Project facts:
Grant agreement ID: 101122151
Funding Agency: CINEA
Project start: October 2023
Project end: September 2027
- WP1-3: Coordination and Project Management
- WP4: Biorefinery and Steel Plants Requirement Analysis
- WP5: Selection of Microalgae for production of Polysaccharide and Lipid-rich Biomass when fed on GHG-laden Emissions
- WP6: Development of Novel Fractionation Processes for the Production of Microalgae-based Intermediates
- WP7: Integrated Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Fermentation for Biofuels Production
- WP8: Development of Multifunctional Catalyst-based Technologies for the Production of Advanced Liquid Biofuels
- WP9: Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Microalgal Residues Towards Biocrude and Biochar Production
- WP10: Sensors, PAT and modelling for Microalgae, Fractionation, Hydrothermal Liquefaction and Advanced Biofuels
- WP11: Plant-wide digital twin and PAT tools for the FUELGAE biorefinery concept
- WP12: Scale-up Design, Construction, Commissioning, Testing and Validation of Pilot Plants
- WP13: Preliminary Life Cycle, Environmental and Cost Assessment
- WP14: Dynamic Environmental. Life Cycle and Cost Assessment
- WP15-17: Dissemination, Communication, IPR, and Exploitation and Standardisation
WP 1-3 Objectives:
- To establish efficient operation of all project bodies, including decision making and conflict resolution.
- To ensure required quality of work and results, including self-assessment, monitoring and risk management.
- Overall administration and supervision of financial flows, communication with EC and project reporting.
WP 1-3 Leaders:
WP 1-3 Contributors:
Work Package 1-3 Leader
Work Package led by:
Silvia Morales de la Rosa (CSIC)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
Graduate in Chemistry by the University of Valladolid and PhD by the University Autónoma of Madrid (Spain) with the qualification of “Cum Laude”. I joined the CSIC as a researcher at the Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica in 2008. I am specialized in innovative treatments of biomass waste, and its use in products of interest and the production of advanced liquid biofuels.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The European FUELGAE project will develop processes to eliminate CO₂ emissions from different industries, which is the most abundant GHG in anthropogenic emissions, and will transform it into advanced biofuels and bioproducts.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
The coolest thing about being able to coordinate the FUELGAE project is that it is an exciting challenge in which a consortium of 13 multidisciplinary partners from 6 European countries all of them involved in different expert areas to carry out the FUELGAE objectives.
WP 4 Objectives:
- To identify the specifications for the FUELGAE technologies and the end products and Key Performance Indicator definitions.
- To prepare a shortlist with microalgal species, according to their potential for producing polysaccharides and/or lipids and their tolerance and robustness.
- To carry out preliminary study of the proposed approach and strategies for the integration of the whole concept.
WP 4 Leaders:
WP 4 Contributors:
Work Package 4 Leader
Work Package led by:
Marcos Latorre (PERSEO)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I am a Chemical Engineer and hold a PhD in Green Chemistry. I have more than 10 years of experience in the valorisation of biomass into biofuels and bio-based products of high interest in industry. I’m the Innovation Manager of PERSEO Biotechnology company.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The FUELGAE project deals with the decarbonisation of industry through the production of advanced biofuels, which can replace fossil fuels. The biofuels will be produced from the lipids and carbohydrates contained in innovative microalgae, which are grown using the CO₂ emitted by other industries, reducing at the same time their carbon footprint.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
PERSEO Biotechnology leads the work package where the carbohydrates contained in the microalgae are transformed into advanced bioethanol and the biorefinery residues are valorised for the production of biogas via digestion, enhancing the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the project.
WP 5 Objectives:
- To select and adapt two microalgal species for the two case studies: a polysaccharides-producing strain for the 2G bioethanol plant (Case Study I) and a lipids-producing strain for the steel plant (Case Study II).
- To investigate the novel PBR configuration in small-scale for the direct conversion of CO₂ into microalgal biomass with tailored composition.
- To apply industrially relevant conditions in intensified PBRs under high cell densities.
