Networking

Microalgae can play a critical role in meeting EU targets to increase the share of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAFs) in the aviation industry from 2% in 2025 to 64% by 2050. SusAlgaeFuel will develop integrated approaches in a circular production model towards the first cost-competitive (reduced by 49% from 12.3 to 6.3 $/kg HEFA) and efficient microalgae SAF by:  

a) direct capture of CO2 emissions from biogas upgrading from Anaerobic Digestion (AD) and utilisation of waste liquid digestate as low-cost nutrient source to support algae growth;  

b) novel in-line process analytical technology complemented with machine learning and selective UV irradiation to monitor and purify bacterial contamination in algae culture;  

c) cascading biorefinery that relies on energy-saving autolysis and maximises solvent recycling to fractionate biomass into lipids (for jet fuel), protein serum (for feed) and cellulose-rich biomass residue (for further fuel conversion) at low energy & solvent requirements;  

d) algae-specific thermocatalytic pathways for efficient conversion of algae-lipids to Hydroprocessed Esters Fatty Acids-Synthetic Paraffinic Kerosene (HEFA-SPK) and residue to kerosene followed by a range of purification methods for fuel refinement to meet international aviation standards & certification.

Advanced biofuels represent an important piece of the puzzle in the EU’s quest for climate neutrality as they contribute to decarbonising transport sectors and decrease the EU’s dependence on fossil fuels. Fuels-C aims to contribute to this quest by increasing the availability of two liquid and two gaseous advanced biofuels for maritime and road transports, produced from biogenic organic wastes and CO2. Fuels-C will develop an integrated platform of innovative energy-efficient conversion technologies validated at TRL5 including bioelectrochemically assisted CH4 production, bioelectrochemical NH3 production, gasification, microbial electrosynthesis, and electroreduction.

ALGAESOL will develop and evaluate several solutions for the sustainable conversion of sunlight into fuels. The project will advance current state-of-the-art by creating and consolidating new value chains for shipping and aviation fuels based on micro-algae and direct solar renewable fuel technologies. ALGAESOL will reduce production costs by 25%and improve efficiency of converting solar energy, carbon dioxide (CO2) and organic wastes into renewable methanol (CH3OH), methane (CH4) and biooils, forming the basis for aviation and shipping fuels. Various systems (biologic, photoelectrochemical, electrochemical and bioelectrochemical) will be evaluated and smart reactor design will be combined with process improvements.

NIAGARA intends to make a significant contribution to the development of a sustainable process chain, involving the shaping and procurement of openly available EU biogenic wastes (wastewaters, digestate, sewage sludge etc.), a production of carbohydrate-rich microalgae, an innovative continuous and flexible hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) process to convert the mix of biogenic wastes and microalgae into a solid fraction (hydrochar) and an aqueous phase that will in turn be converted into an advanced biofuel (a biogenic syngas rich in hydrogen) via gasification and aqueous phase reforming. Subsequent syngas cleaning processes are envisaged to ensure a full compatibility of the syngas to the solid oxide fuel cells. NIAGARA’s value chain will feature a very low carbon balance with a strong potential to become carbon negative overtime