Tag Archive for: Umeå University

Ulrika Rova, Luleå University of Technology, is new coordinator for Bio4Energy's membership in BioInnovation, Swedish funder. Photo by courtesy of Ulrika Rova.Bio4Energy

Seeing Possibilities: Meet Bio4Energy’s Coordinator for Swedish funder BioInnovation

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Bio4Energy’s new coordinator for BioInnovation, Swedish funder of bio-based innovations, is Ulrika Rova, professor at Luleå University of Technology.

Rova sees herself not only as the research environment’s representative with an overview of possibilities for applying for funds, but also as a facilitator and a bearer of information to potential collaboration partners representing other organisations in the bio-based sector.

“I need first to study the offer and future calls for projects, but then I can be a channel for information going both ways”, Rova told Bio4Energy Communications.

Structured as a member organisation, BioInnovation evaluates and funds a range of projects on behalf of the Swedish national funding agencies Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency. Bio4Energy is a founding member, or a “party”, and involved in its divisions on Materials, as well as Chemicals and Energy.

Structured as a member organisation, BioInnovation evaluates and funds a range of projects on behalf of the Swedish national funding agencies Vinnova, Formas and the Swedish Energy Agency. Bio4Energy is a founding member, or a “party”, and involved in its divisions on Materials, as well as Chemicals and Energy.

“Our vision is that Sweden will have transitioned to a circular economy by 2050. We are going to create optimal conditions for developing the Swedish bio-based sector and create sustainable solutions for a global market”, the Swedish version of BioInnovation’s website said (ed’s translation).

Two projects headed up by Bio4Energy research leaders stand out: Joint production of edible mushroom and advanced biofuel, as well as production of food-grade prebiotics from forest resources and sea squirts, a colonial tunicate.

The latter is a small sea-living invertebrate that has an outer protective cover; a tunic consisting of a cellulose-like substance; which is the target for developing prebiotics for human and animal consumption.

Rova led the prebiotics project. Given that Bio4Energy is a member since 2015, I want to know what might promote a more high-profile participation in BioInnovation-funded projects.

“The requirement of 50 per cent co-funding by proprietary users, that is an industrial partner, could be perceived as a challenge. As an [academic] researcher, you need to have a good contact network in industry”, Rova said.

“I will be participating the annual and biannual meetings and provide an overview of possibilities going both ways”, she said.

Professor Ulrika Rova is a veteran member of Bio4Energy. She served as deputy director of the research environment during its second five-year mandate, ending in 2019. Instrumental in developing education and training, she was the first head of the Bio4Energy Graduate School. She is a senior member of one of Bio4Energy’s research platforms, Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion. Her home organisation is Luleå University of Technology where she is part of a Paul Christakopoulos' research group specialising in biochemical process technology. In later years, the group has been focusing on carbon dioxide capture and reuse, as well as bioprocesses for upcycling of plastics and managing EU projects.

Contact

Ulrika Rova, Bio4Energy Coordinator for BioInnovation — Affiliation with Luleå University of Technology

For more information

BioInnovation

Bio4Energy Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion Technologies

Related News (In Swedish)

Det stora blå – med enorm potential i framtidens hållbara utveckling – BioInnovation

Inhemsk odling av delikata matsvampar i sikte – och biodrivmedel på köpet – BioInnovation

Svensk innovation kan ge billigare matsvampar – BioInnovation

Fördelen med att odla läckra svampar på björkved – BioInnovation

Bio4Energy PhD students and postdoctoral fellows in rapid-fire presentation race. Photo by Anna Strom ©2023.AnnaStrom

Biomass Feedstock, PhD Education, Synchrotron Research in Focus at Bio4Energy Event

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The recent Bio4Energy Researchers’ Meeting, drawing together sixty of its researchers to meet at Umea in northern Sweden, is real-life example of the deliveries that Bio4Energy took on making as a Strategic Research Environment, appointed by the Swedish government.

