The challenges is to be able to make the overall process economically viable at a scale that is suitable for Norway and by taking into account the Norwegian conditions and existing infrastructure. The success of this project means that we will have the opportunity to replace parts of the fossil fuels, with a sustainable alternative.
Two specific markets are targeted:
- bio-jetfuel for the aviation sector
- bio-diesel for the heavy road transport sector
Biomass, which is the starting point of the energy conversion route, will be a mixture of mostly low by-products that are available in the Norwegian market and some high quality products.
Key areas that have been identified as crucial for the success of the project are:
- The plant scale should be in the medium range (100-500 MW) which will help to keep the fuel transport costs in check
- The entire process will be optimized with the idea of having three separate sub-processes
- A decentralized feedstock pre-treatment sites using torrefaction
- A centralized gasification and FT for bio-crude production
- The use of existing refineries for further upgrade of the bio-crude into transport fuels
This is a Competence Building project for the industry with suppert from The Research Council for Norway.