FUELPHORIA, BUTTERFLY and POSEIDON hold first joint seminar
24 October 2024FUELPHORIA and related projects BUTTERFLY and POSEIDON discuss objectives and future challenges with the European Commission in a jointly organized webinar.
On October 18th 2024, the three EU projects funded under the san Horizon Europe call, “Demonstration of complete value chains for advanced biofuel and non-biological renewable fuel production”, FUELPHORIA, BUTTERFLY, and POSEIDON, held a jointly organized webinar. The session, titled “Innovative, sustainable, and complete value chains for advanced biofuels and non-biological renewable fuel production“, was followed by an online audience of 91 participants.
The objective of the webinar was to highlight the synergies between these three related projects, by presenting their respective objectives, methodologies and case studies, as well as to provide an overview of activities put in place during this first year.
You can check out the full recording of the webinar here.
The first part of the webinar was dedicated to introductory presentations on the projects, while the second section consisted of a panel discussion between the representatives of the projects and a representative of the European Commission. The panel consisted of the following speakers:
- Galina Skorikova, Technical Consultant at TNO Netherlands (the Dutch Organization for Applied Scientific Research), in representation of BUTTERFLY Project
- Kostis Atsonios, Senior Research Scientist at CERTH (the Greek Centre of Research and Technology), in representation of FUELPHORIA Project
- Paul Haering, Project Manager at Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, in representation of POSEIDON Project
- Katja Haas-Santo, Scientific Coordinator at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, in representation of POSEIDON Project
- Maria Georgiadou, Senior Expert at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, European Commission.
Key takeaways
Galina Skorikova presented the BUTTERFLY project’s objective of producing rDME and synthetic natural gas SNG from feedstock of biological and non-biological origin, by combining indirect gasification with sorption-enhanced DME synthesis followed by methanation. She explained the value chain that is currently being established, together with an overview of the pilot plants and demo sites which will be employed. The project aims at three levels of flexibility in the production of results, regarding: feedstock supply, products, applications. Skorikova also shed light on the sorption-enhanced DME synthesis (SEDMES), technology patented by TNO, SEDMES, as one of the specific elements of the project. BUTTERFLY will also be involved in activities of market identification and technology exploitation to understand the most beneficial location, the best possible plant sizes based on feedstock availability, the distribution, the means of transport and the end users, to optimize the value chains according to their specificity. The aim of the project is to reach TRL7 by 2027 with the testing of three complete value chains for flexible DME and SNG production, upscaling to 32 MW feedstock inlet by 2030, and building 5 plants of 40 MW by 2035. The final objective is to build 250 small to medium scale plants for DME and SNG, by 2050.
Kostis Atsonios explained how FUELPHORIA aims at contributing to EU policy objectives to scale-up renewables, achieve electrification, and replace fossil-based heat and fuel in industry, buildings, and the transport sector, by building a portfolio of sustainable, secure & complete value chains for advanced biofuels and RFNBOs. Attendees were provided with an overview of the three main dimensions tackled by FUELPHORIA: the use of sustainable feedstock, the development of competitive state-of-the-art technologies, and the production of high quality-end products. These dimensions will be approached through a series of key interventions, such as: the establishment of demo operations, a value chain approach, a life cycle assessment, an approach based on policy transformation, and the development of new business and marketing concepts, as well as the liaison between European and African stakeholders. The overview of the four demos that FUELPHORIA is establishing (two in Spain, one in Greece, and one in Belgium), as well as the consortium members and their expertise, completed the presentation.
Paul Haering highlighted the objective of POSEDION, namely the implementation of local value chains based on e-methanol, as fuel for shipping in the ports of Valencia and Thessaloniki. The value chain taken into consideration by this project starts with two CO2 sources, biogenic and industrial, as feedstock; the next phase consists in the production of e-methanol in a power to e-methanol plant; and finally, the project will test the end use of e-methanol in three applications, such as a 2-stroke engine, a 4-stroke engine and a pilot boat. The project will develop two case studies: one in Valencia, which focuses on biogenic CO from wastewater treatment plant, while in Thessaloniki, process CO2 from lime plant will be used. The preliminary results that were showcased are the definition of the boundaries of the e-methanol value chain, the building of the prototype plant which will start next year, and the establishment of the communities of practice in Spain and Greece for the co-creation of project result.
The panel discussion that followed the presentations of the three projects featured the participation of Katja Haas-Santo and Maria Georgiadou, and mainly covered three topics: the effective involvement of stakeholders along the value chains tested by the projects, the barriers to the upscale of the production of renewable and biofuels, and the support provided by the European Commission and public authorities.
Regarding the first topic, BUTTERFLY showcased how its approach implies working with industrial partners and investigating their characteristics and needs along the value chain, as well as nudging their different knowledge. This is also done via dissemination events that help receiving external feedback on the work of project. FUELPHORIA mentioned the support received by its advisory board, composed by different stakeholders, and the interviews conducted with a diverse series of stakeholders to understand factors that could drive or hamper the development of the envisaged solutions. Additionally, one of the aims of FUELPHORIA is also to develop a marketing toolkit for value chain development. The European Commission stated the need of further dialogue along the value chain, and the objective of gathering all stakeholders to discuss measures to be taken at EU-level to push the establishment of complete value chains. Georgiadou mentioned a series of existing stakeholder platforms and forums that respond to this need: European Technology and Innovation Platform ETIP Bioenergy; Renewable fuels and bioenergy working group, and the Renewable and Low-Carbon Fuels Value Chain Industrial Alliance
About the upscale in the production of biofuels and renewable fuels, BUTTERFLY explained its focus in on the low-grade feedstock. For FUELPHORIA, the issue related to upscaling is a top priority, that is now being investigated in relation to various processes for the production of RNFBOs. The economic viability of these value chains will trigger the stakeholders to seek green H2 at a low-cost. POSEIDON is currently looking at CO2 sources, which are locally produced, as its concept is focused decentralized production. In response to these inputs, Maria Georgiadou of the European Commission specified that, according to a recent DG RTD report, biomass in Europe is not limited. To support stakeholders in the upscale, public authorities can be involved in EU-funded projects or support the uptake of this type of projects in their policy. A local approach is represented by the Renewable Energy Valleys, local and decentralized hubs where you can produce renewable electricity and heat from renewable fuels. Local biomass is not always available, so another solution can be establishing bioenergy hubs all around Europe, as intermediate bioenergy carrier hubs, to collect and then move the biomass outside the local collection areas. This could be put in place at EU-level strategy, and it is already done by EU-funded projects. Skorikova pointed out in relation to renewable energy valleys that getting permits locally is usually a challenging regulatory step, which could be simplified and standardized across EU countries. About feedstock availability, Skorikova also mentioned the strategy of mixing feedstock, that could represent a solution, provided that the issue of carbon credits is clarified at EU-level, when it comes to using mixed feedstock
Asked about the need for a more holistic approach across transport regulation by the EC in relation to renewable and biofuels, Georgiadou underlined the compatibility between EU policies across different transport sectors and the need of regularly revising EU-policies by assuring that they are answering to the needs of the markets and the interests of the stakeholders.
You can download the presentation of the speakers here:
