FP6 - 502824 CROPGEN - Renewable energy from crops and agrowastes

Contacts
Website: www.cropgen.soton.ac.uk/
Further Information



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Biological Conversion : Biotechnology : Crops for Liquid Biofuels and Biogas : Liquid Biofuels and Biogas : Sustainable Development and Renewable Energy

Type of Project	STREP
Contract No	SES6-CT-2004-502824
Total Cost	2,510KEuro
EC Contribution	2,100 KEuro
Start Date	1-3-2004
Duration	36 Months

Abstract

CROPGEN is a research project funded by the EU's 6th Framework Programme, involving 11 partners in 6 European countries. The overall objective of the research is to produce from biomass a sustainable fuel source that can be integrated into the existing energy infrastructure in the medium term, and in the longer term will also provide a safe and economical means of supplying the needs of a developing hydrogen fuel economy.

The concept is based on the use of anaerobic digestion (AD) as a means of producing methane from biomass, including energy crops and agricultural residues. The technology of biochemical methane generation is well established: the breakthrough to a cost-effective and competitive energy supply will come from engineering and technical improvements to increase conversion efficiencies, and from reductions in the cost of biomass. The research will determine how the technology can best be applied to provide a versatile, low-cost, carbon-neutral biofuel in an environmentally sound and sustainable agricultural framework.

A series of closely integrated sub-objectives aim to deliver a breakthrough in costs that will firmly establish biogas technology as an economically attractive energy production process for both on and off-site use. The work will identify energy crops and agro-wastes best fitted to energy production in an integrated farming environment, consider energy losses in production and processing, and use these to set net energy production targets as a technological goal. The role of storage and pre-treatments will be considered. Co-digestion will be evaluated as a means of improving energy yields from materials which were uneconomic for biogas production. Some agricultural residues will also be investigated as potential high-yielding substrates. Innovative bioreactor designs and operation modes will be tested.

A European database of bio-kinetics for use in design and operation will be established. True life cycle costs of biogas production will be determined in large-scale trials. These will allow verification of laboratory data and predictive models, including advanced decision support systems to optimise energy production. The work will consider the need to achieve continuity of energy supply in an integrated farming environment. Issues of sustainability, environmental impact and socio-economic factors will also be addressed. The results will add to EU databases on bio-energy crops; give engineers the necessary tools to develop the technology; and provide the farming community with evidence of profitable energy production without subsidy and within the EU's target cost for renewable energy.

Coordinator School of Civil Engineering and the Environment, University of Southampton United Kingdom

Partners

• Centre for Under-utilised Crops, University of Southampton, UK
• Department of Environmental Science, University of Jyväskylä, Finland
• Subdepartment of Environmental Technology, Department of Agrotechnology and Food Sciences, Wageningen University, Netherlands
• Department of Environmental Biotechnology, Institute for Agrobio-technology BOKU University of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences, Austria.
• Institute of Applied Microbiology, BOKU University of Natural Resources & Applied Life Sciences, Austria
• Department of Environmental Sciences, University of Venice, Italy
• Department of Science and Technology, Università degli Studi di Verona, Italy
• Industrial Process & Environment Department, Instituto de la Grasa, Spain
• Greenfinch Ltd, UK
• Organic Power Ltd, UK
• Metener Ltd, Finland

Contacts

Contact

• Charles J BANKS / University of Southampton School of Civil Engineering & the Environment / UNITED KINGDOM