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Feasibility study on biofuel chains implementation in a mediterranean country

Objective

The aim of the BIOPOR project is the overall analysis of the factors affecting the creation and development of an agro-industrial production chain of liquid fuel for transportation purposes. Addressed issues include the evaluation of the role of the specific factors conditioning the production of vegetable species for biofuel, identification of by-products and their uses, study of production technologies, analysis of the economics of the process, establishment of the environmental balance, conduction of a comparative study of alternative production systems, determination of the dimensions of the market, study of the transformation technologies involved, study of process integration into existing facilities, evaluation of market perspectives, establishment of the economic feasibility study, identification of existing limitations to biofuel usage in public transportation, technical and economic feasibility study of the use of biofuel in public transportation vehicles, establishment of the global energy balance and quantification of the socio-economic and environmental effects of the biofuel production chain in comparison with the results obtained from the use of conventional fuels.
Expected achievements include: rapeseed and sunflower yields, crops economics, social, crops characterization, validation of simulation models, valorization strategies for the co-products, comparison of production technologies, utilization of experimental fields for data collection and for demonstration and dissemination purposes, market characterization, evaluation of the different transformation technologies, definition of optimization techniques, adequacy to transportation industry requirements, compliance with existing standards, identification of fuel improvements, pilot biofuel production, technical feasibility study of the use of biofuels, economic feasibility study of the use of biofuel, competitive advantages gained through the use of biofuels, marketing strategies, chain energy, socio-economic and environmental balance, study of future biofuel scenarios and identification of the restrictions to the penetration of biofuels.

Execution of the present project is an excellent opportunity to promote the regional integration of renewable energies in Portugal and other Mediterranean countries. The present project benefits from the direct interest of all the sectors of the industry and agriculture involved. From this point of view, it is expected that the results of the project will pave the way for a short-term settlement of a biofuel production chain fully in-line with industry requirements.
Technical Approach

The development of the project called for the involvement of different institutions both of academic, agricultural and industrial nature with specific competencies in the different areas scrutinized within the project. The technical approach employed in the project is characterized by the different methodologies used: evaluation of previous experiences conducted elsewhere, agricultural production studies coupled with numerical models, agricultural field trials, laboratory tests on biofuel production, analysis of statistical data, conduction of engine performance assessment tests and conduction of interviews and enquires to players on the biofuel production chain.

Call for proposal

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Coordinator

Instituto Superior de Transportes / Fernave
EU contribution
No data
Address
3,Rua Castilho
1250 Lisboa
Portugal

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Total cost
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Participants (10)