle cost calculations, along with strategies for scale up. By project completion, the core technologies will reach TRL 5, ensuring industrial readiness. A major outcome of the project is expanded knowledge of biorefinery, water management strategies, and carbon capture and utilization via algae, thereby reducing fossil resource dependency, strengthen Europe’s leadership in sustainable fuel technologies and contributing to new green job creation. The ToFuel project will maximize impact through a clear communication and dissemination strategy, including stakeholder workshops at European and local levels, along with accompanying exploitation measures.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
This project's classification has been human-validated.
Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.2.5 - Climate, Energy and Mobility
MAIN PROGRAMME
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HORIZON.2.5.2 - Energy Supply
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-RIA - HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-02
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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.
8010 Graz
Austria
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.