MAB2.0 project: Integrating algae production into wastewater treatment

Different species of microalgae are highly efficient in removing nutrients from wastewater streams and are able to grow using flue gas as a CO2 source. These features indicate that application of microalgae has a promising outlook in wastewater treatment. However, practical aspects and process of integration of algae cultivation into an existing wastewater treatment line have not been investigated. The Climate-KIC co-funded Microalgae Biorefinery 2.0 project developed and demonstrated this integration process through a case study. The purpose of this paper is to introduce this process by phases and protocols, as well as report on the challenges and bottlenecks identified in the case study. These standardized technical protocols detailed in the paper help to assess different aspects of integration including biological aspects such as strain selection, as well as economic and environmental impacts. This process is necessary to guide wastewater treatment plants through the integration of algae cultivation, as unfavourable parameters of the different wastewater related feedstock streams need specific attention and management. In order to obtain compelling designs, more emphasis needs to be put on the engineering aspects of integration. Well-designed integration can lead to operational cost saving and proper feedstock treatment enabling algae growth

Marktverkenning biomassareststromen hout uit landschap

Woody biomass from landscape elements is currently primarily used for energy generation (heat and electricity). Developing high-value applications for this type of biomass is complicated, due to its relatively low quality, the lack of uniformity and the small volumes. This report identifies and quantifies current flows of woody biomass from landscape elements. Furthermore, the different applications for woody biomass are classified based on their functionality. The report also further examines the application of biomass for the production of lumber, pulpwood, monomers and for energy generation. Lastly, the report describes a framework for action, targeting producers, processors and buyers of woody biomass from landscape elements and involved governments, to further develop high-value applications of biomass

Review and analysis of studies on sustainability of cultured meat

Protein alternatives are crucial for a sustainable food production in future. Cultured meat is presented as a good alternative for consumers who want to be more sustainable but do not wish to change their diet. To validate this sustainability claim, this report evaluates four LCA studies on cultured meat. When comparing overall environmental impact of cultured meat with conventional meat products and other meat substitutes, cultured meat was seen to perform significantly better than beef, favourable to pork, similar to chicken, and worse than plant-based alternatives considering current global average production impacts. It is important to realize that currently no commercial-scale cultured meat facility is operational. All LCA studies modelled a future facility, extrapolating scientific and small-scale facilities. Differences in system boundaries lead to high variability of environmental impact results for cultured meat among reviewed studies. The LCA system boundaries mostly include the cultivation-related processes, while product formulation and distribution are not taken into account. An important technical bottleneck that is not addressed are the large volumes of the fermenters and the extended cultivation times, which will need extraordinary sterility measures. The LCA overview shows that cultured meat production is energy intensive and that energy consumption have the highest contribution in the overall impact. Next, growth medium production showed significant contribution to impact, especially the amino acid production and recombinant protein production for growth factors. Sensitivity analysis of model parameters showed that parameter choices on cell density and medium use impacted the results most. Technically, the cultured meat industry is still very much in development. Obvious improvements that are needed are the reduction in energy, development of scaffolds, and lower medium cost, specifically in developing cheaper plant-based growth factors that are non GMO. Also product development is in its infancy. Cultured meat is part of a movement towards more sustainable meat alternatives that also includes plant-based alternatives, insects and microbial protein. These sources should not be regarded as competition but as complementary products that target different types of consumers. In combination with other meat alternatives, cultured meat can lead to reduced production and consumption of conventional meat

Variable demand as a mean to sustainable first generation biofuels and biobased materials

This paper evaluates possible impacts of a variable biofuel demand (VBD) policy, i.e. a policy that adjusts biofuel production to changes in biomass availability as determined by variations in crop yield. The aim is to stimulate investments and enhancing efficiency in crop production while limiting competition with food in years of reduced crop availability.</p

Variable demand as a mean to sustainable first generation biofuels and biobased materials

<p>This paper evaluates possible impacts of a variable biofuel demand (VBD) policy, i.e. a policy that adjusts biofuel production to changes in biomass availability as determined by variations in crop yield. The aim is to stimulate investments and enhancing efficiency in crop production while limiting competition with food in years of reduced crop availability.</p

Understanding the policies and carbon accounting frameworks which are defining the potential role of biobased products to meet climate change targets

