pyrolysis – Bio4Products

Importance of ‘cascading use’

James Ling — Fri, 03 Mar 2017 13:24:57 +0000

Back in 2012 the European Parliament recognised the high potential of the bioeconomy sector both for job and wealth creation and to help the EU’s transition to a more sustainable and circular economy.

Five years on, the European Parliamentary Research Service last month released a briefing presenting challenges and opportunities facing the sector.

The report emphasises the key role of the bioeconomy sector in optimising the use of biomass and biomass waste and residues, in particular through the ‘cascading-use’ principle, “whereby biomass is used more than once, if technically and economically possible, typically with material use(s) as the first step(s) and energy conversion as the last step”.

The Bio4Products project is a great example of this ‘cascading-use’ principle. Rather than converting biomass for energy, Bio4Products will upgrade the biomaterial into renewable chemicals, which can be used to make products such as roofing material, phenolic resins, sand moulding resins, and engineered wood and natural fibre reinforced products.

To tap the full potential of biomass, the report also argues that “bioeconomy policies should be better designed to ensure a cascading use of biomass”. As biotechnology is playing an increasingly important role on the global market, policy support from the European Union will represent a key factor of success of the bioeconomy in Europe.

If you would like to learn more about European bioeconomy policies, click on the following link to read the full report.

Special issue on pyrolysis

James Ling — Mon, 20 Feb 2017 10:36:41 +0000

In Germany, the scientific journal Energy Technology has just published a Special Issue on Pyrolysis for Energy Technologies.

The entire special issue is free to access for all of 2017 and has contributions from many of the leaders in the field in academia. So if you want to really get to grips with the pyrolysis process, make sure to have a look. Lots more information on fast pyrolysis is also available at the PyroKnown portal.

Fast pyrolysis is the conversion technique employed in Bio4Products. It transforms solid biomass into a liquid in just a few seconds. First, biomass is rapidly heated to around 500°C in the absence of air. An oily smoke is created, which is then condensed into a liquid bio-oil.

After years of development the process is now applied on an industrial scale, converting large quantities of lignocellulosic (non-food) biomass into a dark-brown bio-oil. In Bio4Products, partners will further process this oil to create higher value materials and chemicals.

Bio-based products as carbon store

James Ling — Thu, 16 Feb 2017 08:22:18 +0000

The EU should incentivise member states to use wood for products rather than energy in the upcoming legislation on land use change and forestry, the German government has argued.

While wood-based products act as a carbon store, wood burned for bioenergy contributes significantly to CO₂ emissions if not sustainably managed. As a result, Germany says the two activities should be counted differently when considering emissions from land-use, land-use change and forestry (LULUCF).

The current Commission proposal includes a ‘no debit rule’ where member states will be required to compensate for CO2 emissions resulting from deforestation. Germany would like to see the system discourage burning for energy by increasing the debits accrued on wood felled for this activity. It is hoped this would instead encourage the market for long-lived wood products and bio-based products, such as those being developed in Bio4Products.

It was agreed in 2014 that the LULUCF sectors should contribute to the overall emissions reduction target as part the EU’s 2030 climate framework. The current proposal will look to regulate the sector for the period 2021-2030.