The aim of the SEAFAIRER project is to demonstrate, at Technology Readiness Level (TRL 7), the production of improved intermediate biofuels followed by processing in existing refinery infrastructure to deliver climatepositive drop-in biofuels for maritime transport. The feedstock (biogenic waste residues) will be transported in short distances to decentralised vertical intermediate pyrolysis-based reactor (VINTER) units. The SEAFAIRER project will collect, characterise and process 3 different residual biomass feedstocks: (i) rice husk from the Valencia region, Spain; (ii) biowaste sieving material from Bavaria in Germany; and (iii) agave bagasse from southern Mexico. These feedstocks have been strategically selected from exclusively fair and residual sources without indirect land use change (iLUC) issues. The VINTER unit will convert the biomass through a single-stage intermediate pyrolysis and post-reforming process into three main products: biochar, raw oil (intermediate biofuel) and syngas. The high-quality biochar is suitable for European Biochar Certification (EBC) as carbon sink with vast agricultural and industrial applications. The carbon sink will play a crucial role to achieve the climate targets of the maritime transport sector. At commercial scale, the intermediate biofuel, which has a high energy density (approx. 32 to 36 MJ/kg), branches out into two market entry pathways that leverage existing refinery infrastructure: Pathway A is designed to cover the immediate biofuel needs of the industrial maritime shipping sector, which is under considerable regulatory pressure and has strict GHG reduction/decarbonisation targets, such as the ones set out in FuelEU Maritime. This pathway will target direct blends (B10 to B30) of intermediate biofuel (VINTER raw oil) on par with Very Low Sulfur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) according to the ISO 8217:2017 quality thresholds for marine fuels (cf. Table 4). Pathway B targets the medium- to long-term demands of the maritime industrial shipping sector. In this case, the intermediate biofuel will be upgraded via hydrodeoxygenation (HDO), targeting higher blending capacity up to pure drop-in fuel quality (B50 to B100), on par with Marine Diesel Oil (MDO) according to the ISO 8217:2017 quality thresholds for marine fuels.

BIOMETHAVERSE (Demonstrating and Connecting Production Innovations in the BIOMETHAne uniVERSE) aims to diversify the technology basis for biomethane production in Europe, to increase its cost-effectiveness, and to contribute both to the uptake of biomethane technologies and to the priorities of the SET Plan Action 8. To this aim five innovative biomethane production pathways will be demonstrated in five European countries: France, Greece, Italy, Sweden, and Ukraine. The project is based on the following founding pillars: Demonstration of innovative biomethane pathways; Technology optimisation and upscaling by technoeconomic flowsheeting; Environmental and social sustainability assessment; Replicability, market penetration, support to planning decisions of other investors and project developers, policy recommendations to policy makers; Dissemination, exploitation and communication of project results. BIOMETHAVERSE relates, within the Work Program 2021-2022 on Climate, Energy and Mobility, to the Call “Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply”, specifically to the topic HORIZON-CL5-2021-D3-03-16: Innovative biomethane production as an energy carrier and a fuel. The project production routes cover one or a combination of the following production pathways: thermochemical, biochemical, electrochemical, and biological. As a starting point, four demonstration plants use conventional anaerobic digestion (AD), and one uses conventional gasification. In the BIOMETHAVERSE demonstrators, CO2 effluents from AD or gasification and other intermediate products are combined with renewable hydrogen or renewable electricity directly to increase the overall biomethane yield. All demonstrated production routes go beyond conventional technologies, with a circular approach for energy and material, while aiming at reducing the overall biomethane production costs and increasing the biomethane production. The demonstrated technologies will reach TRL 6-7 at the end of the project.

BIOMAPE (BIOmethane Market Acceleration and UPtake in Europe) aims to accelerate the production and use of biomethane across Europe, fostering market development and supporting EU’s energy transition. This objective will be achieved through three activity packages: Biomethane Certificates and Cross-border Trade; Biomethane Policy and Market Development; Biomethane Social Acceptability. BIOMAPE relates, within the Horizon Europe Work Programme 2023-2025 on Climate, Energy and Mobility, to the Call Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply, addressing the topic HORIZON-CL5-2024-D3-02-10: Market Uptake Measures of renewable energy systems. The project methodology is built around four pillars: Multi-level Geographical Dimension, Social Acceptance, Policy Dimension, and Comprehensive Support and Transferability. These pillars address technical, social and regulatory challenges to drive biomethane market growth. Throughout these pillars, the project emphasises multistakeholder and multidisciplinary approaches as cross-cutting themes that ensure robust stakeholder engagement and the integration of diverse expertise at every stage. BIOMAPE will help to create biomethane registries for certificate management in five countries and facilitate cross-border trade, enhancing the transparency and efficiency of biomethane trade. By fostering improved and holistic biomethane policies, the project will contribute to increasing the share of renewable energy in final energy consumption by 2030 and beyond. A strong focus on stakeholder engagement will include participatory activities, such as workshops, site visits, and the establishment of Biomethane Social Acceptability Groups in 8 countries, to address public concerns and improve community acceptance of biomethane technologies. In this way, BIOMAPE will lay the groundwork for a robust biomethane market across Europe, fostering international cooperation and knowledge transfer with non-European countries.

AgroBioHeat project aims to produce a mass deployment of improved and market ready agrobiomass heating solutions in Europe. Agrobiomass is a large, underexploited and indigenous resource, which can support the achievement of the European Energy and Climate targets, while promoting rural development and circular economy. AgroBioHeat actions will take place mostly in 6 EU countries (GR, ES, FR, RO, HR, UA; 5 EU28+Ukraine) where extensive engagement actions are foreseen. Engagement and matchmaking actions will lead to trigger more than 80 initiatives on agrobiomass for heat, 8 of which will be closely accompanied. To generate trust to market actors, the project will detect more than 100 cases running on agrobiomass and 12 will be approached, documented, visualized and visited by potential early adopters. Simultaneously, the project will perform more than 44 tests, covering different market heating technologies and agrobiomass in order to generate reliable data on its emissions and operational performance, and to show the market and community the existing improved technologies. On the EU level, these results will contribute to the anticipated review of the Ecodesign regulation for agrobiomass boilers, while providing suggestions for suitable emission limits in the 500 kW-1 MW range facilities; thus a harmonization of EU legislation will be achieved. Strategic plans for the deployment of agrobiomass for heating market will be drafted and discussed with more than 240 policy makers in the 6 countries. Promotion of the market includes agrobiomass corners at 15 fairs and a dedicated Observatory tool to visualize cases and technology. 60 technicians from ESCOs and installers in the 6 countries will be trained to be ready to adopt mature agrobiomass heating solutions. Social research capturing perceptions of at least 3,500 people will feed into the formulation of a tailored dissemination campaign, aiming to bring the agrobiomass heating solutions to a wider audience.