WP 5 Leaders:
WP 5 Contributors:
Work Package 5 Leader
Work Package led by:
Giannis Penloglou (CERTH)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of AUTH, in Thessaloniki-Greece, in 2006; I completed my PhD in the same department, 4 years later. Since then, I am a Researcher in CERTH/CPERI, specialized in bioprocess and biochemical engineering, and focusing on microalgae-based systems and applications, as well as intensified photo-bioreactors.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
In FUELGAE, we will have the chance to validate the microalgae-based technology onsite, as a novel retrofitting model for existing bio-based or even energy-intensive industries. We will have access to real industrial environment to install and integrate a high-end photo-bioreactor, and also produce both sugars- and lipids-based advanced biofuels.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
For WP5
WP5 is actually the basis of the whole project, since we will select and gradually improve two microalgal species, using advanced experimental tools like adaptive laboratory evaluation and design of experiments. Beyond focusing only on lipid-producing strains, which are usually the common choice, we will deliver also an industrially relevant carbohydrate-producing strain.
WP 6 Objectives:
- To select the optimal microalgal biomass fractionation technology.
- To optimize process conditions for the microalgal fractionation methods.
WP 6 Leaders:
WP 6 Contributors:
Work Package 6 Leader
Work Package led by:
José Miguel Campos Martín (CSIC)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I am a Scientific Researcher at the ‘Instituto de Catálisis y Petroleoquímica’ at CSIC in Madrid, Spain. I hold a degree in Chemistry (Industrial Chemistry) from the University of Valencia, Spain with extraordinary award of Bachelor; and a PhD in Chemistry from the Autonomous University of Madrid, Spain. I have participated in 27 research projects (leading 16), and 17 R&D contracts with industry (leading 9). I have co-authored 106 publications in peer-reviewed journals, 10 book chapters, and 15 patents. I have been included in the list of the 2% most cited scientists in their field in 2020, 2021, and 2022 (Stanford Index)!
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The FUELGAE project takes a multidisciplinary approach that combines the skills of different industrial and academic partners from all over Europe in the solution of a problem of great importance such as CO₂ emissions. It is very interesting to work with researchers from different specialties to solve a problem (GHG emissions) leading to the production of advanced fuels.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
In our work package, we are going to apply emergent treatments of microalgae biomass to be able to separate and take advantage of its main components. One of the points that hinders the commercialization of microalgae-based processes is the high energy cost of the treatment, we hope that the emerging treatments will be efficient and low-cost and can favor the commercial application of FUELGAE and other microalgae processes.
WP 7 Objectives:
- To optimise the bioethanol production from microalgal polysaccharides at lab-scale and upscale to pilot level.
- To optimise the production of biogas and digestate via enzymatic hydrolysis and digestion at lab-scale.
WP 7 Leaders:
WP 7 Contributors:
Work Package 7 Leader
Work Package led by:
Marcos Latorre (PERSEO)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I am a Chemical Engineer and hold a PhD in Green Chemistry. I have more than 10 years of experience in the valorisation of biomass into biofuels and bio-based products of high interest in industry. I’m the Innovation Manager of PERSEO Biotechnology company.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The FUELGAE project deals with the decarbonisation of industry through the production of advanced biofuels, which can replace fossil fuels. The biofuels will be produced from the lipids and carbohydrates contained in innovative microalgae, which are grown using the CO₂ emitted by other industries, reducing at the same time their carbon footprint.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
PERSEO Biotechnology leads the work package where the carbohydrates contained in the microalgae are transformed into advanced bioethanol and the biorefinery residues are valorised for the production of biogas via digestion, enhancing the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of the project.
WP 8 Objectives:
- To select catalysts for the hydrotreatment of biocrude and lipids.
- To determine optimal operating conditions to maximize the production of hydrocarbons
WP 8 Leaders:
WP 8 Contributors:
Work Package 8 Leader
Work Package led by:
Patricia Reñones Brasa (CSIC)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I graduated in Chemical Engineering in 2013 (URJC). In 2015, I obtained a Master’s Degree in Chemical Engineering (UAM and URJC) and, in 2021, I defended my Doctoral Thesis (URJC), developed at the IMDEA Energy Institute (Photoactivated Processes Unit). My scientific career has focused on the production of fuels and catalysts design. In 2021, I joined the ICP (CSIC), studying the production of biofuels from waste oils in laboratory and pilot plant scale. Now, I continue to work in the IPC (CSIC) through a FJC2021 contract. I am author of 15 publications, co-inventor of a patent and have participated in the development of a technology transfer project as R&D Manager!
