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EBA Conference – call for papers

The 3rd Conference of the European Biogas Association takes place 27-29 September in Ghent, Belgium.

EBA is looking for scientific presentations (oral and posters) on all conference topics, both from academia and the industry and the call for papers is open http://biogasconference.eu/programme/call-for-papers/

Oral presentations and posters will be evaluated by the Scientific Advisory Council (SAC) of EBA, consisting of acknowledged experts in anaerobic digestion and gasification technologies

Papers can be delivered on all conference topics: biogas and syngas production, biomethane production, circular economy, sustainable raw materials, digestate, biorefineries and future markets.

The SAC will evaluate the proposals based on their relevance to the topic, innovation of the concept and quality of presentation (both scientific evidence and oral skills). Upon peer review the SAC reserves the right to decide about oral or poster presentations where appropriate.

The Vanguard initiative “Biogas beyond energy”

On the  12th of Janaury Renewtec participated as a regional expert in the Vangurad initiativ, Biogas beyond energy. The meeting was arranged by the Lombardia region and took place in Milan. Other regions participating were Asturias, Navarra, Brandenburg, Emilia Romagna, Malopolska, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Skåne and West Finland.

Biogas meeting - Milan 12_01_16

The interest for biomethane as vehicle fuel was strong and several regions look at the success of the Scania region and Sweden within this field. There were also a strong interest in small scale thermochemical conversion of woody biomass to biomethane.

Renewtec receives public funding for the LignoSys project

On the 17th of December the Swedish Energy Agency granted Renewtec public funding to conduct the LignoSys project – System study of small scale thermochemical conversion of lignocellulose rich feedstock to biomethane.

The project is part of the research programme “Biodrivmedelprogrammet – Termokemiska processer”.

Project partners are:
Cortus Energy AB
Dansk Gasteknisk Center a/s
European Biogas Association
G4 Insights Inc.
Institute for Biogas, Waste Management & Energy
Lund University
Montanuniversität Leoben
OX2 Bio AB
Renewtec AB
SYSAV Utveckling AB

Project budget: 2 415 000 SEK

Project period: 1 January 2016 – 31 December 2017

The aim of the project is to build up knowledge and competence on efficient thermochemical conversion of lignocellulose to biomethane in the 5-10 MWth size through system studies. The project covers the steps from resource extraction to final product, i.e. ”well-to-gate”. Three different thermochemical processes will be treated from an energy, resource, cost and greenhouse gas perspective.

For non-woody lignocellulose rich feedstock, such as straw and the soft part of sorted park and garden waste, the thermochemical conversion routes will be compared to the biochemical conversion route (anaerobic digestion) in combination with pre-treatment and upgrading of the raw biogas to biomethane of vehicle fuel quality.

The SmaRTGas Baltic project

On the 30th of October the SmaRTGas Baltic seminar took place in Malmö, Sweden. The seminar was financed by the Swedish Institute and arranged by Renewtec AB, Sweden in close collaboration with Tallinn Technical University, Lithuanian Energy Institute and Institute of Power Engineering, Poland.

SmaRTGas stands for Small Scale Renewable Methane Technologies based on Gasification and is focused on thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste to biomethane in the ~10 MW scale.

International experts and technology providers highlighted the ongoing technology development while representatives from Estonia, Lithuania, Poland and the European Biogas Association presented the market situation in the Baltic area and in Europe.

Biomethane through thermochemical conversion of woody biomass and waste offers many opportunities of relevance for the Baltic Sea Region since it transfers indigenous low quality resources including wastes into a renewable high quality transport fuel with superior emission data. Biomethane can be produced with the highest conversion efficiency of all second generation biofuels and distributed in an environmentally friendly way through the natural gas grid. Replacing diesel and petrol with biomethane has many advantages such as positive effects on the air quality, the greenhouse gas mitigation, the security of supply, regional development and new job opportunities.

