The overall goal of IDEALFUEL is to enable the utilization of lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as maritime fuel in a sustainable manner. IDEALFUEL aims to develop an efficient and low-cost chemical pathway to convert lignocellulosic biomass into a Bio Heavy Fuel Oil (Bio-HFO) with ultra-low sulphur levels that can be used as drop-in fuel in the existing maritime fleet. This will be achieved by the strategy to first extract lignin from lignocellulosic biomass as a Crude Lignin Oil (CLO) and to convert the CLO - in a second chemical step - into a Bio-HFO. The solid cellulose fraction, which will be separated from the CLO via simple filtration, can be used in the pulp and paper industry or converted into ethanol. Hemicellulose will either be separated from the CLO or end up in the Bio-HFO. IDEALFUEL’s ambition is to develop new technologies, solutions and processes from the current lab-scale (TRL3) via bench-scale (TRL4) to pilot scale (TRL5) and to prove the performance and compatibility of the Bio-HFO over the whole blending range in maritime fuel systems and marine engines. This includes a safety evaluation, which is necessary for the approval by the relevant regulatory bodies. Further, IDEALFUEL will prove the techno-economic potential to reach a cost level of 700 € per tonne in 2025, 600 € per tonne in 2030 and < 500 € per tonne beyond 2030 resulting from optimisation, scaling effects of larger plant sizes and repetitive installations. This is cost competitive with Ultra-Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (ULSFO) which current, 2019, price level is 450-550 €/ton. IDEALFUEL will also carry out a Well to Propeller impact assessment and Life Cycle Analysis to check and proof the soundness of the environmental, society and sustainability aspects of the to be developed technologies, processes, products and logistics.

GHG emissions reduction policies to mitigate climate change heavily impact on energy intensive industries, leading to loss of employment and competitiveness. In addition, variable renewable generation faces high risks from electricity curtailment if renewable surplus is not used. Carbon capture and utilisation technologies that make use of industrial flue gas and renewable surplus will play a key role in the clean energy transition of industry. Various technologies exist but most are still quite demanding in terms of materials and energy, being costly and inefficient. CAPTUS key objective is to demonstrate sustainable, cost-effective and scalable pathways to produce high-added value energy carriers by valorising industrial carbon emissions and integrating renewable electricity surplus. To this end, 3 complete value chains will be demonstrated at 3 different demo-sites: (i) Bioprocess based on a two-stage fermentation to produce triglycerides in a steel plant, (ii) Lipids-rich microalgae cultivation followed by hydrothermal liquefaction to produce bio-oils in a chemical plant, and (iii) Electrochemical reduction of CO2 to produce formic acid in a cement plant. The proposed technologies will be tested at TRL7, and the obtained energy carriers will be validated by upgrading studies. CAPTUS will also validate solutions regarding economic, environmental, societal and geo-political criteria, contributing to the development of novel business models, guidelines and strategies. CAPTUS has been structured in 8 WP, combining R&D activities, project management and demonstration activities. CAPTUS addresses this complex challenge by gathering a competitive consortium of 18 partners from 8 EU countries. Overall, CAPTUS innovations at technical, economical, managerial and social level will enable the consolidation of CCU technologies within 3 EII key sectors and leverage their benefits by reducing carbon emissions, increasing renewables share and producing valuable energy carriers

The objective of the NextGenRoadFuels project is to apply advanced HTL technology and subsequent upgrading to a selected range of low value/cost, concentrated biogenic residues from urban activity, in order to obtain cost competitive, sustainable drop-in quality synthetic gasoline and diesel fuels. From a highly efficient and validated baseline HTL process chain designed for lignocellulosics, new innovative process steps will be designed and existing steps optimized to address the additional challenges encompassed by such feedstocks, exemplified by sewage sludge, food waste and construction wood waste (termed urban feedstocks), with the objective to reach similar performance as for lignocellulosics. The main optimization targets are - To establish fundamental pretreatment process and parameters to provide highest possible organic dry matter content in feedstock slurry and efficiently remove valuable inorganics that can have added value as organic fertilizers and/or soil improvers. - To establish HTL processing parameters giving highest possible carbon and energy yields to oil phase - To establish efficient upgrading schemes to bring the HTL intermediate bio-crude to drop-in gasoline and diesel fuels - To close material and energy streams to and from the individual process steps in order to obtain maximum internal utilization and minimal environmental impact - To establish MFSP scenarios demonstrating cost-competitiveness, socio-economic benefits and superior LCA and GHG reduction effects in a pan-European as well as global perspective. Specific targets of the NextGenRoadFuels project are to demonstrate the potential to convert more than 100 M tons urban feedstock per year into almost 500,000 barrels per day of drop-in diesel and gasoline fuels (more than 10 % of the current use in the EU), at a cost of approximately 50-60 Euro-cent per liter. This will generate 50,000 direct and 300,000 indirect jobs within the EU, and reduce GHG emissions by more than 70%.

