The FLEDGED project will deliver a process for Bio-based dimethyl Ether (DME) production from biomass. The FLEDGED project will combine a flexible sorption enhanced gasification (SEG) process and a novel sorption enhanced DME synthesis (SEDMES) process to produce DME from biomass with an efficient and low cost process. The primary aim of FLEDGED project is to develop a highly intensified and flexible process for DME production from biomass and validate it in industrially relevant environments. This objective will be accomplished by: - Experimental validation of the flexible SEG process at TRL5; - Experimental validation of the flexible SEDMES process at TRL5; - Evaluation of the full biofuel production chain from energy, environmental, economic, socio-economic and risk point of view; - Preparation of the ground for future exploitation of the results of the project beyond FLEDGED, by including in the consortium industrial partners along the whole biofuel production chain. By combining the SEG and the SEDMES processes, the FLEDGED project will validate a plant concept that: - is characterized by a tremendous process intensification: sorption of CO2 in the gasifier and of water in the DME reactor allows designing an overall process for DME production with only two fundamental steps and with reduced units for syngas conditioning - allows operating with a wide range of biomass feedstocks - will be more efficient than competitive processes and expected to have a lower cost, thanks to the reduced number of components, the avoidance or significant reduction of recycles and the avoidance of energy consuming and costly air separation and CO2 separation units - is capable of producing syngas with tailored composition by adapting the SEG process parameters, which allows coupling with an electrolysis system for converting excess intermittent renewable electricity into a high value liquid fuel

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.

Our vision is to develop a flexible and cost-effective gasification-based process for the production of pipeline-quality biomethane, high-value biochar and renewable heat from a wide variety of low-quality biomass residues and biogenic waste feedstocks. The combination of gasification process development and feedstock supply chain optimization will lead to significant cost reductions that allow lowering biomethane production costs by more than 30% compared to state-of-the-art biomass-to-SNG technologies. The target is at medium-scale conversion plants, which allows the use of local biomass residues and biogenic wastes without heavy transport logistics. The key innovative technology of FlexSNG is the flexible gasification process that can switch between two operation modes according to price signals and market demand: 1) co-production of biomethane, biochar and heat, and 2) maximised production of biomethane and heat. The produced biomethane can be readily injected into the existing gas infrastructure for distribution in the transport sector, heat/power production, industries and households. The co-produced biochar can be used to displace fossil fuels in energy production and industry or in material applications. The FlexSNG concept is based on the European partners’ advanced technologies in the field of oxygen production, gasification and gas clean-up and methanation. The innovative key enabling technologies will be developed and validated to TRL5. The Canadian partners bring their expertise in feedstock supply chain management, modelling and optimization of integrated biorefinery concepts, and the Canadian perspective into the project. FlexSNG will demonstrate the targeted 30% cost reduction in concrete case studies representing both European and Canadian conditions. The proposed activities are well in line with the goals set in the work programme for international cooperation with Canada to develop new sustainable solutions for biofuels/bioenergy production.

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.

While the concept of digitalisation and Industry 4.0 is making rapid inroads into the European manufacturing sector, there are several aspects that can be still incorporated into the system which can strengthen the goal of optimal process operations. One such aspect to the digitalisation vision is the "cognitive element", where the process plants can learn from historical data and adapt to changes in the process while also being able to predict unwanted events in the operation before they happen. Through this project, COGNITWIN (Cognitive digital Twin), we aim to add the cognitive element to the existing process control systems and thus enabling their capability to self-organise and offer solutions to unpredicted behaviours. To achieve the objectives of the project, we have partnered with six industries and seven research groups from seven European nations, each of whom will bring their expertise in data analytics and pattern recognition which are going to be at the heart of the COGNITWIN solution platform. The set-up of the platform includes a sensor network that will continuously monitor and collect data from various plant processes and assets which will be stored at a database. This data will be used to develop a digital twin of the process and will also be used to develop models with cognitive capability for self-learning and predictive maintenance which will lead towards optimal plant operations. The project builds on ideas and technologies that have been validated in controlled environments (TRL 5) to arrive at prototype demonstrations in operational environments (TRL 7). The COGNITWIN project results will be implemented to our industrial partner's processes to demonstrate the transition from TRL 5 to TRL 7. TRL – Technology Readiness Level