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The opportunity to collaborate in a European project is an exciting challenge.
The idea of contribute to protect our planet by obtaining an alternative fuel instead of using the fossil fuels and the feasibility of algae biorefineries for producing multiple products in addition to biofuels.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
Our work package is at the end of the project’s value chain, as we design new catalysts for obtaining advanced biofuels from microalgae products. The obtention of the final result of the process is very enriching and interesting because you can observe the fruit of the work of all partners. The catalysts designed in this work package can potentially be used in other related applications beyond FUELGAE.
WP 9 Objectives:
- To use the produced biogenic residues and by-products in HTL to demonstrate the FUELGAE zero-waste policy.
- To produce upgradable to advanced fuels biocrude and complementary products like biochar.
WP 9 Leaders:
WP 9 Contributors:
Work Package 9 Leader
Work Package led by:
Stella Bezergianni (CERTH)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I obtained a Chemical Engineering Diploma from AUTH and my PhD from Lehigh University (USA). I continued my career at ExxonMobil Research & Engineering (Virginia USA) and in the Netherlands (ESSO Nederland BV refinery). I am a Research Director in CPERI/CERTH, head of the hydroprocessing group involved in catalytic processes (hydroprocessing, hydrothermal liquefaction) for the production of zero-carbon fuels.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
In FUELGAE we will investigate the utilization of microalgae residual biomass via hydrothermal liquefaction towards biocrude production. Furthermore, the produced biocrude as well as the lipids isolated from microalgae will be upgraded to advanced liquid biofuels via catalytic hydrogenation.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
In WP9 we will have the opportunity to utilize the produced biogenic residues and by-products in hydrothermal liquefaction rendering upgradable to advanced fuels biocrude and complementary products like biochar demonstrating the project’s zero-waste policy.
WP 10 Objectives:
- To develop sensor probes for microalgae cell structure imaging and chemical ingredient analysis.
- To perform evaluation and reference data collection for process signal analytics.
- To develop a reconfigurable process unit DT model by CFD-RSM and mass and energy balances to be implemented in Plant-wide DT.
WP 10 Leaders:
WP 10 Contributors:
Work Package 10 Leader
Work Package led by:
Juan Enríquez (ADSC)
Biography
Coming soon
WP 11 Objectives:
- To integrate different models into a plant-wide DT of the biorefinery and steel processes.
- To integrate novel sensing technologies to the monitoring, quality control and model parameter estimation of the microalgae-based technology.
- To optimize FUELGAE process value chains with DT.
WP 11 Leaders:
WP 11 Contributors:
Work Package 11 Leader
Work Package led by:
Markku Ohenoja (UOULU)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I work as a postdoc in Control Engineering Research Group at University of Oulu. My research work has focused on process modeling and simulation, control design, and process optimization in number of collaborative research projects with application areas consisting of chemical processes, water treatment, fuel cells, papermaking, and mineral beneficiation. The current activities are related to digitalization in industrial processes.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
The FUELGAE project is another interesting possibility for my curious mind to get a grasp on several different conversion processes, that are also highly relevant for the green transition. For our team, it is also an important opportunity to highlight the environmental performance as a part of real-time process optimization.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
It is probably the upright and fruitful collaboration with partners I already know. I’m confident it will be a good experience and it’s my pleasure to work again with them.
WP 12 Objectives:
- To validate the pilot PBR plant in the selected environments, according to the two case studies.
- To reach a final validation of FUELGAE technology at Technology Readiness Level 5 within a bio-based and a chemical plant, including the Digital Twin and Process Analytical Technology tool.
- To validate the production of bioethanol and lipids-based advanced biofuels to TRL5.