Biomass input materials for making renewable fuels, chemicals and materials

The members of the Bio4Energy Forest-based Feedstocks platform are designing trees that are better suited to resist challenging climatic conditions and to grow faster. Tree genes are studied in depth for the purpose of knowing how to enable an easy separation of the polymers in the wood matrix, for the production of advanced biofuels, “green” chemicals and bio-based materials. Four group leaders presented their latest research on wood engineering and characterisation, as well as resilience in times of climate change.

Education and training for advanced students: Tomorrow’s knowledge workers of the bioeconomy

Bio4Enegy’s core curriculum is contained in the courses of its Graduate School. Biorefinery Pilot Research gives students access to the unique park of pilot and demonstration facilities that line the coast of northeastern Sweden. Students construct and conduct their own projects to experience the innovation process hands on. First-hand access to professionals in industry and their peers allow for networking.

The new History of Biorefining in Nordic Countries‘ training paints the background of biorefinery development, as well as current trends and progress. Study visits and sessions on sustainability challenges alert students to the fact that we need to do better tomorrow to achieve circularity; efficient and effective production systems with low or no pollution escaping out into the environment.

Course coordinator Francesco Gentili flagged that Biorefinery Pilot Research will be given in connection with the Nordic Wood Biorefinery Conference at Örnsköldsvik in autumn 2024, while Carmen Cristescu outlined the outcomes of the first ever edition of History of Biorefining, which just concluded in November this year.

Shining bright like a Bio4Energy student

Eleven of them painted the gist of their bio-based projects in minutes-long talks and fleshed them out later on research project posters, which were the focus of discussion during mingling time. Three winners of Best Poster Presentation were selected by a jury composed of more senior Bio4Energy colleagues.

Nitrogen regulated wood formation, Anna Renström — Forest-based Feedstocks

Biopolymers from residues: A Comparative characterisation of Halomonas boliviensis PHB, Diego Miranda — Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion

What Makes a Tree a Tree?, Edouardo Soldado — Forest-based Feedstocks

Conference presentations

Forest feedstocks in the context of climate change, Sonali Ranade — Forest-based Feedstocks

Engineering of forest feedstocks for bioeconomy, Ewa Mellerowicz — Forest-based Feedstocks

Dark matter of the spruce genome, Peter Kindgren — Forest-based Feedstocks

Developments in forest feedstock characterisation, Gerhard Scheepers — Forest-based Feedstocks

Bio4Energy Graduate School: Biorefinery Pilot Research, Francesco Gentili — Enviroment and Nutrient Recycling

National infrastructure and synchrotron-related research, Nils Skoglund — Enviroment and Nutrient Recycling

Treesearch and Formax, Mikael Thyrel — Feedstock Pre-processing

Meeting programme

Sonali Ranade
This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is EwaMellerowicz_221123-300x218.jpg
Ewa Mellerowicz
Christoffer Boman
Leif Jönsson, Mohsen Parchami, Linn Berglund
Shaojun Xiong and Carlos Martín
Iliana, Judith, Liang and Santosh
Florian Schmidt and Christiane Funk
Marcus Öhman and Carmen Cristescu
Students at a rapid-fire presentation race
Diego Miranda
Martin Plöhn
Eduardo Soldado

The timber we take out of forests should go toward constructing houses and furniture. Biorefinery is based on residues. Photo by Bent Christensen.Umea University

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

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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

Traditionally, Bio4Energy has been targeting wood from conifers in its research. Photo by Anna Strom ©2023.©AnnaStrom

Bio4Energy is Delivering Methods, Tools to Industry as Promised

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Regional collaboration and research in the areas of thermochemical conversion of biomass and feedstock pre-processing, respectively, were on the menu as Bio4Energy scientists and advanced students met at Skellefteå, Sweden this month.

The event showed, most notably, that a good decade after its start, the Bio4Energy research environment is indeed doing what it set out to in 2010: Delivering methods and tools in the areas of bio-based materials, “green” chemicals and advanced biofuels.

