PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
The revised Renewable Energy Directive 2018/2001/EU (RED II) has raised the overall EU target for the use of renewable energy sources by 2030 to 32%, along with a target of 40% greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings. For transport the sub-target is to supply a minimum of 14% of the energy consumed in road and rail transport by 2030 as renewable energy. Within the 14% transport sub-target, there is a dedicated target for advanced biofuels produced from feedstocks listed in Part A and B of Annex IX. This includes feedstocks produced from waste animal fats. The contribution of advanced biofuels as a share of final consumption of energy in the transport sector is foreseen to be at least 6.8 % in 2030.
OBJECTIVES
The main objective of the LIFE Superbiodiesel project was to demonstrate at pilot plant scale that the production of biofuels using methanol at supercritical conditions with new catalytic technology produces certain technical, environmental and economic advantages compared to the traditional transesterification process. The raw material would be animal fat residues. This biofuel production technology aimed to achieve two specific advantages:
- Allowing animal fats with high percentages of free fatty acids to be treated without the formation of soap as by-product;
- The use of shaped catalysts, a simplified process that does not need post-treatment stages related to catalyst neutralisation and removal
The modulation of the catalytic reaction process will allow the fabrication of two types of biofuels: i) biofuels with glycerol as a by-product (standard transesterification reaction); and ii) advanced biodiesel containing glycerol (with an important minimisation of unwanted by-products).
RESULTS
