Project Number: 46117
Project Designation: PROGRAMAS MOBILIZADORES
Project Code: 14/SI/2019
Main Goal: Produce biofuel for the air and heavy road freight and passenger transport sectors. This project will allow the development of technological rationale, up to TRL 6, and a technological exploitation plan that supports investment in the production of biofuels on a commercial scale.
Intervention Area: North | Center | Lisbon | Alentejo
Beneficiary Entities:
A4F, Algafuel, SA | Associação BIOREF - Laboratório Colaborativo para as Biorrefinarias | Laboratório Nacional de Energia e Geologia – LNEG | APQuímica - Associação Portuguesa da Química, Petroquímica e Refinação | SysAdvance - Sistemas de Engenharia, S.A. | Dourogás Renovável - Produtora de Gás Combustível, S.A | Universidade de Trás os Montes e Alto Douro – UTAD | Instituto Superior Técnico de Lisboa – IST | Faculdade de Engenharia da Universidade do Porto – UP | Petrogal, S.A. | Biotrend - Inovação e Engenharia Em Biotecnologia S.A | Faculdade de Ciências da Universidade de Lisboa – FCUL | Universidade Nova de Lisboa – NOVA | HYCHEM | Instituto Politécnico de Portalegre – IPP | Universidade do Minho – UMINHO | Raiz - Instituto de Investigação da Floresta e Papel | Redeteca - Construção de Instalações e Redes de Gás S.A.
Approval Date: October 28th 2020
Start Date: October 28th 2020
Completion Date: June 30th 2023
Total Eligible Cost: 8 275 222,47 €
European Union Financial Support: 4 641 491,52 €
Goals, Activities, and Expected Results:
Under this project, and as a way to meet the challenge of decarbonization, already explained above, we will proceed to the production of biojetfuel for the aviation sector, through two ways: (1) from the autotrophic production of microalgae, which are then subjected to a hydrothermal liquefaction process with production of a bio-oil that by hydro-deoxygenation is converted into hydrocarbons, giving rise to biojetfuel; and (2) through the industrial production of biojetfuel from microbial oils produced by heterotrophic fermentation of hydrolysates from residual biomass of forest nature. These two methods of biojetfuel production will be the subject of PPS1 and PPS2.
In terms of road transport, the focus will be on hydrogen-based biofuels (BioH2) and biomethane (BioCH4), these being the objects of research and innovation of PPS3 and PPS4, respectively. BioH2 and BioCH4 can be produced in various ways, but both molecules participate in the production of one and the other. BioH2 can be produced from BioCH4 by steam reforming and water gas shift, with some of the BioCH4 being used to power the production system. On the other hand, BioCH4 can be recovered from landfills, but also produced by "methanation" from the recovery of biogenic or non-biogenic CO2 and sustainable H2 produced by water electrolysis using solar or wind power.