Tag Archive for: Bio4Energy

Senior lecturer and instrumentation expert Fredrik Forsberg, at Luleå University of Technology Geolab in 2022. Photo by courtesy of Fredrik Forsberg.

Bio4Energy Partner LTU Part of ‘Largest Investment in Material Science in Sweden’

A Swedish funder of research in the bio-based sector has announced the largest investment ever in the northern European country in terms of sustainable material science, and notably in infrastructure to advance it.

Bio4Energy partner Luleå University of Technology (LTU) is one of seven research universities to benefit, having won a hefty SEK52 million (€4.6 million) grant to fund instrumentation that will allow researchers quickly to measure various material reactions to flow, pressure or load and to variations in climate.

“The equipment will be unique in Sweden. We are right here in northern Sweden where the large industrial investments towards the green transition are located”, said Fredrik Forsberg, Bio4Energy expert at fluid and experimental mechanics at LTU.

“We are going to build a strong node for material science research; focusing on minerals, metals and hydrogen; all of which are essential raw materials in this transition”, Forsberg added.

“We are going to build a strong node for material science research; focusing on minerals, metals and hydrogen; all of which are essential raw materials in this transition”.

The vision of the Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE), where the seven universities are members, is to “enable sustainable technologies with positive impact on our society by understanding, creating and controlling complex materials”, according to its homepage.

It is the single largest investment in material research in Sweden—the share going to LTU is one tenth of the total—and the Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation is behind it.

In the case of LTU, the grant monies will be invested both in infrastructure at the university and at the southern Sweden-based synchrotron Max IV Laboratory; where beamlines for very advanced X-ray-based research is available for scientists from all over the world.

“We expect to start using the new equipment a year from now. It will be available to all WISE researchers and for all in joint projects regarding sustainability issues”, Forsberg said.

From the presentation late 2019 of its Green Deal, the European Union started referring to the “green transition” as being a bridge in time to meeting goals in terms of cutting greenhouse gas emissions and arresting environmental degradation.

Advanced Characterisation Techniques at the Luleå Material Imaging and Analysis Facility (WISE ACT @LUMIA) at Luleå University of Technology include high-resolution 3D X-ray imaging (dynamic/high-energy/spectral XCT) and precision milling (laser ablation FIB) coupled with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The platform offers excellent capabilities for analysis related to the new technologies emerging in northern Sweden, the hotspot for the green transition. Key research areas, in close collaboration with leading industry, include fossil-free steel, carbon dioxide and hydrogen storage, sustainable batteries, extraction of critical raw materials, and additive manufacturing. 
From WISE Technology Platforms, wise-materials.org

Contact

Fredrik Forsberg — Affiliation with Luleå University of Technology

New as of 5 February 2024: Scientific article

Advanced materials provide solutions towards a sustainable world, Nature Materials 17, 1052–1053.

For more information

Wallenberg Initiative Materials Science for Sustainability (WISE)

WISE at Luleå University of Technology (LTU)

Luleå Material Imaging and Analysis Facility

Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion

New Monies for Research to Bio4Energy Scientists from Swedish National Funders

A number of Bio4Energy research leaders have won funds in this year’s round of grants from the prestigious Swedish Research Council VR.

VR made its announcement this month, unveiling multi-million Swedish kronor grants to fund scientific research projects in its category for Natural and Engineering Sciences.

The projects and their participants are listed, as follows.

