Description:
BIOPOL is a two-year research project funded by the European Commission since 2007 through the Sixth Framework Programme. Biorefinery concepts are aimed at relevant market-competitive and environmental-friendly synthesis of bio-products chemicals and/or materials together with the production of secondary energy carriers transportation fuels, power and/or CHP.
Research objectives:
The overall goal of BIOPOL is to assess the status (technical, social, environmental, political, and implementation) of innovative BIOrefinery concepts and the implications for agricultural and forestry POLicy. BIOPOL was conceived to address the fact that the wider expectations for biorefineries have not yet yielded clear definitions for biorefinery concepts, or an understanding of the current status and prospective benefits of biorefining in Europe. Therefore the BIOPOL project was designed to assess the current status of biorefinery activities in Europe and explore future scenarios for development. By systematically accounting for potential technical, political, social and industrial impacts of such scenarios their outputs will be utilised to inform policy formulation in this area. By drawing from several complimentary research disciplines the insights gained will be able to inform EU policy-making and help frame future research directions both in Europe and elsewhere.
The activities within the BIOPOL project were subdivided in separate, but strongly integrated, Work Packages, for which the main results are all presented in this report:
WP1 Assessment of technical status
WP2 Assessment of social and environmental implications
WP3 Assessment of political aspects
WP4 Review of current implementation status
WP5 Prospects for further demonstration
WP6 Dissemination of results
Results and products:
AFSG was project coordinator.
Results are published on www.biorefinery.nl/biopol
The specific results of WP5 were AFSG delivered a major input are:
Prospects for further demonstration
The establishment of new biorefineries in a certain region will depend on numerous establishment factors such as land use in surrounding area, presence of animal husbandry, presence of oil refineries and chemical plants, and transport options. A model has been developed to help estimate the likeliness of biorefinery establishment according to a number of such key factors for all EU member states.
Whole crop biorefineries may be most likely to develop in traditional areas of wheat, potato or sugar beet production (e.g. France and Germany), near harbours, and where animal feed is required (e.g. Belgium and The Netherlands). Since wheat is more easily transported over large distances harbour areas may be favoured, whilst potatoes and beet (with higher water content) may be processed closer to harvest.
Lignocellulosic biorefineries are likely to take feedstock from straw regions (e.g. France and Germany), wood regions (e.g. Sweden and Finland), or imports. Thus, countries with large harbours and well developed oil and chemical sites (e.g. The Netherlands and Belgium) could be advantaged.
Green biorefineries will be influenced by the local availability of grass, clover and demand for animal feed. These areas can be found in the whole of Europe, but mostly in Western Europe.
It is considered that biorefineries utilising syngas could preferentially develop in very similar areas to lignocellulosic biorefineries, with an additional emphasis on existing base chemical infrastructure. |
