Descrizione del progetto
Biocarburanti competitivi più verdi
I governi di tutto il mondo subiscono pressioni per combattere i cambiamenti climatici e i suoi effetti e hanno l’obiettivo di ostacolarne le ripercussioni dannose. I biocarburanti sono parte di questi sforzi: vengono infatti promossi come alternativa a basso tenore di carbonio ai combustibili fossili, poiché possono contribuire a ridurre le emissioni di gas a effetto serra. Sfortunatamente, le opzioni attualmente disponibili richiedono processi di produzione ad alte emissioni e dannosi per l’ambiente, che le rendono meno ottimali per soddisfare le esigenze attuali. Il progetto BioRen, finanziato dall’UE, intende introdurre un additivo innovativo ad alto valore per il combustibile: il terz-butil etere del glicerolo. Questa sostanza migliorerebbe le prestazioni, riducendo al contempo notevolmente le emissioni. Il progetto potrebbe sviluppare una modalità innovativa e più ecologica per trasformare l’isobutanolo in isobutene.
Obiettivo
The objective of BioRen is to develop techno-economical competitive drop-in biofuels for road transport from the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). A higher value fuel is targeted: glycerol tertiary butyl ether (GTBE) is a promising fuel additive to both diesel and gasoline that improves engine performance and cuts harmful exhaust emissions (i.e. fine dust). It can be blended in higher amounts than e.g. ethanol, without having to change the engine. Bio-ethanol and bio-isobutanol from OFMSW are required intermediaries in this innovation path towards GTBE. Their specific business case as second generation drop-in fuel will be compared to the bio-GTBE business case, to select the most sustainable option for building a demo plant. The project will develop a pretreatment method, industrial 2G Saccharomyces strains that produce ethanol and isobutanol respectively and chemical dehydration to convert isobutanol into isobutene. The isobutene is converted into GTBE by adding Category 1 glycerol, another problematic waste stream. The resulting fuels (ethanol, isobutanol and GTBE) will be tested in engine tests to provide feedback regarding their performance, emission results and fuel use. This ambitious project is continuously monitored by LCA, techno-economic, market and regulatory and IP analysis in order to come up with a realistic business plan. The developed processes will be integrated in a revolutionary MSW treatment plant that combines the most efficient technologies of material reuse, and is currently looking into optimising the profitability of its organic waste fraction. The project consortium has all the required players to succeed: 3 RTO’s address the research challenges, 7 SMEs either bring in their technological developments or are a scale-up partner that bring the processes to min. TRL5. The project is led by a financial consultancy that invests in the MSW demonstration treatment plant.
Campo scientifico
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuelsliquid fuels
- natural sciencesbiological sciencesbiochemistrybiomoleculeslipids
- natural scienceschemical sciencesorganic chemistryalcohols
- social sciencessocial geographytransport
- engineering and technologyindustrial biotechnologybiomaterialsbiofuels
Parole chiave
Programma(i)
Invito a presentare proposte
Vedi altri progetti per questo bandoBando secondario
H2020-LC-SC3-2018-RES-SingleStage
Meccanismo di finanziamento
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinatore
9032 Wondelgem
Belgio
L’organizzazione si è definita una PMI (piccola e media impresa) al momento della firma dell’accordo di sovvenzione.