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CH2ESS, LTU, 2021.LTU Green Fuels, an advanced pilot unit located at Piteå, Sweden will be dedicated to the research and development of the Centre for Hydrogen Systems Sweden.Bio4Energy partner Luleå University of Technology (LTU) has started a collaboration platform for academy and industry to develop hydrogen processes and systems for a future steel industry free of fossil fuel use. This week, the global bearing steel maker SKF joined the Centre for Hydrogen Systems Sweden (CH2ESS) and will be contributing funds and take part in research, according to a press release from LTU.

"Mechanical components are very important to ensure the function and operation in future hydrogen systems. Together with CH2ESS and its partners, we can contribute in designing robust, reliable hydrogen systems, with the lowest possible impact on the environment and on total cost of operation. This will not only benefit Swedish industry, but also global technology development for the future hydrogen economy", said Victoria Van Camp, president at SKF Technology.

LTU Green Fuels, an advanced pilot unit located at Piteå, in northern Sweden, is expected to be home to much of the development work. Two Bio4Energy scientists are central to the work at CH2ESS: professor This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. is programme manager and cite manager at LTU Green Fuels is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Bio4Energy researchers at LTU also run projects for developing "green" coal for application in the steel industry, so-called biochar. This line of research and development is headed up by This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., professor. 

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Bio4Energy’s on-location training course on pilot and demonstration facilities for developing world-class biorefinery technologies is set to start again in spring, in northern Sweden. PhD and postdoctoral students keen on experiencing first-hand the development of tomorrow’s biofuels, “green” chemicals or bio-based materials should apply. The start is in April 2022 and the application will open in January. 

Industry professionals or consultants wanting inside on what it takes to develop successful biorefinery technology past the laboratory stage, via pilot and demonstration trials, are equally welcome to apply.

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“What makes this training unique is the fact that we always have new pilots to show. Students will experience and learn about the entire cluster [of pilot and demonstration installations] spanning the east coast of Norrland. Industry will yet again open their doors to us. You get to experience the working atmosphere and you feel welcome at that”, said course coordinator This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

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Dalia_SDG_CCA new article by Dalia Abdelfattah and colleagues says that blends of advanced biofuel and the currently most used fuel in the shipping industry, may be its ticket to a lesser climate change footprint on the Artic environment. Picture used with permission.Finding a climate and environment friendly alternative to fossil fuels in shipping in the Arctic is turning out to be complex, a pioneering study on the topic shows. The new scientific article also contains evidence that blends of advanced biofuels with marine gas oil currently in use, could lessen the climate change and environmental footprint of the industry.

Bio4Energy researchers have been going full steam ahead with an encompassing project, granted in spring, with new results discussing the environmental and climate change impacts of introducing either biodiesel or bioethanol made from waste from pulp and paper industry in Sweden, as fuel in maritime shipping in the Arctic region.

Both fuels are so-called drop-in alternatives to fossil fuels, meaning that they can be used in current engines or in blends with fossil fuel equivalents, without the need for modification of the existing infrastructure. Both are already in use in the automotive industry, but for road transportation.

“It looks like the best option is to use blended fuels. We are trying to optimise it, to find the preferable blend”, said Dalia Abdelfattah, project leader and a Bio4Energy system analysis researcher at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

The research team have been performing life-cycle assessment studies which show a complex picture of the studied thermochemical routes to bioethanol and to biodiesel, respectively, rendering considerable greenhouse gas emission reductions, were either to replace the heavy fuel oil or marine gas oil in use.

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Happy summer to all the Bio4Energy researchers, Industrial Network, Board, Advisory Board and to each and every stakeholder.


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From the vacation team:
The Bio4Energy Programme Managers and Communications

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NorwaySpruce AnnaStrom2021A new EU-funded project will map the availability of residue from forestry operations, such as treetops and branches, in the Swedish and Finnish parts of the Botnia-Atlantica Region. Photo by Anna Strom©2021.A large project to map the availability of forestry residues, with a focus on conifer needles as feedstock for chemical production, has kicked off thanks to funding from the European Union and regions involved in Sweden and Finland.

Bio4Energy researcher This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. leads a section of the work focused on mapping of availability and creating new value chains—or ways of handling the collection of left-over treetops and branches in coniferous forest and of transporting them to industrial facilities for processing, as well as schematising possible end uses.

Biofuel Region, a membership-based organisation in northern Sweden, leads this sub project of an EU project called Botnia Atlantica, under the European Regional Development Fund.

“We want to know what is required for taking out the forestry residues [from the forest] for the purpose of turning them into chemicals. Today, the sector is not adapted for this”, Athanassiadis told Bio4Energy Communications. He is a scientist on the research and development platform Bio4Energy System Analysis and Bioeconomy and affiliated with the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

“If we find that there is considerable value [to be gained] from the forest residues, the production chain will be adapted. For instance, it may be necessary to take the forestry residues out before the timber, since especially the needles need to be taken out fresh to have their value conserved”, he said.