  • 2ndUpChance: A second chance for Upcycling of Microplastics, Paul Christakopoulos, Luleå University of Technology – Bio4Energy Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion. LTU co-applicants are Kerstin Ramser, Suman Bajracharya, Alok Kumar Patel, Leonidas Matsakas and Ulrika Rova.
  • To Grow or to Defend? Deciphering defence—growth strategies in pine and spruce under local light conditions in Sweden, Rosario García-Gil, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences – Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks. Co-applicants are Malin Elfstrand and Sonali Sachin Ranade, both SLU.
  • Fundamental Understanding of Diffusion in Zeolites, Jonas Hedlund, Luleå University of Technology – Bio4Energy Catalysis and Separation. Co-applicants are Liang Yu, LTU and Igor Zozoulenko, Linköping University.
  • Molecular Control of Carbon Storage in Trees, Totte Nittylä, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences – Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks
  • Heat and Mass Transfer of Reactive Porous Particles, Kentaro Umeki, Luleå University of Technology – Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion. Co-applicant Nils Erland Haugen has a double affiliation to LTU and to SINTEF Energy, respectively.
  • Evolution of Characteristics in Layers of Bed Particles: For next generation of thermal conversion processes for biomass in fluidised beds, Marcus Öhman, Luleå University of Technology – Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion. LTU co-applicant is Fredrik Forsberg.
  • Decoding of the Role of Lignin Chemistry for Plant Growth, Development and Resistance to Drought, Edouard Pesquet, Stockholm University – Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks. Co-applicant is Tanja Slotte, SU.

The latter recipient also scored a multiannual grant for his research proposal to Formas Research Council, which announced the outcome of its Annual Open Call around the same time.

3DWOOD—Printable Wood as an Alternative to Plastic: A composite wood material with new characteristics made from stem cell cultures and glued together with natural lignin, Edouard Pesquet, Stockholm University – Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks. Co-applicant is Aji Mathew, SU.

Related News

Inventions by Bio4Energy Researchers Highlighted by Royal Academy for Future Potential – Bio4Energy

Bio4Energy Researcher Awarded Medal for ‘Exceptional Contribution’ – Bio4Energy

Three-year Project Could Set Steelmaker Well on Way to Hydrogen-based Operations – Bio4Energy

Plants Adapt their Lignin Using Chemical ‘Encoding’ Enzymes, New Report Suggests – Bio4Energy

Innovation Award for R&D on Biogas Separation Technology to Bio4Energy Researcher – Bio4Energy

Polymer Lignin May Be Modified for Drought Resistance in Plants – Bio4Energy

Phase Out of Fossil Coal in Sweden’s Iron, Steel Industries on Cards – Bio4Energy

Large Project on Integration of UN SDGs in Forest Management to Target Genetic Tree Breeding – Bio4Energy

‘Getting Prepared to Have Right Material Base’: Chemistry in Biorefinery in New Report

As economies are moving closer to a substantial fossil fuel phase-out, the need increases for a total overview of what the bio-based sector can bring to the table to replace it.

Bio4Energy researcher Carlos Martín Medina, Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion, has spearheaded one such initiative giving an overview of how far we have come in terms of knowing the chemistry of the processes in factories where biofuels, “green” chemicals or bio-based materials are made: Biorefineries.

Together with colleagues from Spain and Italy, he has drawn together the latest advice from a range of international scientists on the Chemistry in Biorefineries and what substantial issues remain, in a new report.

“We are all concerned about [the consequences of using] fossil fuels. We need a clear idea of the post-petroleum era. We are getting prepared to have the right material base”, Martín told Bio4Energy Communications in an interview.

“What we are contributing with here is a representative overview of recent updates of known issues in biorefineries. These are novel contributions by first line scientists”, Martín said.

The Cuban native is one of Bio4Energy’s truly international PIs, bridging a position between Umeå University, Sweden and the Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Norway.

“What we are contributing with here is a representative overview of recent updates of known issues in biorefineries. These are novel contributions by first line scientists”.

As always when it comes to making commodities—even such that people will want to consume in the future—ventures have to be economically viable, as well as socially and environmentally sustainable.

“It is important to know the chemistry of [every] single process to be able to optimise and achieve higher yields and purity, and to avoid side reactions. In a biorefinery the first goal is to separate the three main components of biomass in the best way possible, so that each can be directed to different end products”, Martín explained.

Such products could be ethanol made from cellulose or resins made from lignin, he said. Although different input biomass materials are in focus in different parts of the world, the lesson contained in the themed collection of articles just out, in many cases are the same.

Is there enough biomass?

Martin’s answer to the question as to whether there is enough biomass for biorefinery production to make a substantial contribution in the post-petroleum era is a resounding “Yes.

