Increasing biomass conversion efficiency to carbon-negative sustainable biofuels by combination of thermal and bio-electrochemical processes

Project Information

NET-Fuels

Grant agreement ID: 101083780

DOI

10.3030/101083780

EC signature date 14 October 2022

Start date 1 November 2022

End date 31 October 2026

Funded under

• Climate, Energy and Mobility

Total cost

€ 4 501 739,00

EU contribution

€ 4 501 739,00

Coordinated by

ALMA MATER STUDIORUM - UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA
Italy

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - NET-Fuels (Increasing biomass conversion efficiency to carbon-negative sustainable biofuels by combination of thermal and bio-electrochemical processes)

Reporting period: 2024-05-01 to 2025-10-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

NET-Fuels develops and validates integrated chemical and thermal processes to produce sustainable fuels and energy from low-grade waste biomass.
NET-Fuels develops a novel pathway to produce carbon-negative biofuels from low value biogenic residues (such as digestate, calamity wood, pruning) through a combination of thermochemical conversion, separation of hydrogen from the syngas, oxy-fuel combustion of the tail gas, extraction of CO2 from the exhausts, bio-electrochemical conversion of CO2 into methane and carbon sequestration in the soil by biochar. Hence, the integrated system is designed to re-use and minimise process CO2 and, in conjunction with soil enrichment by the process biochar, will achieve certified negative greenhouse gases emissions.
The process will also generate as an additional product a biofuel intermediary (high quality pyrolysis oil) which has proven conversion route into drop-in fuels. The project will take the integrated process to TRL 5, providing a platform (in terms of technical feasibility, economic performance, and environmental and social sustainability) for further demonstration and validation projects. In doing so it brings together a consortium of internationally recognized experts in biomass thermochemical conversion, bioreactors design, environmental sustainability and life cycle analysis, dynamic modelling, biochar utilisation, economic analysis and business case development and dedicated outreach, public engagement, and social sustainability analysis. The Net-Fuels system will be able to deliver 25 Mtoe of advanced biofuels in 2030 (7% share of the transport fuel consumption), if exploiting between one third and one fourth of the total pool of available feedstock listed in Part A of Annex IX in Europe, while ensuring 110 Mt of CO2 of net negative emission.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

A comprehensive characterization of representative samples of the feedstock supplied has been performed. A wide range of relevant feedstock was covered, from woody biomass residues over prunings to residues from agriculture and livestock farming. Pre-treatment procedures and results have been identified and tested.
The prototype TCR/Oxyfuel combustion process has been constructed.
The design of a Bio-electrochemical methanation reactor is ongoing and design parameters have been tested at the laboratory scale: preliminary screening identified stainless steel as a better alternative to carbon-based electrodes; 3D-structured stainless-steel wool is shown to maximise the cathode active surface; membrane contactors for continuous CO2 delivery and optimized dissolution have been successfully implemented; an efficient liquid-gas separation system (Settler) for the pilot plant has been designed; and a preliminary pilot reactor construction plan, timeline and cost has been developed.
A preliminary environmental sustainability analysis of the process has been done: a common ground among the partners and a framework for sustainability assessments has been developed; it was decided to use a product-oriented approach, and commensurate everything with the production of a given amount of synthetic methane; different scenarios and product system variations have been identified.
Within the scope of NET-Fuels Competitive Research Analysis and Business Development, a Market Competitive Research Analysis (MCRA) considering relevant competitive technologies has been developed. Preliminary Sustainable Business Model Canvas (SBMC) were produced for the NET-Fuels Integrated System and for its break-down sub-products.
A Communication, Dissemination & Exploitation Plan has been developed. A project website as well as a social media presence have been established to raise awareness about the NET-Fuels activities and project branding material has been developed. Two digital NET-Fuels newsletters and press releases have been elaborated and distributed in order to reach the targeted audience.
The Exploitation Plan (EP) defined for the project considers the defined business models of the project’s key exploited results (KERs) for the identification of their Intellectual Property (IP) aspects, together with the assessment of the expected socio-economic and environmental impact of the NET-Fuels’ project generated knowledge and technology.
The project has been introduced on the occasion of events in the field of renewable energy (biomass and bioenergy in particular), waste management and LCA.
Within the Exploitation scope of the project, an ecosystem of communities of practice was established, called “NET-Fuels Stakeholders Community”, including industrial partners and interested stakeholders, aiming at promoting the project’s identified KERs and disseminating their validation via the represented case studies.Two "NET-Fuels Stakeholders Community Workshop” were organized, in November 2023 at LEITAT Technological Center (in Spain) and in May 2025 in Gliwice (Poland).

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

NET-Fuels integrated process (TCR/PSA/Oxycombustion/BEM technologies combination) aims at producing carbon-negative biofuels overcoming the technical problems of thermochemical conversion of biomass feedstock.
If successful, the NET-Fuels project could represent a significant step forward in the production of economically viable and carbon-negative hydrogen and synthetic methane. The goal is that the process will create a new revenue stream for agricultural businesses, sequester CO2 in soil efficiently while fertilising it, and produce hydrogen and methane in sufficient quantities.
Other approaches using catalysts in synthetic methane reactors are still far from being competitive and at a low TRL level. NET-Fuels aims to bring the processing of specific biomasses at a TRL 5 level.
Another ambition of NET-Fuels is to apply for the first time the oxy-combustion to the tail gas after extraction of the hydrogen from the hydrogen-rich TCR syngas.
Moreover, the NET-Fuels project is dedicated to the production of biofuels from poor-quality waste organic feedstocks by means of low cost, flexible, high-yielding performances. This will allow to meet increasing demand for biofuels and it will also foster circular economy by diverting waste from landfill disposal to recycling practices.

NET-Fuels concept in a nutshell