2,000 ton/y industrial scale demonstration biorefinery on lignin-bases aviation fuel

Duration: 2015 – 2018 ● Client: European Commission (FP7) ● WIP Role: Communication and Dissemination, Exploitation ● www.biorefine-2g.eu

Industrial scale demonstration biorefinery on lignin-based aviation fuels

Aviation is one of the fastest growing transport sectors and this trend will continue in the coming years. According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), global aviation is expected to grow by 5% annually in the period up to 2030. Currently, petroleum derived liquid fuels are the main energy carrier in the aviation sector. Due to different environmental and economic concerns there is a need for the sustainable supply of aviation fuels.

Bioenergy will play a key role in the EU's long term energy strategy for all applications, especially in the transport sector. The supply of feedstock and the biofuel conversion technologies which are currently deployed already provide a significant contribution, but diversification of feedstock and advanced technologies will be necessary for further development.

The aviation industry considers aviation biofuels to be one of the primary means to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. In this context, the BIORFLY project will develop and build the first industrial pre-commercial lignin-to-jet fuel facility in Italy.

The combined production of a high annual volume of cellulosic ethanol and lignin-based jet fuel through sustainable and innovative technologies will be the first step towards biofuel commercialisation and market deployment.

BIOREFLY is co-funded by the European Commission in the 7th Framework Programme (Project No. FP7-612747).