Researchers from the ICMS and the University of Seville are working on FLEXBY, a project funded by Horizon Europe which aims to use organic waste to produce biofuel. As Tomás Ramírez, a professor at the ICMS and a researcher on the project, explains, this is a crucial step in tackling the current climate crisis.

This project will primarily affect heavy transport, namely aeroplanes and large ships. In the case of light transport, decarbonisation is an increasingly well-established process, driving the shift towards electrification. However, this process cannot be applied to heavy transport, at least in the short term. The requirements for achieving this are excessive, making it a currently unviable solution. Biofuel is therefore one of the most attractive options for heavy transport. Furthermore, a series of advances could facilitate the widespread use of biofuels for personal mobility vehicles by potentially reducing costs, which would make biofuel a more competitive option compared to fossil fuels.

This project utilises organic matter that is regarded and treated as waste to produce biofuel. Materials such as microalgae, waste from the dairy industry or from heavy industry can be used for this purpose. However, each type of organic material requires a different process, which will also influence the outcome. It is therefore a key objective of the project to make the processes more flexible in order to facilitate biofuel production. Through the various processes carried out by the researchers, liquids are extracted from the waste, which are subsequently converted into biofuel. In addition, gases are extracted and processed to produce biohydrogen.

Our centre, cicCartuja, will host the FLEXBY pilot plant, which will serve as an integrated demonstrator for the flexible production of biofuels at TRL5.

You can find out more about the project in the recent report by Canal Sur.