Two thermochemical biofuel production technologies form the core value chains of the BioTheRoS project: pyrolysis and gasification. Although these technologies are different, within this project synergies are foreseen by applying a multidisciplinary stepwise approach including feedstock selection, pilot experimental validation, scaleup simulation and modelling, seeking synergies in fuel blends between the fuels, value chain improvement, in particular through CCU and renewable hydrogen, a sustainable scale-up approach, social, sustainability and technoeconomic assessments, all linked to international cooperation activities to maximise the contribution to global knowledge building, and cost-effective, sustainable scale up of thermochemical advanced biofuels.
Nowadays, the world’s population has increased and, consequently, the demand for the energy has increased proportionally, making it necessary to use different sources of energy generation to the current ones. These current sources, such as fossil fuels, are also the cause of a large amount of environmental pollution. Therefore, the use of biomass to produce biofuels has a very important role to play. Predictive demand models will be used to estimate the amount of biomass needed to cover the biofuel production needs (at an international scale). There are different ways of estimating demand, the most frequently adopted methods for forecasting have been based on statistical and linear regression methods but, in recent years, more sophisticated and robust tools have been used to develop these models. These tools are based on AI, whose use has grown significantly over the last few years in a wide range of applications. The biomass required to cover biofuel needs will be predicted by Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms. These algorithms will be capable of predicting the demand, using the data obtained from GIS of biomass production as the input for the algorithms. These models will be based on the percentage of fuel that has to be biobased according to European roadmaps and policies, which will mark the amount of biofuel to be produced in the coming years and will condition the demand for biomass. Thus, the developed predictive models of biomass demand will help to reduce risks and make efficient decisions that impact operating costs and will shape the new business models that will be develop within the project.
Scale-up and export of European advanced biofuel technologies will only be possible if insight is obtained in the relevant market opportunities and conditions. Therefore, global policy framework to support advanced biofuels will be mapped, and the position of gasification and pyrolysis fuels with respect to competing options, such as other biofuels, renewable fuels and electrification in the segments of heavy duty, aviation and marine transport will be assessed. Based on this assessment of market dynamics, and a techno-economic evaluation of the gasification and pyrolysis oil-based technologies, including possible use of CCU and renewable hydrogen, the business perspectives will be evaluated, and will result in recommendation for policy makers and market uptake.
International cooperation activities including active seeking for synergies with EU and international projects, cooperation with international networks and setting up a network for knowledge sharing will ensure that the project builds on and contributes to global knowledge building for the sustainable scaling of advanced biofuels value chains.
In short, within BioTheRoS technical research on two highly relevant thermochemical advanced biofuel production pathways i.e. pyrolysis and gasification are combined with interdisciplinary research (e.g. on feedstock base, scaleup modelling, sustainability, impact assessment, market dynamics), with the aim to develop both value chains sustainably in a relevant international context.