Climate change has become an important challenge at International, European, National and Regional level. Mitigation of climate change by preventing and reducing the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG) into the atmosphere is needed to make the impacts of climate change less severe. To ensure this, different mitigation frameworks have been created. These frameworks set specific GHG reduction goals and provide a more structured approach to solve this problem. This report aims to provide information to the Dutch Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality (LNV) on and how some climate change mitigation frameworks are including the increase forestry and agricultural biomass supply to produce chemicals and materials that can contribute to the reduction of GHG emission. This desktop research follows a ‘systems perspective approach’ to study the role of biobased materials’ 1 in the reduction of GHG emission. This approach allows the understanding of interactions between biobased products, national inventories and global agreements. Understanding these links and having knowledge on which GHG gases accounting methods are being applied is necessary for the identification of possible drawbacks and for the development of future policy guidelines. After this review, we conclude that it is important to be familiar with and recognize the value in current existing accounting methodologies. However, existing frameworks are still lacking important features which could enable more robust account methodologies for carbon sequestration and storage in biobased materials. At this moment in time, the European Commission is working on proposals like the ‘Carbon Farming framework’ and ‘carbon removals certification framework’ (December 2022) and introducing a ‘carbon storage products pool’, these proposals could play and important role on establishing clear accounting rules that connect the biomass production to biobased materials and its contribution to support National Policies towards GHG reduction targets. This will require collaboration and information exchange between European countries. Therefore, is important to follow closely the evolution of these frameworks and their proposed accounting rules. This document is organized in the following way: • Section 2, introduces terminologies, frameworks and methods for GHG accounting at different levels International, Europe and Netherlands. • Section 3 is dedicated to understanding how biobased products for could contribute to the Climate targets by substituting other GHG intensive materials, extending the life span of the product or by cascading use of the biomass. • Section 4 shows two examples on how the GHG balances of two different linear biobased supply chains are estimated at the product accounting level and how this relates to the national level inventory reporting and the global agreements. • Section 5 presents our conclusions and recommendations

Variable demand as a mean to sustainable first generation biofuels and biobased materials

This paper evaluates possible impacts of a variable biofuel demand (VBD) policy, i.e. a policy that adjusts biofuel production to changes in biomass availability as determined by variations in crop yield. The aim is to stimulate investments and enhancing efficiency in crop production while limiting competition with food in years of reduced crop availability.</p

To be or not to be a biobased commodity : assessing requirements and candidates for lignocellulosic based commodities

Lignocellulosic biomass is an underutilised renewable resource. Using this biomass for biobased applications is hampered by a lack of possibilities to efficiently link the biomass to markets which include both energy applications such as heat and electricity production, conversion to transport fuels and chemicals and materials. Siting conversion facilities near abundant biomass has the benefit of availability of low cost biomass, but the locations generally lack security of supply, availability of qualified personnel, and do not benefit from existing infrastructure and possibilities to add value to residues. Furthermore, the scale of conversion systems is limited by local cost of biomass supply. The development of real lignocellulosic commodities can connect biomass to markets and lower the opportunity costs of the commodities. The characteristics of real commodities are defined as follows: a commodity has to be easy to store, have a high (energy) density and be nutrient depleted. The commodity has to be uniform enough to be fungible. This will allow standardization of transport, contracting, insurance, conversion systems and development of functioning markets which includes high tradability and availability of financial instruments. Finally sustainability also has to be standardized. Several candidates as real commodities exist including wood pellets and pyrolysis oil. It is argued that only a few biomass commodities have to be defined that cover all lignocellulosic biomass types (wood, grass, straw, bagasse, processing residues, etc.) and also all applications such as heat, electricity, fuels, chemicals and materials. The standards have to be as wide as possible and avoid frivolous or unnecessary demands. To achieve this all stakeholders in the production chain (biomass producers, machine builders, regulators, insurers, bankers, transport, final users) have to be involved. This will require international collaboration else the potential lignocellulosic biomass will not materialize. The development of real lignocellulosic commodities can connect biomass to markets and lower the cost of biomass supply by lowering transaction costs. Commodities can contribute to efficient and circular use of biomass by giving biomass that would not have an efficient use (stranded biomass) a market

Defining Circular Economy Principles for Biobased Products

To support progress towards the transition to a circular economy, the ability to measure circularity is essential. The consideration of the role biobased products can play in this transition is however still largely lacking in the current development of circularity monitoring approaches. The first step in coming to a suitable monitoring framework for biobased products is to define circular economy principles. In this paper, specific characteristics of biobased products were considered in defining six circular economy principles for biobased products: (1). Reduce reliance on fossil resources, (2). Use resources efficiently, (3). Valorize waste and residues, (4). Regenerate, (5). Recirculate and (6). Extend the high-quality use of biomass. In order to evaluate the circularity performance of biobased products with respect to these principles, what needs to be measured was defined considering both intrinsic circularity and impact of this circularity. The intrinsic indicators provide a measure of success in implementation of these circularity principles, and the latter impacts of circularity, i.e., impact of closing the loops on accumulation of hazardous substances and impact of circularity on sustainability (environmental, economic and social). Yet, to unlock the potential of a sustainable circular bioeconomy, strong accompanying measures are required