“There are many different sources of residual plant biomass: Crop residues, forest residues, wood processing residues.

“Wood should mainly go into building materials and furniture manufacturing. We don’t want to clear out forests, [but instead] take advantage of materials that are not exploited today”.

The research environment Bio4Energy makes methods and tools for conducting biorefinery—a refinery based on biomass residues from various sectors to produce renewable fuel, materials and chemicals.  

For more information

Chemistry in Biorefineries is a themed collection of articles, published in an Advances journal by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Editorial contacts

Carlos Martín Medina, Alejandro Rodríguez and Fabio Montagnaro

2022 Bio4Energy Annual Report Is Out

The 2022 Bio4Energy Annual Report is out, breathing optimism and comeback after the years with the Coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

It tells the tale of launching a new website for the research environment and of rising numbers of PhD defenses passed. PhDs in this context are advanced students in Bio4Energy’s sector of biorefinery and bioenergy based on wood or organic waste. Their work is at the heart of Bio4Energy’s contribution to advancing science.

As is custom, each of Bio4Energy’s seven research platforms has its own page. Here its members’ progress is detailed over the year and the platform’s reason for being described. Two new platforms leaders stepped into their roles in 2022 and are pictured.

Important news developments are described in the media and outreach section, followed by awards and special commissions.

All 11 members of the Bio4Energy Advisory Board are pictured. They serve as a link to industry and give advice to the Bio4Energy Board and programme managers.

Breakthrough Innovation: Hydrogels from Norwegian Kelp to Be Commercialised

Bio4Energy researchers are behind a breakthrough innovation that can be used to make bio-based and biodegradable hydrogels.

Hydrogels are key components in materials used to restore or maintain human health such as wound healing, tissue engineering, artificial organs or everyday contact lenses.

The ingenuity of hydrogels lies in a dichotomy: While they are able to absorb and hold water, they do not decompose as a result.

However, as much as hydrogels are an indispensable part of modern medicine, today only synthetic hydrogels of the kind desired are available on the market and they are resource-intensive to produce, according to an article at the website of Luleå University of Technology, where the Bio4Energy researchers work.

Applying nanotechnology to brown algae grown in Norwegian waters, scientists Kristiina Oksman and Linn Berglund were able to skip steps that are paramount to making hydrogels of the synthetic kind. This means that the new bio-based technology requires less energy at production and generates less waste.

Nano-scale processing of the starting material also means that good quality hydrogel can be ascertained, as the cellulose is separated into ultra-small fibres and desirable qualities of the alginate salts are retained.

Alginor ASA, a Norwegian firm, has bought the resulting patent and are constructing a processing plant for this type of brown kelp, Laminaria Hyperboream.

“Alginor ASA wants to use the method to make full use of the harvest of Laminaria Hyperborea, or brown kelp, a species that is common in Norwegian waters”, professor Oksman said.

Contacts

Linn Berglund — Bio4Energy Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion, affiliation with Luleå University of Technology

Kristiina Oksman – Bio4Energy Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion, affiliation with Luleå University of Technology

Scientific article

No scientific literature has been disclosed.

Examples of Bio4Energy projects involving similar technologies can be found here:

Field Trials Confirm: Aspen Trees May be Modified for Easier Access for Biorefinery Production

Field trials of transgenic aspen trees have confirmed that genetic modification is indeed a possible avenue for rendering wood less resistant to breakdown into components suitable for making biofuel, “green” chemicals or bio-based materials.

Research just out shows not only how to modify tree plants for superior yield of desired sugar-based content, but also offers industry or investors proof-of-concept results from pilot-scale trials performed for the most successful combinations or “constructs” in science speak.

Most innovations require Proof of Concept to survive past the early stages of product development. It is a formalised way of providing evidence that demonstrates that a design concept or business proposal is feasible.

For the last decade, Bio4Energy has shepherded field trials of hardwood species such as aspen, under the leadership of professor Ewa Mellerowicz, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences.