Thermochemical Conversion, one of two process platforms in Bio4Energy, is cooperating with leading actors in industry; to provide the foundations for replacing fossil fuels with biocarbon in steel-making operations.

Another branch of the platform is developing “green” carbon black from forest industrial residue; the early news of which spurred interest from European and Russian industry, eager to follow developments.

As we reported in March, the Feedstock Pre-processing platform not only keeps delivering dried or fractionated biomass to customers in industry, but also eyes a shift in focus to examine the ways in which critical raw materials can be supplied to the region in a safe and sustainable manner.

Finally, the meeting received a run down on current European Union policy developments affecting the forest industrial sector.

As a service to our followers, we will link below as many of the research presentations given as we are allowed to. Please check back with this page, if they have not yet been posted. Press or click a title, to access its link.

Research Presentations

Biochar characterisation, using state-of-the-art techniques — Anna Strandberg, Bio4Energy Feedstock Pre-processing

Multi-blade shaft milling for preserving the native structure of milled products — Atanu Kumar Das, Bio4Energy Feedstock Pre-processing

Related News

Pierre Oesterle, PhD student, has been awarded a prize for his research to remove micropollutants from wastewater. Photo by courtesy of Pierre Oesterle.

PhD Student Wins Prize for ‘Outstanding’ Work to Capture Micropollutants

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A Bio4Energy PhD student at Umeå University (UmU) has won a prize for his work on waste management, bio-based materials and recycling, by a Sweden-based institute that represents his home country, France.

In his research, Pierre Oesterle investigates ways to re-use by products from forestry industry; and the ways in which these can made to remove micropollutants from wastewater.

In doing so, Oesterle is one of the forbearers in the field of bio-based chemicals and materials, who aim to tackle the rapidly expanding problem of micropollutants that leak into the environment as a result of pharmaceutical drug use.

For the most part, this kind of pollution is not being picked up and filtered out by current wastewater treatment plants.

Using sorbents for treating wastewater is not new in itself, but the ones on the market are based on activated charcoal. In a context of aiming to contain climate change, such materials are not deemed environmentally friendly.

A sorbent–whether based on petrochemicals or biomass–is a material that acts as a molecular sieve, which attracts micropollutants and holds them to it, in a layer of thin film.

“My research tries to design bio-based activated biochars from waste of mining and forestry industry to replace those activated carbons in wastewater treatment plants”, Oesterle writes in an e-mail to Bio4Energy Communications and; “to regenerate or recycle these spent sorbents using hydrothermal deconstruction.

“The idea behind this technology is to use a low temperature, but a high pressure; to degrade the contaminants adsorbed on the surface of the activated biochar and to check the regeneration efficiencies of the material afterwards”.

Circular economy

The French Institutes of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Norway and Sweden in their Nordic Award 2023 are targeting “outstanding achievements” to pave the way for a circular economy, by young French nationals.

“This award aims to promote cultural and scientific cooperation between France and the Nordic countries and to reward the outstanding achievements of young researchers”, according to the call for applications.

Oesterle will receive his prize from the hand of the French Ambassador to Sweden, 20 June. It comes with a paid-for trip to meet likeminded colleagues in the French region of Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, so that more cross-border and circularity friendly research may be spawned.

This edition of the FINA prize aims to help achieve three of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): Sustainable consumption and production, climate change abatement and zero hunger.

“Few removal [or] degradation processes are currently used, such as ozonation or activated carbon. The drawback of using activated carbon is the unsustainability of the technique; as when the adsorbent is spent, most of the activated carbons end up incinerated or in landfill; inducing potential secondary pollution. Moreover, most activated carbons are based on non-renewable resources (coal), which do not meet the SDGs”, Oesterle wrote.

Event: Webinar via Zoom, in which the FINA finalists present their research, hosted by the French Institute of Sweden. Thursday June 8, from 1:30 p.m. All welcome to attend.

