Biorefinery is a facility that integrates biomass conversion processes and equipment to produce fuels, power, and chemicals from biomass. By producing multiple products, a biorefinery can take advantage of the differences in biomass components and intermediates and maximize the value derived from the biomass feedstock. A biorefinery might, for example, produce one or several low-volume, but high-value, chemical products and a low-value, but high-volume liquid transportation fuel, while generating electricity and process heat for its own use and perhaps enough for sale of electricity. In the most advanced version, the biorefinery will be the flexible producer of hydrogen from biomass and biowaste with hydrogen storage capacity, large enough to play the role of hydrogen fuel station for transportation needs of local communities.
From economic reasons there exists the urgent need of elaboration the technical background and design of complementary elements of equipment for thermal destruction, fermentation, separation and purification of derived from biomass products at different stages of conversion. Those elements of modular nature produced in large quantities (economy of scale) will be used next as the flexible components in construction of specialized plants with their production portfolio and capacity optimised to local conditions. The project activities assume full utilization of any synergy will arrive from parallel development of hydrogen economy concept with necessities of changes in long term of European Common Agriculture Policy. Transfer from economy of scale to economy of scope is seen to be the integration backbone for future activities of the project group.
Timetable of the use and dissemination activities within the next 3 years after the end of the project:
Development of the Virtual Model of Biorefinery Enterprise (VBE) optimised for European conditions:
- Elaboration of the concept and preparation the IT background for development of Virtual Biorefinery Enterprise embedded in European socioeconomic, natural and technical conditions;
- Testing the VBE using the available databases and defining the preferences for chosen European location (Baltic Rim);
- Executors: GIG, IVL, London School of Economics.
Evaluation and optimisation of processes and equipment elements will be used next in construction of flexible, modular biomass conversion plants for Europe:
- Screening of the processes, systems and equipment elements could be effectively adopted in construction of European biomass and biowaste conversion plants;
- Preparation and demonstration of the Biorefinery plants in chosen rural locations of Baltic Rim;
- Executors: University of Bremen, ICSO Blachownia, and Lithuanian Energy Institute, University of Tartu.
Analysis and use of synergy elements existing between biorefinery and hydrogen economy concepts in sustainable development of European agriculture and energy systems:
- Analysis of European RTD agriculture, energy and regional development programmes from the point of view of identification exploitation of existing and potential synergy elements to facilitate the progress of implementation of biorefinery concepts;
- Dissemination and lobbying the biorefinery and hydrogen economy development based on existing demonstration plants.