They use solar energy to produce fertilizer

Researchers in Institute of Carbohydrate Chemistry (ICB) of the Supreme Council of Scientific Researchers (CSIC) Investigation A An innovative process for obtaining sustainable fuels and products from renewable energy and biomass from waste. The research is carried out within the framework of the Horizon Europe project PesoloFor five million euros, nine European partners from four countries will cooperate for four years.

The Pysolo project seeks to provide a solution to decarbonize the industrial and transportation sector, and to eliminate fossil raw materials in the chemical industry.. The proposal consists of: Combining concentrated solar power (CSP) or renewable energy sources (solar/wind) to provide the energy needed to carry out a thermochemical process of great interest, such as pyrolysis of biomass Coming from forest waste. Pyrolysis consists of carrying out the chemical decomposition of organic materials at moderate temperatures between 400°C and 600°C in the absence of oxygen and It allows waste to be converted into high value-added products such as biofuels or sustainable fertilisers.

The project was launched in a context in which the European Union faces the challenge of having a net-zero economy of greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. This goal will not be possible if the decarbonization of the chemical industry, which is responsible for a quarter of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions, is not implemented.

Director of ICB and one of the researchers responsible for the project, Thomas Garciastates that the European chemical industry is in urgent need of decarbonisation: “It is currently betting on electricity, but this is not enough to comply with the Paris Agreements. The future is happening because not only energy, but also raw materials for industrial processes, come from renewable sources such as recycling, and carbon dioxide capture₂ Or biomass.”

Project technology

Concentrated solar power is a technology that allows sunlight to be captured using moving mirrors, which direct and focus it onto a solar receiver.. In the case of the receivers to be developed at Bisolo, concentrated sunlight is used to heat solid particles to high temperatures whose energy can be directly used to carry out subsequent processes, produce electricity or store it for later use.

Alternatively, to provide greater flexibility to the process, it is also proposed to directly use renewable electrical energy (solar or wind) to heat the solid particles through the use of induction. Ramon MurilloICB researcher and project member explains that using this technology “it is possible to provide the energy necessary for the pyrolysis process from renewable sources, producing not only raw materials for obtaining biofuels and chemical products, but also biochar. (a model) of carbon generated by heating biomass in oxygen-free atmosphere) which can be used as renewable fertilizer and carbon storage, resulting in carbon dioxide emissions₂ “negative.”

In the case of forest waste, there are different industrial processes in which, contrary to what is proposed in this project, the process energy is obtained from the combustion of biochar obtained in the pyrolysis process itself.

Flexibility to work in standalone mode

The greatest innovation in the project’s technology is that the pyrolysis process has become more flexible. This can be done using solar concentrator technology during sunny hours, but also using electricity from renewable sources when sunlight is not enough. “If necessary, the pyrolysis gas can be converted into electricity and integrated into the electrical grid,” he explains. Garcia. “On the other hand, when cheap excess energy is available on the grid, such as wind, it can be converted into thermal energy in a highly efficient way through the induction process to maintain the pyrolysis process,” he adds.

Compared to conventional pyrolysis, where coal and pyrolysis gas are always burned to carry out the process, the PYSOLO project’s technology offers many environmental and economic benefits. Thanks to the use of solar energy in the biomass pyrolysis process, products with high added value such as bio-oil, biochar or pyrolysis gas, and thus CO2 emissions, can be maximized.₂ The associated costs are reduced due to the use of renewable energy and fossil-free raw materials. Thanks to the production of biochar, which acts as a carbon store, the Bisolo project will develop a TRL4-scale process that produces net carbon dioxide emissions.₂ negative.

The PYSOLO project has a budget of €5 million in a consortium that brings together, under the supervision of the Politecnica of Milan, the expertise of nine partners from four European countries: the National Institute of Industrial Environment and Risk (INERIS), from France; Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt eV and nova-Institut für politische und ökologische Innovation GmbH, both from Germany; Consorzio per la Ricerca e la Dimostrazione sulle Energie Rinnovabili, Politecnico di Torino and EU CORE Consulting SRL from Italy; From Spain, the Consorci Center de Ciencia I Tecnologia Forestal de Catalunya and the Institute of Carbohydrate Chemistry of CSIC in Zaragoza.

The project is funded by the European Union but the views and views expressed are exclusive to the author(s) of the text and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union or CINEA. Neither the European Union nor the party granting the support bears responsibility for it.

CSIC Aragon Communications Delegation

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