Welcome to our Q&A series, where our exceptional team addresses key questions about the NIAGARA project: its innovations in advanced biofuels, scientific and technological breakthroughs, and its transformative impact on the European Union’s energy landscape.
Today, we speak with the Luleå University of Technology.
What are the key technological innovations that NIAGARA is introducing in the field of advanced biofuels?
“One key technology innovation is recovering the CO2 through new kinds of hybrid absorbents rather than conventional aqueous MEA solution, and CO2 can be recycled to the microalgae culture. It is consistent with the transversal objective for the entire project of reaching a carbon-neutral and low-impact advanced biofuel.”
What industries or sectors could benefit the most from the results of NIAGARA’s work?
“Biogas production industries. The biogas production industries use organic waste such as municipal sludge as a natural gas substitute for electricity, heat or gas supply. It can refer to specific objective 2: Convert feedstock into biofuel through hydrothermal carbonization, gasification and aqueous phase reforming.”
What role does your organisation play in ensuring the success of NIAGARA’s objectives?
“Our organisation plays an important role in reaching a carbon-neutral by CO2 capture technology. We aimed to developed novel hybrid solvents to improve CO2 absorption capacity and decrease energy demand for CO2 separation and capture from the aimed gas streams. This process can be considered as an important tool for reducing the emission of CO2 to combat with many kinds of environmental issues such as climate change. In this way, we can conduct CO2 storage or convert CO2 into high value-added chemicals, which can attribute to the energy security and sustainable energy development.”
How do you envision NIAGARA contributing to the EU’s transition to a more sustainable energy system?
“Further reduce carbon emissions and convert CO2 into valuable chemicals or fuels. We should promote the use of low-carbon alternative energy sources such as biofuels, synthetic fuels, and hydrogen. Moreover, we can conduct the technology of CO2 conversion, which CO2 can be converted into methanol, methane or synthetic fuels as an alternative to traditional fossil fuels, promoting decarbonization of energy.”
Stay tuned as we continue exploring the groundbreaking work of the NIAGARA project in upcoming articles.