The project relies on the assumption that the needles of coniferous trees, such as spruce and pine, contain valuable substances that, by means of extraction and processing, could be turned into high-value chemicals. These could be platform or specialty chemicals, for use in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, dietary supplements, foams, coatings or even bio-based plastics.

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Delsjon AnnaStrom2018 400It was only a matter of waiting long enough. Summer has arrived in northern Sweden, where most of the Bio4Energy researchers are based. Photo by Anna Strom (Archives).In terms of research output, 2020 was the second most productive since the start of the Bio4Energy research environment in 2010. Several system analysis projects delivered results directly relevant to industry. One made the so-called 100 List of Sweden’s most commercially promising research projects, published annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences. Due to restrictions imposed by the spread of Covid-19, all events moved online and successfully so.

Bio4Energy’s new management troika worked hard to put new routines in place and prepare the research environment for a possible third programme period from 1 January 2022. According to Katerine Riklund, chair of Bio4Energy Board and pro-vice-chancellor of Umeå University, funding for Sweden’s Strategic Research Environments—of which Bio4Energy is one—is set to continue at least until the end of 2022.

Sweden-based media picked up extensively on projects on combined production of edible mushroom and biofuel or prebiotics from biomass from the sea and forest, respectively. A magazine with an international reach, Bioenergy Insight Magazine published an interview on Bio4Energy scientists' efforts to bring sustainable bioenergy to Sub-Saharan Africa, drawing on technology for biomass gasification combined with production of biochar.

Attachments:
Download this file (Bio4Energy annual report 2020-v2.pdf)Bio4Energy Annual Report 2020[ ]448 kB

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RISE ETC Bio4Energy2021Bio4Energy partner RISE ETC, together with an industrial consortium, have a new project to scale up production of bio-based carbon black. Photo used with permission.Big strides are about to be made to scale up and improve production of entirely bio-based carbon black, which has characteristics to mimic Industrial Carbon Black.

The successful creation in 2018 of such “green” carbon black from pyrolysis oil, in turn made from solid biomass, sparked a wave of excitement and raised hopes for rapid industrial scale up.

However, sometimes one has to fight to realise a great idea. Today, the Bio4Energy scientists behind the invention finally have partners and funding in place to develop a pilot unit that will bring production to one kilogramme per hour, a year from now. While this may seem insignificant, it is not.

“This means we will make large enough volumes to be able to start testing the material as a replacement product in various applications”, said This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., researcher at RISE Energy Technology Center (RISE ETC) and member of Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion Technologies.  

The industrial chemical and bulk commodity carbon black forms at the incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products. It is widely used as a reinforcing filler in rubber products, such as car tyres, and as a colour pigment. It “possibly” causes cancer in humans, according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer, as a consequence of people inhaling dust containing carbon black fragments.

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FCh XSh CMM Bio4Energy 170521From left: Feng Chen, Shaojun Xiong and Carlos Martín are doing research to make joint production of mushroom and biofuel commercially feasible. Photo published with permission.An innovative project started by funds from Bio4Energy—on developing joint production of edible mushroom and biofuel—is being recognised by the Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences (IVA) for its potential to create value for industry in a “not-too-distant” future.

For the third year running, the IVA has selected 100 innovative research projects that have potential for industrial scale up, this year with a focus on making Sweden and its economy resilient in times of crisis.

“I think they appreciated our innovation—making two products together in an economical way—letting the fungi do the work”, said project leader This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. of the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

“The purpose is to convert the scientific part to future commercial use, I guess”, he added.

The concept of growing edible mushroom, such as shiitake or oyster mushroom, on wood originates from East Asia. The idea is to obtain commercial amounts of edible mushroom, a protein-rich source of food, while at the same time obtaining a suitable input material for making biofuel. If the growth conditions are right, the mushroom will not only thrive, but also break down a main polymer in the wood called lignin. This means that another well-known tree polymer—cellulose—can more easily be extracted and turned into ethanol biofuel.

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In the Press

Mission Zero: Where do Australia’s emissions come from in energy crisis, News Chant
Naturskyddsföreningen: ”Förbjud fossila bränslen till 2030”, Dagens Industri/TT
SKF joins Swedish initative to accelerate hydrogen use for fossil-free bearing steel, Hydrogen View
Third Generation Biofuel: A Sustainable Source Of Energy, Technology Times
Over 150 industry leaders and organizations call for decisive government action to enable full decarbonization of international shipping by 2050, Global Maritime Forum
Renewables tipped to overtake fossil fuels by 2030, News Chant
Rapport: Bioråvaran räcker till sjöfarten, Sjöfartstidningen