Integrated regional biorefineries

Biorefineries are the key technology at the interface of energy supply in the form of electricity/heat/energy carrier and a sustainable and circular carbon utilization (biochar, carbon chemistry,...). It is important to A) create an optimal integration into the regional energy system and B) enable an optimal utilization path for the carbon products. The optimal energy system integration is thereby dependent on the regional (and possibly seasonal) availability of residual (raw) materials, other system components of the energy system (solar, storage, prosumers,...) and the local/regional demand. The utilization paths, in turn, depend on the technology used (pyrolysis, gasification, HTC/L,...), the operating conditions and the residual (raw) material properties, will result in varying yields and qualities of solid/liquid/gaseous carbon products are produced, which can be used in agriculture, industry or construction.

Within the project, we would like to assess and demonstrate several fully integrated use cases, either by full-scale feasibility tests or by monitoring of pilot sites. The pilot sites shall be supported by deep insights in material and energy balances, energy demand prediction, energy system combination (e.g. with wind, solar).