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ENERGIX-Stort program energi

SUPOENER: The Future Role Of Biomass Energy In Norway - An Interdiciplinary Technological, Economical And Environmental Research Program

Awarded: NOK 11.8 mill.

The overall objective of this Strategic University Project (SUP) was to build competence related to interdisciplinary research on bioenergy based on agriculture and forest biomass, as a central part of a larger coordinated effort to strengthen interdisciplinary research within the broader field of renewable energy at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). The SUP has consisted of three workpacckages: WP 1 Technology solutions for utilizing biomass for energy production, with focus on enzymatic degradation of lignocellulosic biomass for second generation bioethanol production; WP2 Market analysis ? impacts of increased use of biomass for energy production on biomass markets and forest industries (raw-fibersupply, demand, impacts of policy instruments, market dynamics and competition); and WP3 Environmental impacts assessment of alternative types of energy production based on agricultural and forest biomass ((Life-cycle assessments focusing on impacts on net GHG emissions, energy efficiency, land-use and soil productivity. In WP1, the development of economically feasible bioprocesses for the conversion of woody biomass to biofuels was emphasized. This research has included three parts: (1) enzymatic conversion of polysaccharides such as cellulose to simple sugars that can be fermented to for example ethanol; (2) direct conversion of the woody biomass, or fractions thereof, to biogas by a consortium of microbes; (3) steam pretreatment of the biomass to facilitate these latter two processes. Focus has been on points 1 and 3. One key result of the project is that we have mapped how to best pretreat various types of woody biomass using our in-house steam explosion unit, which has been developed by our industrial collaborator Cambi AS. Another key result is the discovery of a new class of enzymes, the Lytic Polysaccharide Monooxygenases or LPMOs, in 2010, which has revolutionized the enzyme field. Thanks to the discovery of LPMOs, economically sustainable conversion of ?easier? lignocellulosic biomasses, such as corn stover, is now a reality, whereas much progress also has been made when it comes to enzymatic conversion of wood. The work in WP1, done in the period 2009-2012, has been crucial in the initial phases of NMBU?s biorefining efforts. Thanks to the ?seed money? provided by this project and to the transdisciplinarity stimulated by this project, NMBU and Ås campus as a whole are today leading players in the field of bioprocessing of woody and other lignocellulosic biomasses. In WP2 several analyses applying the bio-economic model EFI-GTM show that the use of wood-based energy could influence the traditional forest industries rather heavily, and that the choice of policy instruments would be very important for this influence. For example one study analysed how subsidies influence the wood use in wood-fired heat and power plants and wood with coal co-fired power plants in the short (2020) to medium (2030) term in the EU. It was shown, that without subsidies, wood-fired electricity is able to gain only a marginal market share due to limited availability of low-cost wood from logging residues. A high CO2 price of 100 ?/t without subsidies, results in 30 million m3 of industrial wood used for energy production, which is sourced from the reduction of 12 million m3 for wood products, 10 million m3 additional imports and 8 million m3 additional harvest. Subsidies for wood-fired and especially coal with wood co-fired mills substantially increase the use of wood and especially industrial wood for energy. However, even with a high 100 ?/tCO2 price and subsidy, mostly gas-fired electricity was projected to be displaced in 2030 by increasing use of industrial wood, which is not beneficial regarding reducing the high CO2 emission from power production using coal. Subsidies for wood co-firing are going to maintain coal power share to a large extent, which will be lost otherwise due to the high carbon emission price level. In addition, the model results show that the main sources of the growing use of industrial wood for energy are imports from regions outside of the EU, which thus creates considerable carbon leakages. In WP3 the work was concentrated on (i) quantifying the effect of increased biomass harvests of Salix on the content of organic materials and nutrients in the soil, and (ii) on applying life-cycle analyses to assess how well Salix could provide energy biomass production systems as vegetation belts against inland water lakes in order to prevent soil erosion and nutrients run-offs. The Salix had a limited soil prevention ability, but gave high biomass production for bioenergy with small inputs of production factors. However, compared to hydro-powered electricity, the project results do not give a basis for recommending growing Salix for bioenergy only.

The overall objective of this SUP is to build up competence related to interdisciplinary research on bioenergy based on sustainable use of agricultural and forest biomass, and strengthen interdisciplinary research and teaching within the broader field o f renewable energy. The work is concentrated on three interrelated research issues: (i)Technology solutions for utilizing biomass for energy production, with focus on second generation bioethanol production; (ii) Market feasibility ? the impact of increas ed use of biomass for energy production on biomass markets and forest industries (raw-fibre supply, demand, impacts of policy instruments, market dynamics and competition); (iii)Environmental impact assessment of alternative types of energy production based on agricultural and forest biomass (Life Cycle Assessment-LCA-focusing on impacts on climate gas emission net energy production, soil impacts, by-products, biodiversity and land-area utilization). The SUP has a strong inter-disciplinary orientation, bringing together a research-team consisting of scientists from biotechnology, bioproduction (agriculture and forestry), technology, ecology, soil science, and resource economics. The program will provide business companies, governmental planning author ities and policy decision makers with improved knowledge about how the development of second generation biofuels and other energy production technologies based on biomass will affect the environment and the future prices and availability of biomass, and how policy instruments may influence these effects. Recent advances in science and capabilities are likely to accelerate and enhance the role of second generation biofuels in the future energy systems. Norway has comparative advantages based on forest re sources and innovative capacity. The SUP will explore and structure these opportunities.

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ENERGIX-Stort program energi