The programme and the presentations are available for download free of charge at www.smartgas.se/smartgas-Baltic

SmaRTGas Baltic project group

The SmaRTGas Baltic project group, from left, Dr. Tomasz Golec and Janina Ilmurzynska, Institute of Power Engineering, Poland, Dr. Ülo Kask, Head of the Board, Estonian Biomass Association, Dr. Siim Link, senior scientist Tallinn Technical University, Dr. Andrius Tamošiūnas, deputy director and Dr. Nerijus Striūgas, Head of Laboratory of Combustion Processes, Lithuanian Energy Institute and Dr. Jörgen Held, CEO Renewtec AB and SmaRTGas coordinator.

The SmaRTGas Baltic project is a part of the SmaRTGas initiative with the ambition to create and establish the world´s largest innovation cluster on small scale gasification and methanation.

For more info please visit www.smartgas.se

 

Renewtec member of EBA Scientific Advisory Council

The European Biogas Association (EBA) Scientific Advisory Council is a network of researchers, scientists and university teachers dedicated to the promotion of biogas and biomethane.

In 2015 Renewable Energy Technology International AB (Renewtec AB) became a member of the Scientific Advisory Council.

European Biogas Association advocates both anaerobic digestion and thermal gasification and is the voice of biomethane in Europe. For more info take part of EBA´s Vision and mission.

 

 

BioSweet and European BioSNG Networks WEBinar

On the 22nd of  October Renewtec AB was invited to give a presentation on “Biomethane activities around the globe and possible learnings relevant for Switzerland” at 2nd Biomass for Swiss Energy Future Conference in Brugg, Switzerland.

The presentation highlighted the advances in thermochemical conversion of biomass and waste to bioSNG as well as the SmaRTGas initiative and REGATEC 2016.

Approx. 70 people from Swiss academia, industry and funding agencies participated.

On the 23rd October Renewtec AB visited Paul Scherrer Institute in Villigen  and got a guided tour in the new test facility for methanation, currently under construction.

SDC13567Dipl. Ing. Martin Künstle, Combustion Research Laboratory, Paul Scherrer Institute shows the layout of the test facility with its electrolyser, methanation reactors of different capacities and storage tanks for oxygen, hydrogen and carbon dioxide.

Thereafter researchers from PSI together with Renewtec AB participated in European BioSNG Networks WEBinar where activities within SmaRTGas and BRISK were discussed.

Renewtec presented bioSNG activities including SmaRTGas in Brussels

On the 3rd of September Jörgen Held was invited to give a presentation on “The present status and future prospects of biomethane production through biomass gasification” at the European Biogas Association’s workshop on biomethane in Brussels.

The SmaRTGas initiative was presented as way forward to accelerate the technology transfer and the implementation of efficient second generation fuel production.

For more info on the workshop click here.

Huge interest for biomethane – EBA workshop fully booked!

On the 3rd of September the European Biogas Association arranges a biomethane workshop in Brussels. The interest for biomethane is huge and the workshop is fully booked!

Renewtec AB is invited to give a speech on “The present status and future prospects of biomethane production through biomass gasification”.

For more details on the workshop http://european-biogas.eu/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/Agenda-EBA-biomethane-workshop-13Sep2015.pdf

EUBCE, Europe’s largest biomass conference

The 1-4 of June 23rd European Biomass Conference & Exhibition, EUBCE 2015, took place in Vienna, Austria.

In total 1394 people from 76 countries participated in the conference. Notable was the huge interest for biogas, biomethane and gasification but it’s no surprise since gaseous biofuels have several advantages over solid and liquid biofuels.

Renewtec acted as session chairman for the session “Thermochemical Conversion Processes – Industrial Approach” and represented the European Biogas Association in the  the conference closing cermony.

CLOSING_big

“According to Dr Held, we should not speak about biomethane from AD, biomethane from gasification or from any other technology separately, but about biomethane from renewable resources as a whole, which is a chance for Europe to increase energy security, have cleaner environment and stimulate growth. AD and gasification play together in one team as complimentary technologies.”