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| Research aims to develop diesel miscible biofuels | |
30 October 2009 |
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The European Union is funding research to develop new technologies for the sustainable production of diesel miscible biofuels (DMB) from waste in Europe and Latin America. The Dibanet project (Development of Integrated Biomass Approaches Network) is a €3.73 million scheme to transform organic residues from biofuel production processes into a renewable biofuel that can reduce reliance on fossil diesel imports. A particular benefit of the research is that the project will focus on using residues that do not require dedicated land, and thus avoid any “fuel versus food” conflicts. The 42-month project, co-ordinated by the University of Limerick in Ireland, includes partners from Europe (Denmark, Greece, Hungary, Ireland and UK) and South America (Brazil, Argentina and Chile). Professor Tony Bridgwater will be leading the UK input into the project from the Bioenergy Research Group at Aston University in Birmingham. He said: “We want to create a sustainable biofuel, which meets industry regulations, is capable of being mixed with fossil diesel and can be used in a regular diesel engine. First generation biofuels made from foodstuffs such as sugar, corn and wheat have low yields and compete with traditional food. “This project is based on second generation products from whole biomass with higher yields and which do not compete with food. In particular we will be processing the residues from these processes which will further improve performance and minimise waste disposal. "We want to bring together a global network of experts and researchers, who are able to build upon existing biofuel technologies. This will help to pave the way for large scale biofuel production by 2020, in a way that doesn’t impact on land usage and similarly helps solves the problems of growing amounts of organic waste.” The scheme also aims to strengthen research collaboration between Europe and Latin America, with PhD and post doctoral researchers undertaking biofuel production. It is being funded under the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme.
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