Green waste valorisation through innovative low temperature STEAM explosion into advanced biofuel and agri-products.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Green waste usually consists of leaves, wood cuttings from pruning, grass collected from parks and gardens, agriculture residues etc. This waste has high potential to be exploited for biofuel production through Anaerobic Digestion (AD), the process in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen. However, only less than 9% of green waste is usedtoday to produce biofuel, while the majority of it is mostly composted, burned or dumped in landfills, generating a negative environmental impact. The main limiting factor is the predominance of lignocellulosic fibres that so far have not allowed an efficient microbial biodegradation, making biofuel production uncompetitive on the market, especially when compared with energy crops.

OBJECTIVES

LIFE STEAM is a close-to-market demonstration project, which aims at converting, through an innovative steam explosion technology, low-value lignocellulosic green waste into high-value biogas and biomethane (which is cleaned, upgraded and conditioned biogas) as fuel for transport applications, as well as into digestate to serve as a valuable fertiliser/soil amendment.

The specific objectives of the project are to:

develop a pilot plant to demonstrate and validate the innovative steam explosion technology;

demonstrate more than 90% increased efficiency of the new plant in producing biogas from green waste;

validate the 30-year life cycle sustainability of the plant, assessing all the LIFE STEAM environmental benefits through a complete Life Cycle Assessment;

validate the bankability of the industrial scale plant, defining the business and revenue models, as well as the Operating Expense (OPEX), Capital Expenditure (CAPEX), Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA), Investment Rate of Return (IRR) and payback time of the plant;

implement an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) plan, covering at least three priority countries other than Italy, having in mind lignocellulosic feedstock availability;

ensure a sound market replicability by identifying possible strategic partners with synergies to implement centralised large-scale plants exploiting the developed technology in locations with with access to supply feedstock and waste heat; and

decrease landfilled waste and the compostable fraction by using biomass for the bioconversion process, reducing emissions and transforming a low-value waste into high-value biofuels.

 

In this way, the project will contribute to the implementation of:

the Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and the Circular Economy Package, by recycling green waste in bio-fuel, rather than sending it to landfills or burning it;

the Fuel Quality Directive (2009/30/EC) and the Indirect Land Use Change (2015/1513 EC), by contributing to a reduction of the greenhouse gas intensity of transport fuels, substituting energy crops with green waste; and

the Renewable Energy Directive II (2009/28/EC), by promoting the use of energy from renewable sources.

 

RESULTS

Expected results:

1 LIFE STEAM plant in Ozzano, Italy, treating 1.2 ktons of green waste and an output capacity of at least 1.8 Mln Nm3/year of biogas to demonstrate the VALMET (steam explosion unit) innovative technology as well as the whole LIFE STEAM plant performance by running it for at least 6 hours/day in a period of 6 months;

2 full-scale plants (treating in total 166 ktons/year of biomass from lignocellulosic-based feedstock at a production capacity of at least 20 Mln Nm3/year of biomethane) installed and running in Europe by the third year after the project;

up to 1,8 Mln Nmc/year biogas produced by the end of the project and at least 20 Mln Nmc/year biomethane by the third year after the project end;

reduction of crop silage used for biogas production by saving 1.1 ktons/year of maize silage during the project and at least 160 ktons/year by the third year after the project end;

21 tons/year of CO2 saved during the project lifetime, linked to the elimination of the energy consumption necessary to cultivate 1.1 ktons/year of maize for the production of biogas;

a detailed business plan for the full-scale plant fostering the replication of the developed technology and collection of letter of interest and potential agreements for the full-scale application.