WP 12 Leaders:
WP 12 Contributors:
Work Package 12 Leader
Work Package led by:
Giannis Penloglou (CERTH)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of AUTH, in Thessaloniki-Greece, in 2006; I completed my PhD in the same department, 4 years later. Since then, I am a Researcher in CERTH/CPERI, specialized in bioprocess and biochemical engineering, and focusing on microalgae-based systems and applications, as well as intensified photo-bioreactors.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
In FUELGAE, we will have the chance to validate the microalgae-based technology onsite, as a novel retrofitting model for existing bio-based or even energy-intensive industries. We will have access to real industrial environment to install and integrate a high-end photo-bioreactor, and also produce both sugars- and lipids-based advanced biofuels.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
For WP12
WP12 is probably the most important, since it includes all the scaling-up and validation activities of the project. The proposed technology will be showcased in three different countries, not only in relevant but also in operational environment. We expect to reach larger TRL than 5 and demonstrate this way the future potential of FUELGAE.
WP 13 Objectives:
- To evaluate the environmental impact and hot-spots associated with the production of biofuels from microalgae with dynamically changing inputs, by Environmental LCA (E-LCA).
- To evaluate the total economic costs and hot spots associated to the production of biofuels from microalgae by LCC.
- To perform dynamic simulations and provide preliminary data for LCA and LCC assessments and demonstrate the sustainability of the processes.
WP 13 Leaders:
WP 13 Contributors:
Work Package 13 Leader
Work Package led by:
Carla Bartolome (ITENE)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, one Master’s degree in Water Management and a second Master’s degree in Quality, Environmental and Risk Prevention Management Systems. Since 2019, I have been working at ITENE in Life Cycle Analysis projects, especially in European projects but also on private company projects.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
In FUELGAE, we will have the opportunity to contribute to meeting the goals and targets of the European Green Deal by developing green technologies.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
For WP12
The possibility of being able to demonstrate the sustainability of the technologies that we will be developing in the FUELGAE Project.
WP 14 Objectives:
- To develop the final models that will serve to dynamically evaluate the environmental impact and hot-spots associated to the production of biofuels from microalgae, by Environmental LCA (E-LCA).
- To evaluate the final total economic costs and hotspots associated to the production of biofuel from microalgae by LCC.
- To perform dynamic simulations for the optimized process value chains and demonstrate the sustainability of the final FUELGAE processes.
- To analyse the environmental impact of future demo-scale concepts, based on the results from LCA.
WP 14 Leaders:
WP 14 Contributors:
Work Package 14 Leader
Work Package led by:
Carla Bartolome (ITENE)
What is your background (job/academic background etc.)?
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science, one Master’s degree in Water Management and a second Master’s degree in Quality, Environmental and Risk Prevention Management Systems. Since 2019, I have been working at ITENE in Life Cycle Analysis projects, especially in European projects but also on private company projects.
What do you find exciting about the FUELGAE project?
In FUELGAE, we will have the opportunity to contribute to meeting the goals and targets of the European Green Deal by developing green technologies.
What is the coolest thing about your work package?
For WP12
The possibility of being able to demonstrate the sustainability of the technologies that we will be developing in the FUELGAE Project.
WP 15-17 Objectives:
- To coordinate and strategically manage all DEC activities, using open science practices where possible.
- To actively manage results to ensure the right balance between dissemination and exploitation.
- To define stakeholders and create and implement suitable communication tools and activities.
- To disseminate FUELGAE results for widespread uptake.
- to ensure protection of intellectual property (IP) and prepare exploitation plans for FUELGAE results.
WP 15-17 Leaders:
WP 15-17 Contributors:
NTUA
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PERSEO
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ArcelorMittal
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Inlecom Commercial Pathways
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RTDS Group
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CERTH
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ITENE
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Analisis-DSC
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CSIC
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VTT
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OULU
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FUELGAE brings together 13 partners
from 6 European countries
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Statement from the Project Coordinator
The FUELGAE project represents a new approach to eliminating CO₂ emissions and transforming them into advanced liquid fuels, thus converting one of the pollutants most responsible for global warming into a sustainable product and providing a more environmentally sustainable solution for air and sea transport and heavy vehicles that are so difficult to electrify. In the FUELGAE project, novel multidisciplinary technologies will be developed based on the capture of CO₂ from microalgae, studies of evolutionary adaptation of microalgae, novel biomass treatments to obtain lipids and sugars, and the development of high-efficiency multifunctional catalysts to obtain biofuels. These technologies will evolve to a subsequent scaling for their future commercialization at the end of the project.
Silvia Morales de la Rosa
PROJECT LEADER
PROJECT LEADER
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Funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement 101122151. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Climate, Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency (CINEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
