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Gasbil Volvo

Bio4Fuels use new technology to ensure efficient and sustainable use of biomass as renewable feedstock for heat, power and transportation. Bio4Fuels for the first time brings together leading Norwegian research institutions, universities, key national and international partners, major forestry resources owners and regional authority into one common initiative on production of energy carriers from renewable sources.

01 Jan 2017 - 31 Oct 2025

Norwegian research council:FME - Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research

Research institutions:

  • Targets / aims

    The Centre aims to develop innovative technology and support industries to realize economic and sustainable conversion of lignocellulosic  biomass and organic residues to transportation fuels, along with added value chemicals, heat and power. 

  • Key research areas

    Key research is to increase the effeciency and yields of major process steps within the different value chains, as well as achieving techno-economic insights for the optimal integration within and across value chains and greater understanding of the environmental consequences of the various value chains.

  • Bringing major players together

    Bio4Fuels for the first time brings together leading Norwegian research institutions, universities, key national and international partners, major forestry resources owners and regional authority into one common initiative on production of energy carriers from renewable sources.

News from Bio4Fuels

Events

  • More about the project

    Norwegian Centre for Sustainable Bio-based Fuels and Energy (Bio4Fuels).
    A Centre for Environment-friendly Energy Research (FME) based at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU) since 2017.

    Bio4Fuels is a cross-disciplinary research centre involving graduate students, PhD students and research scientists at Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU), Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and University of South-Eastern Norway (USN). The Centre has an extensive network of partners from industry, research institutes and academia, both in Norway and abroad, and public bodies.

    The ambition of the Bio4Fuels Centre is to reduce the impact of climate gas emissions from the transport sector through sustainable and economic production of Biofuels. Biomass, in particular low-grade fractions of wood from the forest and waste from agriculture, is a renewable resource that can potentially substitute the use of fossil resources in the transport sector, together with other renewable energy solutions. 

    There are four main biomass-to-products-routes identified for the Centre: 

    • Breaking down the biomass to separate the sugars in the biomass for use in fermentation to produce "Bio-alcohols". This can be blended up to certain levels into existing fuels. 
    • Fermentation of the biomass in the absence of oxygen to produce "Biogas". This Biogas can be upgraded to methane, liquified or converted to hydrogen for use as fuels in transport. 
    • Treatment of the biomass at higher temperatures in the absence of oxygen to produce a liquid "Biooil", which is then upgraded to a substitute Biofuel.
    • Treatment of the biomass at higher temperatures to convert to gas, followed by upgrading of the gas to a substitute Biofuel. 

    In addition to the main routes from biomass to Biofuels, it is also important to convert side streams and byproducts from the processes to products of higher value than fuels. This can be important to help the overall economics of the commercial process. 

    In addition to the research on the processes, Bio4fuels has a significant activity focused on issues related to the sustainability and economics related to the production of biofuels: 

    • Improving the technologies and economics of processes for converting Biomass to Biofuel. 
    • Investigating the sustainability and impact of large-scale use of low-grade Biomass for Biofuels production.
    • Evaluating process concepts and testing the quality of the Biofuels for existing engines.

    The research Centre is organized into five Sub Projects (SP):

    • SP1: Bio-resource, Environment and Climate
    • SP2: Liquefaction Processes
    • SP3: Biochemical Processes
    • SP4: Gasification Processes
    • SP5: Process design and End Use

Timeline

07 Mar 2024

What does it take to meet the Government's Climate Action Plan ("Grønn bok")

Webinar

15 Feb 2024

CO2 Valorization Using Gas Fermentation Processes

Webinar

23 Nov 2023

Climate Friendly Energy in the Norwegian Armed Forces and Norwegian Contruction Site Engines

Webinar

15 Nov 2023

Bio4Fuels Days 2023 15 - 16 November

Annual Meeting

15 Sept 2023

Updates on anaerobic digestion - Perspective from the United States

Open webinar

24 Aug 2023

Advanced Biofuels and the EU Directive

Open webinar

15 Jun 2023

Novel applications of anaerobic digestion processes

Open webinar 

14 Jun 2023

Status meeting

All partners in the Bio4Fuels Centre are invited to three status meetings per year. The meeting was in Teams, and you may download the presentations from the program below.

22 May 2023

WS29: Opportunities of bioenergy and biofuels in developing economies

e-Workshop organized by IEA Bioenergy, in collaboration with UNIDO

27 Apr 2023

Sustainable Aviation Fuelsvia

Open webinar

10 Feb 2023

Forest Resources

Open webinar

2023

Wp2 primo 2023 - ultimo 2024

Enzymatic processing

24 Feb 2022

Ramesh Timsina defended his thesis

 «Modelling and simulations of bubbling fluidized bed and entrained flow biomass gasification reactors»

16 Nov 2022

Bio4Fuels Days 2022

2022

WP 1 primo 2022 - ultimo 2023

Sustainable harvesting of biomass

01 Jan 2017

Bio4fuels established

First centre board meeting

Contact the Centre

Duncan Akporiaye, Sintef

Duncan Akporiaye

SINTEF

Project manager