FUELPHORIA

Accelerating the sustainable production of advanced biofuels and RFNBOs – from feedstock to end-use

Advanced biofuels and renewable fuels of non-biological origin (RFNBOs) offer benefits in terms of GHG reduction and fossil fuel replacement for the transition to zero carbon as planned by the European Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, concerns have been raised about the overall sustainability and the insecurity of the value chain. Moreover, their production costs are higher than their fossil counterparts and they still require significant innovation, technological development and scale-up. Even though RED II revision sets clear targets, both the industry and the scientific community agree that additional interventions are needed focusing on the challenges along the value chain. 

FUELPHORIA will address these issues by demonstrating:

• successful and sustainable complete value chains for advanced biofuels and RFNBOs
• and new business models promoting the exploitation and new policies for the benefit of innovation, the economy and the society.  

In particular, the project will practically showcase a portfolio of nine complete value chains which will be set up and tested in real environment contexts with the active participation of all key players including:

• The feedstock suppliers (two biogas plants, a winery plant, an urban waste treatment plant);
• The technology providers who will convert through chemical, electrochemical, biological, thermochemical, and photobiological processes the feedstock (CO2, digestate, urban/ municipal biowaste) into an array of advanced biofuels and RFNBOs (light to long parafins i.e. CH4, medium/long chain hydrocarbons, esters i.e. biodiesel, and light alcohols i.e. ethanol, methanol) that meet quality specifications as defined by the end-users in the transport sector (aviation/maritime, road transport) and in the power production sector (gas or oil fired thermal plants), through four DEMOs in Europe (Belgium, Spain, Greece) while European export potential for renewable energy technologies through international collaboration with Africa is also envisaged. Special emphasis will be also given to the logistics around the fuel production systems, i.e., for the sustainable supply of feedstock and the efficient transport of the final products to their end application. 

ACTIVITIES of the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant

BBEPP is responsible for the value chain converting biogenic CO2 into TAGs for hydrocarbons and biodiesel production. More specifically, BBEPP will focus on:  

• Optimization of the gas-substrate fermentation process to convert biogenic CO2 (from Aquafin) into acetic acid. 
• Optimization and piloting of the liquid-substrate fermentation process to convert acetic acid into triacylglycerides, ready for hydrotreatment towards biofuels. 
• Scale-up and real demonstration of two-stage fermentation process and downstream purification.  

DOWNLOADS

Press Release dd 12 October 2023: FUELPHORIA project to establish sustainable value chains for renewable fuels

PARTNERS

• Centre for Research and Technology Hellas (CERTH), GR (Coordinator)
• Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant, BE  
• Aquafin, BE
• Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), ES
• Orlen Unicre, CZ
• Fundación CIRCE, ES 
• Universitat Rovira I Virgili, ES
• Viñas del Vero, ES
• Gonzalez Byass, ES
• Biogas Lagada, GR 
• QLAB, GR 
• International Hellenic University, GR 
• verd, GR 
• algen, SI 
• Perseo Biotechnology, ES
• Sav – Agricultores de Lavega de Valencia, ES
• DREVEN, BE 
• Greenovate! Europe, BE
• Revolve Water
• Q-PLAN International, GR
• ETA Florence – Renewable Energy, IT 
• ewaba, European Waste-to-Advanced Biofuel Association
• Foodscale Hub, GR 
• K. Sakellariou & Associates, GR 
• The American University in Cairo
• Technical University of Mombasa

SUPPORTED by:

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe Programme under Grant Agreement number: 101118286.