BioSFerA aims to develop a cost-effective interdisciplinary technology to produce sustainable aviation and maritime fuels. Thus, biogenic residues and wastes will be gasified and the syngas will be fermented to produce bio-based triacylglycerides (TAGs). Bio-fuels will be produced via TAG hydrotreatment. The overall process, combining thermochemical, biological and thermocatalytic parts is based on the gasification of biomass and other biogenic waste in a Dual Fluidized Bed gasifier and the 2-stage fermentation of the produced syngas. Through this process the syngas is converted to acetate (1st stage) and then the acetate is converted to TAGs (2nd stage). The produced TAGs contained medium and long fatty acids are hydrotreated and isomerized after the necessary separation and purification and the end-products are jet- and bunker-like biofuels, respectively. BioSFerA aims to evolve the proposed technology from TRL3 to TRL5. In the TRL3 phase, extensive lab scale tests will take place in order to optimize the process and increase its feedstock flexibility in terms of non-food bio-based blends. The best acetogenic bacterial strain will be identified based on its tolerance to syngas contaminants. Moreover, oleaginous yeasts will be genetically modified to convert the acetate derived from the first stage into C14 and C16-18 TAGs. Then, building upon lab tests, the pilot scale runs (TRL5) will investigate the overall process. At least two barrels of Hydrotreated TAGs will be produced as drop-in biofuels for aviation and marine. By exploiting the synergies between biological and thermochemical technologies, BioSFerA achieves a total carbon utilization above 35% and a minimum selling price <0.7-0.8 €/l. A process model of the overall BioSFerA process will be developed exploiting the know-how gained during piloting and used for realistic up-scaling calculations. Finally, techno-economic, market, environmental social and health and safety risk assessments will be performed.

Carbon neutral, high-energy density e-fuels are crucial to de-fossilize long-haul transport. Mildly oxygenated compounds such as C5+ (higher) alcohols and their ether derivatives hold the promise to overcome limitations of known e-fuels, such as non-oxygenated Fischer-Tropsch hydrocarbons or heavily oxygenated methanol and DME, but no process exists for their effective production. The project aims to develop a disruptive route wherein CO2, water and renewable power are converted to higher oxygenate e-fuels in a once-through hybrid process integrating three major catalysis branches: “electrocatalysis” is applied in a robust high-pressure CO2/H2O co-electrolysis step to produce e-syngas (H2/CO), which is converted in a single-reactor, slurry-phase process combining “solid thermocatalysis” for linear hydrocarbon synthesis and “molecular chemocatalysis” for in situ oxo-functionalization via reductive hydroformylation. In this process, integration of catalytic functionalities in tandem, alongside an engineered interfacing of high- and low-temperature conversion steps and energy unintensive membrane separation technologies, offer a blueprint for superior atom and energy efficiencies. The project will demonstrate the new e-fuel production process at bench-scale, and assess its capacity to cope with fluctuating energy inputs. Moreover, e-fuel formulation and life-cycle aspects are covered to fully realize the potential of the higher oxygenate e-fuel to distinctively unite excellent combustion properties (high cetane), exceptional reduction of tailpipe soot emissions, advantageous logistics as liquid at ambient conditions and compatibility with current-fleet fuel infrastructure and engine technologies, with emphasis on applications as diesel replacement in heavy-duty marine transport. An exploitation plan will be created together with international stakeholders, to consolidate EU’s capacity to export advanced e-fuel technologies to areas with vast green energy potential.