Imagine using smog from factories and dirty wastewater as food to grow tiny water plants called algae. These plants are then cooked under high pressure to create a crude oil that can be refined into jet fuel. It's like turning industrial pollution into a high-performance fuel that fits right into today's airplane engines.
Aviation and heavy transport are difficult to decarbonize because they require high-energy-density fuels. Current algae-based biofuels are too expensive and difficult to scale due to high feedstock and processing costs.
A four-stage bio-refinery concept that integrates CO2 capture, hydrothermal liquefaction, hydrotreatment with green hydrogen, and chemical recovery from wastewater.
If you are an airline dealing with high carbon emissions in long-haul flights — this project developed a drop-in algae biofuel that integrates seamlessly with existing engines. This allows for decarbonization without replacing the entire aircraft fleet.
If you are a plant manager dealing with high CO2 emissions and waste gases — this project developed a bio-refinery concept that captures your emissions to grow algae. This transforms a waste liability into a feedstock for sustainable fuel production.
If you are a utility provider dealing with nutrient-rich wastewater — this project developed a system that uses these nutrients to feed algae. This reduces the cost of biomass production while cleaning the water for recycling.
It lowers costs by using CO2 from high-emission facilities and nutrients from wastewater, which displaces the need for expensive synthetic fertilizers.
The main objective is to identify systemic constraints and propose solutions for scaling up the algae-based biofuel value chain to achieve cost-effective large-scale production.
Based on available project data, specific IP or licensing terms are not provided, but the project focuses on developing and validating a bio-refinery concept.
The project ensures compliance with EU sustainability standards through dedicated lifecycle and safety assessments.
The bio-oil is refined via hydrotreatment using a mix of in-house reformed light gases and externally provided green hydrogen.
The consortium is highly international, featuring 11 partners across 10 countries. It is research-heavy, with 9 partners from universities and research institutes, while industry representation is relatively low at 18% (2 partners, including 1 SME). This suggests the project is currently focused on technical validation and knowledge building rather than immediate commercial rollout.
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