Research platform: Bio4Energy Environment and Nutrient Recycling

About Pierre Oesterle: Personal page and list of publications, Umeå University

Circular economy is a system of production, exchange and sharing that allows for social progress, preservation of natural capital and economic development, as defined by the Brundtland Commission of the United Nations.

Field trials of growing genetically modified aspen trees in Sweden. Photo by courtesy of Ewa Mellerowicz.Bio4Energy

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

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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.

Algae production at Dåva, Umeå, Sweden. Photo by courtesy of Francesco Gentili.

New Projects Supported by Bio4Energy Strategic Funds

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Twenty per cent of all funding to Bio4Energy is set aside as Strategic Funds used to create synergies, explore and address new and important avenues of research. In 2023, several such strategic projects will be launched, following a call for funding during the autumn. The first two projects started on 1 January 2023, with additional projects coming up later.

The project “Circular and sustainable production of bioplastics with the help of photosynthetic microorganisms – Proof of concept”, aims to investigate the feasibility of feeding carbohydrates produced by photosynthetic microalgae to bacteria producing polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) at pilot scale in northern Sweden. PHB is a promising material for producing biodegradable plastics, and in this proof-of-concept project the PHB production will be studied and optimised, in order to enable a successful implementation at industrial scale. Francesco Gentili at SLU heads the project, which is a collaboration between researchers at SLU, UmU, and RISE Processum.

The second project, “Trade-off between wood quantity and quality in response to nitrogen fertilization – Is there a breaking point for beneficial nitrogen level in boreal forests?”, will investigate the relationship between volume growth and wood quality in response to nitrogen fertilization in both Norway spruce and aspen. The goal is to identify optimal fertilization regimes that balance between volume growth and wood quality of forest feedstocks in different locations in Sweden. This will pave the way for feedstock with beneficial qualitative properties, without compromising the growth of the trees, even in poor and abandoned soils. The project, which is led by Hannele Tuominen at SLU, is a collaboration between SLU, UmU and RISE. More information about Bio4Energy’s strategic funds and projects, including a list of ongoing and finalised projects, can be found under this link.

Text by the Bio4Energy programme managers and deputy programme manager

Season Greeting from Bio4Energy. Collage and photos by Anna Strom ©2022.©AnnaStrom

Season’s Greetings from Bio4Energy

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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!

Bio4Energy scientists have won funds for three multi-annual research projects, from the Swedish Research Council. Photo by Anna Strom ©2022 (Archives).©AnnaStrom

Plastic Waste, Carbon Nano Materials, Photothermal Imaging in New Research Projects

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Bio4Energy researchers have won funds from the Swedish Research Council for multi-annual projects on “upcycling” of plastic waste, evaluation of carbon nano materials for use in electrodes and photothermal imaging of fatty acids and droplets.

The projects and their participants are acknowledged as follows:

  • Development of sustainable and efficient processes for upcycling of PET waste into value-added chemicals as building blocks for recyclable materials, Ulrika Rova, Bio4Energy Biochemical Conversion at Luleå University of Technology (LTU). Co-applicants at LTU are Suman Bajracharya, Annie Modestra Jampala and Paul Christakopoulos.
  • Experimental and theoretical evaluation of carbon nano materials with hierarchical porous structures and large surface area for use as sustainable electrodes, Kristiina Oksman, Bio4Energy Biochemical Conversion. Collaboration partners are Staffan Lundström and Andreas Larsson. All are affiliated with LTU.
  • High-speed mid-infrared photothermal imaging of fatty acids and lipid droplets in living cells, Florian Schmidt, Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion at Umeå University.
  • Raman spectroscopy applied for neurosurgery – assistance in decision making on tumor boarders and tumor grade, Kerstin Ramser, Bio4Energy Thermochemical Conversion at LTU. Collaboration partners are Karin Wårdell, Jan Hillman, Johan Richter, Martin Hallbeck; all of the University of Linköping; as well as Joel Wahl of LTU.