Project Pipeline
Black Liquor & Biofuels
What Are Biofuels?
What Is Black Liquor?
The BL2F Puzzle
Biofuels are fuels made from biomass. Biomass is another word for material coming from a plant or animal.
Biofuels are an alternative to fossil fuels, which emit high levels of harmful chemicals and are also unsustainably sourced. Fossil fuels are a large contributor to climate change and will eventually run out in the future, so our energy sources need to change!
WHAT ARE THE benefits of biofuels?
Biofuels produce much less CO2 than burning fossil fuels. If produced sustainably, biofuels can emit around 83% less CO2 than producing conventional fuels.
Biofuels can also contribute to the implementation of a circular economy, by turning waste into fuel, not only reducing greenhouse gas emissions but also stimulating the economy. The EU is committed to becoming climate neutral by 2050 so biofuels will become much more common.
How are biofuels made?
Biofuels can be produced in a variety of ways. The underlying idea is to convert something found in nature into an easily burnable substance that can be used by engines in machines such as cars, planes, ships and trains. BL2F will use a product called "Black Liquor" to make biofuels.
Black liquor is a side-product of the chemical pulping industry which uses trees to make different products. A process called "Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL)" will turn this thick black liquor into the starting substance to produce a high-quality fuel to be used in the aviation and shipping industries.
HOW CAN BIOFUELS HELP REDUCE EMISSIONS IN AVIATION AND SHIPPING?
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the numbers of air passengers are expected to grow 100% by 2050. Therefore, it is extremely important to reduce harmful emissions from aviation and shipping sectors. "Despite improvements in fuel consumption, emissions from planes in 2050 are expected to be 7 to 10 times higher than 1990 levels, while emissions from ships are projected to increase by 50% to 250%", the European Environment Agency (EEA) warns. Using clean biofuels, like the one produced by BL2F, can reduce the amount of CO2 emitted by these sectors.
How can bl2f help?
The European Commission expects decarbonisation in transport to take off by 2030 and BL2F will take measures so that the first commercial plant will be operational before that.
If implemented at a large scale the processes developed by BL2F can potentially produce 50 billion litres of biofuel by 2050. The fuel produced will also be ready-to-use by the plane and ship engines, this is called "drop-in" fuel so there is no energy wasted in adapting plane and ship engines for this new fuel.
This project has received funding from the European Union Grant Number 884111. The content of this website reflects only the author's view. The European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
The BL2F project is coordinated by Tampere University, Finland
Coordinator: Industrial Prof. Tero Joronen
Email: hello@bl2f.eu
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