Giving up on Climate Change? EU Says No Way – Invests $140M in Decarbonizing Projects

August 09, 2021

Print This Article Share it With Friends

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) ... The good news is for the first time since the creation of the Innovation Fund, the EU’s latest investment of €118 million (about $140 million) into 32 small innovative projects located in 14 EU Member States, Iceland and Norway that can make a difference, bringing low-carbon technologies to the market in energy intensive industries, hydrogen, energy storage and renewable energy. In addition to these grants, 15 projects located in 10 EU Member States and Norway will benefit from project development assistance worth up to €4.4 million, with the aim of advancing their maturity.

In today’s Digest, the EU investment, a look at some of the projects that are getting funding, like the bio-LNG FirstBio2Shipping project, WAGA Energy biomethane from landfill gas, a Thermoplastic lignin project, Versalis bioethanol, Verbio ethenolysis, Ballard, Orsted green hydrogen in shipping, and more.

...

Waga Energy Biomethane from Landfill gas

In Spain, this project aims to be the first global demonstration of an innovative combination of high performance cryocondenser and methane recovery module technology which generates market compliant biomethane from landfill gas containing more than 10% of air, in countries without any feed-in tariffs.

...

FirstBio2Shipping bio-LNG project

In the Netherlands, a new Dutch bio-LNG production project received a grant from the European Commission. Dutch waste management firm Attero and Bio-LNG Hub Wilp will develop the project named FirstBio2Shipping. The aim of the project is to decarbonize the maritime sector by demonstrating the first industrial plant producing renewable, low-carbon bio liquified natural gas (bio-LNG) in a standardised and scalable fashion, enabling the cost-effective substitution of heavy fuel oil (HFO).

The plant consists inter alia of a gas treatment unit, a bio-LNG polishing and storage unit and a carbon capture unit.

The project looks to “decarbonize the maritime sector by demonstrating the first industrial plant producing renewable, low-carbon bio-LNG in a standardised and scalable fashion, enabling the cost-effective substitution of heavy fuel oil.” Moreover, the plant would feature a gas treatment facility, a bio-LNG unit, and a carbon capture unit.

The demonstration plant aims to produce 6 million Nm3/year of biogas, 2,400 tons/year of biomethane, and 5,000 tons/year of bio-CO2. The project would reduce GHG by 92% compared to a reference scenario.

At the core of the process is a novel technology called iLNG. The novel integrated system aims to overcome hurdles such as low bio-LNG qualities (i.e., containing amines), high methane slip (due to CO2 venting), high temperature demands in gas treatment technologies, and high costs for disposal of wastewater and toxic chemical waste. Dutch bio-LNG plant developer Nordsol patented this technology. Nordsol is already building the first bio-LNG facility in the Netherlands along with partners Shell and Renewi.

Green hydrogen in shipping

A whole group of shipping industry partners – Ballard Power Systems, Orsted, Danish Ship Finance, DFDS, Hexagon Composites, Knud Hansen and others – are working on a zero-emission vessel powered by a large-scale fuel cell system that will exclusively use green hydrogen from renewable sources.

Ren Com AB Thermoplastic lignin project

In Sweden, this project involves the construction of a biorefinery producing a biomaterial that is renewable and which is used in the manufacturing process of packaging films (i.e., wrapping plastics and plastic bags). The goal is to replace polyethylene, the most used fossil-based plastic with the new and innovative material made from lignin, a low-value side-stream of the pulp and paper industry.

This will be the first biomaterial produced from lignin for bioplastics, which displays key properties, such as sufficient good water resistance and thermoplastic performance, coupled with a cost-efficient production process. Success with the new material product will pave the way for it to replace other fossil-based plastics, such as polypropylene and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. The production capacity of the plant will be 10,000tpa, and the project would avoid 78% of GHG emissions compared to a reference scenario.

Navigator Pulp Setubal S.A. – Conversion of pulp mill fuel source to biomass

In Portugal, this project aims to reduce direct greenhouse gas emissions from the pulp mill’s lime kiln. A pilot-scale rotary kiln burner and its wood powder feeding lines and equipment will be designed and built, in order to allow a fuel shift to 100% hardwood residues (eucalyptus sawdust) and softwood (pellets), replacing the current natural gas-fired in the existing pulp mill’s lime kiln.

Considering the lime kiln equipment is responsible for most of the fossil fuel consumption in a pulp mill, the key innovative element of the project relates to the use of hardwood residues, which are generated in wood handling operations, in a lime kiln whilst ensuring that the integrity of the kiln is maintained compared to a standard gas-fired kiln. Although no changes in the production capacity of kraft pulp are envisaged, the conversion of the lime kiln would avoid 76% of GHG emissions compared to a reference scenario.

Some other projects include replacing fossil fuel derived LNG used to dry paper with a new on-site gasification plant that uses wood waste to generate bio-syngas, which would result in avoiding 72% GHG emissions in comparison.

You can check out all 32 small-scale projects here.

You can check out all 15 large-scale projects here. READ MORE

Versalis, BTS Biogas develop biogas, biomethane technology (Biomass Magazine)

Excerpt from Biomass Magazine: Versalis, Eni's chemical company, and BTS Biogas, an Italian company in the building and managing sector of biogas plants, have agreed to develop and commercialize an innovative technology for the production of biogas and biomethane from residual lignocellulosic biomass.

This technology will integrate Versalis' proprietary technology for the thermomechanical processing of biomass with BTS Biogas' technology for the fermentation production of biogas and biomethane.

BTS Biogas has expertise in the production of biogas and biomethane from various biomass sources and the research and development infrastructure to evaluate their processing capacity and yields on an experimental basis. Versalis, as part of Eni's broader decarbonization strategy, has launched a transformation plan that aims to diversify its activities and products, and increase its contribution to technological development for increasingly sustainable industrial solutions.

The partnership will enable the production of biogas and advanced biomethane with high yields from residual lignocellulosic biomass, thereby contributing to the large-scale development of advanced biomethane production with reduced greenhouse gas emissions and no agronomic impact. READ MORE

Tags

European Union (EU) climate change climate change mitigation government investment methane/biomethane Spain landfill methane Quebec Canada BioRefineries/Renewable Fuel Production Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) shipping bio-LNG (Liquified Natural Gas) Marine/Maritime Bio and Renewable/Sustainable Fuel (SMF) HFO (Heavy Residual Fuel Oil) carbon capture and storage (CCS) Biogas Netherlands Big Oil/Oil Majors 2nd generation biofuels ethanol/bioethanol advanced ethanol demonstration scale/unit Italy Hydrogen/Renewable Hydrogen photoelectrocatalysis Germany Hungary electrolysis carbon capture and utilization (CCU) Methanol/Biomethanol/Renewable Methanol fuel cells hydrogen fuel cells lignin Sweden biomaterials polyethylene bioplastics GHG (Greenhouse Gas Emissions) Portugal Pulp/Paper Mill pilot scale forest residue/waste pellets BioChemicals/Renewable Chemicals precursors/biointermediates Sustainability Lignocellulosic Biofuel

Comments are closed.