The ongoing decarbonisation of the energy and transport systems is a current challenge in Europe. As the rising prices of fossil natural gas make evident, the need to increase renewable gas capacity is undeniable and goes hand in hand with solving bottlenecks that current biomethane production technologies cannot effectively address. The HYFUELUP project aims to demonstrate a flexible and hybrid pathway for the efficient and cost-effective production of biomethane through thermochemical technologies combined with renewable hydrogen. A complete deployment value chain, including biomethane offtake and distribution, will also be demonstrated to contribute to the market penetration of biomethane in key sectors. Thanks to the broad composition of the consortium, the project will blend market knowledge with advanced academic and industrial perspectives to demonstrate the production of biomethane at scale. First, the flexible conversion of low-grade feedstocks via sorption-enhanced gasification will be validated, coupled with syngas or flue gas clean-up, in a demonstrator at TRL6. Then, a second demonstrator will also validate fluidised-bed methanation of either syngas or flue gas with the dynamic addition of hydrogen at TRL6, before both technologies are integrated into a third demonstrator to produce biomethane at scale and reach TRL7. Together, such developments work toward reaching the impacts of the work programme and lead to relevant changes in action and practice via two well-defined impact pathways (“technological development and adoption”, and “enhancing capacity”) that will ultimately help strengthen the European scientific leadership for the development of a highly competitive renewable gas industry, widen the technology portfolio of biomethane production technologies, and improve citizen well-being via reduced climate and social risks.

CARBIOW project addresses green transition and circular economy by proposing novel technologies that cover the whole process of conversion of organic waste to biofuels. On one hand, hard-to-utilize organic waste such as organic fraction of municipal solid waste and residues from biorefinery and biological processes are utilized to highlight a new bioenergy source. On the other hand, new technologies will be developed from TRL 2 to 5. The proposed technologies via CARBIOW enable Europe to take the lead and advancement in several fields of energy generation and energy sector decarbonization. Moreover, energy security, economical boost, local energy independenc,e and job creation are addressed. Torrefaction as an emerging technology converts the very heterogeneous and wet organic waste to a high-quality solid biofuel. Besides, torgas will be combusted with oxygen to generate energy for torrefaction, and to obtain nearly pure CO2. A novel technology i.e., oxygen-blown gasification in oxygen carrier aided systems will convert the torrefied organic waste to clean syngas with very high efficiency in terms of energy and yield. The syngas will be used in the Fischer-Tropsch process with a novel reactor and novel 3D printed catalysts aiming to produce aviation (kerosene) and marine (alcohols) biofuels. The CO2 from the oxy-conversion steps will be fixed in the resulting ashes from the same process via carbonization to make cement-based product. So, CARBIOW addresses another goal that is the decarbonization of cement industry, while making the biofuels to be carbon negative. The diversity and strength of the experts within the consortium of CARBIOW will guarantee the technological, technical, and societal advancement of what is proposed, most importantly, the exploitation and perspective of the whole process will be evaluated by the leaders and industrial sites to pledge the feasibility of the scale-up and further development of the proposed process.

IRODDI is an ambitious initiative that proposes the development of new greener processes for obtaining new bio-based products with specific properties/functionalities derived from the Free Fatty Acids (FFAs) contained in the deodorizer distillates residual streams of the deodorization process, the last step of the refining process of oils and fats. These newly obtained products will suppose an high added value for FFAs valorization in comparison to their conventional biodiesel application, as they will be used as (1) bio-compatible and eco-friendly surfactants with increased solubility in cold water (by chemical neutralization of FFAs with eco-friendly ILs), (2) biodegradable base-oils that can be directly used in the formulation of bio-lubricants (by enzymatic esterification of FFAs with glycerol) and (3) sustainable polyols for polyurethanes production (by chemical co-valorization of the base-oils obtained in the enzymatic processes of FFAs esterification). Moreover, in order to achieve the maximally possible added value of the deodorization distillates side streams, innovative technologies based on supercritical CO2 (scCO2) and ionic liquids extraction will be developed to isolate minor compounds with a high added-value under softer operational conditions, that will their high quality. One advantage of the IRODDI project is that the technologies developed could be applied individually or in an integrated process to maximize profits of deodorization distillates valorization. The outcomes of the project will be focused on the demonstration of the applicability of these components in different industrial sectors: food-grade detergents (surfactants), bio-lubricants (base-oils), adhesives (polyols), and cosmetics (minor compounds such as squalene).

SUSTAINEXT is led by Natac and brings together 21 partners from Europe and Spain, 7 of them from the Extremadura region. The project will start in June 2023 and will last four and a half years. In summary, the technological objective of the project is to implement on an industrial scale a digital, dynamic, versatile, disruptive and multi-product biorefinery, with a processing capacity of 20,000 tonnes per year and following a NetZero Carbon strategy. This first-of-its-kind flagship will transform the plant-based ingredients sector, while showcasing and deploying a first-of its kind model likely to be replicable by the whole European bio-based industry. SUSTAINEXT aims to transform Natac's current production plant, located in Hervás in the north of Extremadura, into the most modern, digital, innovative and sustainable plant extracts factory in the world, placing the company and the region at the forefront of the sector at a global level. The model is based in the integration of the whole supply chain - from feedstock to end users - applying a disruptive circular model based on a smart dynamic analytical biorefinery (DYANA): a smart dynamic biorefining process for the cascade valorisation of feedstocks which is optimized batch-wise according to the initial composition of the feedstock to deliver maximum value with minimum environmental impact and ensure resource efficiency. DYANA will allow to achieve the complete valorisation of the processed feedstock with a zero-waste and zero-emissions ambition. SUSTAINEXT will be industrially deployed with six sustainably and locally sourced European feedstocks. Three medicinal and aromatic crops (rosemary, camomile, and lemon verbena) will be cultivated in Extremadura in disused tobacco fields as an alternative towards healthier crops, and also between solar panels (agrivoltaics) enhancing soil use. Three agro-industrial side streams (olive, artichoke/cardoon, and pomegranate) will showcase how biomass upcycling represents an opportunity to give a new life to certain underexploited bio-based feedstocks. SUSTAINEXT flagship will deliver 46 plant-based healthy extracts and functional ingredients out of which 13 are totally new on the market and 12 are newly produced in Europe. It will generate a revenue of 271 M€, will create more than 5,000 new green jobs (direct and indirect) and will have a decisive socioeconomic impact in Extremadura.