Collaboration partners include programme manager Leif Jönsson’s research team at Umeå University, as well as Bio4Energy research leaders at RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, the Wallenberg Wood Science Centre and others.

The results are expected to bring considerable benefit to the scientific community, given that no less than 32 so-called lines of genetically modified aspen trees previously evaluated only in greenhouse trials, have been grown and studied for five years in field plantations in Sweden.

“Whereas there are many examples of genetically modified trees that are improved in the greenhouse experiments, the trees with improved properties in the field are exceptional”, Mellerowicz told Bio4Energy Communications.

The fact that the field trials used material pre-selected from extensive greenhouse experiments, testing very large numbers of constructs, let the scientists bring about optimal results in the field. This way, the trees grew faster (produced more wood) and were more ready to release sugar-rich polymers, which are desired input materials for making biorefinery products.

“By [implementing a] systematic long-term and multi-level testing strategy, we were able to identify certain unknown function genes that improve field productivity and saccharification yield”, according to Mellerowicz.

Moreover the best transgenic lines were processed in a pilot-scale reactor, mimicking industrial conditions, to provide proof of concept for the strategy.

“The identified genes will be of particular interest to modify, using non-transgenic approaches to produce feedstocks that are GMO free, but have improved performance in the field and in the biorefinery”, she said.

This means that more research is needed before the findings can be demonstrated as a new technology, but the advantage created is that genes have been identified that could be targets for it.

Contact

Ewa Mellerowicz, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences — Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks, affiliation with the Umeå Plant Science Centre

Scientific article

The article Field testing of transgenic aspen from large greenhouse screening identifies unexpected winners, is published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal January 2023.

The authors are acknowledged as follows: Donev EN, Derba-Maceluch M, Yassin Z, Gandla ML, Sivan P, Heinonen SE, Kumar V, Scheepers G, Vilaplana F, Johansson U, Hertzberg M, Sundberg B, Winestrand S, Hörnberg A, Alriksson B, Jönsson LJ and Mellerowicz EJ.

Season’s Greetings from Bio4Energy

Bio4Energy wants to wish its members and followers a

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

What have you got coming for 2023?

Bio4Energy has more research and development, a new course in the Bio4Energy Graduate School, as well as a continued aim for excellence and usefulness of results produced.

We hope that you will want to stay tuned!

Recycling of Plastics and Forest Management Under Loup in New Projects

While a part of the research community is trying to develop plastics from bio-based materials; as an alternative to petrochemicals; a group of Bio4Energy researchers are looking at how to reuse or recycle traditional plastic using bio-based processes. Two projects were granted last month, one by the national funders Swedish Research Council and more recently by Formas.

Here we acknowledge Bio4Energy researchers who won projects from Formas, in its annual round of grants.

  • Bioholistic: Developing integrated bioprocesses for a holistic chemical recycling of plastics, Leonidas Matsakas, Bio4Energy Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). Co-applicants at LTU are Alok Patel, Io Antonopoulou, Ulrika Rova and Paul Christakopoulos.
  • Browsing tolerant trees, Henrik Böhlenius, Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstock at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU). His collaboration partners are Stefan Jansson of Umeå University and Michelle Cleary of SLU.
  • Can the soil priming effect enhance plant growth under elevated CO2 by alleviating nutrient limitation? Sandra Jämtgård, Bio4Energy Environment and Nutrient Recycling at SLU. Her co-applicant is Oskar Franklin of the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Austria.

2021 Bio4Energy Annual Report Is Out

This is the release of the Bio4Energy Annual Report for 2021.

It gives an overview of the research and development conducted on the seven Bio4Energy Research and Development Platforms.

It hints at the work of the Bio4Energy PhD students, by listing the topics for and names of those who successfully defended their thesis, at the end of their PhD project.

It shows which research teams won a special acknowledgement, in the section for Awards and Commissions of Trust.

There is a section for Media and Outreach.

Last but not least, the Bio4Energy Advisory Board is profiled. It is made up of key people for the bio-based sector in Sweden. It serves to guide the Bio4Energy Board and programme managers, in their efforts to make the research environment useful not only to itself, but also to the sector.