CERESiS: ContaminatEd land Remediation through Energy crops for Soil improvement to liquid biofuel Strategies
Making sustainable biofuels on formerly contaminated land
CERESiS key messages
Biomass-based feedstocks and conversion technologies are available to meet the bioenergy needs in a sustainable manner
Remediation of large, contaminated areas can lead to the production of sustainable, high quality and high value fuels, including jet-fuels
An evidence-based approach is needed to ensure biofuel sustainability
The energy valorization of contaminated biomass through eco-friendly processes contributes to the economic sustainability of soil phytoremediation
Energy crops can be a suitable and effective solution for contaminated land remediation, exhibit high mass productivity and lead to biofuel production when coupled with appropriate conversion processes
An evidence-based approach is needed to create an operative link between the technical-scientific protocols and the regulatory and financial tools for contaminated soil management
Methodology
Pillar 1: Phytoremediation
Identify a range of promising energy crops, focusing on key contaminants worldwide.
They will be trialed in North, South, Eastern Europe and Brazil
Pillar 2: Technology
Optimize two clean biofuel conversion technologies, Supercritical Water Gasification & Fast Pyrolysis
Pillar 3: Decision Support
Develop an open access, modular and expandable Decision Support System able to identify optimal solutions for each application
Methodology
The concept proposed in CERESiS is to combine contaminated land characteristics
The Project
Objectives
- Demonstrate the suitability and effectiveness of various conventional and novel species of energy crops for phytoremediation purposes in contaminated land, against a variety of the most common contaminants globally
- Demonstrate the potential of two novel thermochemical processes, i.e. Supercritical Water Gasification (SCWG) and Fast Pyrolysis (FP), for the production of biofuels and key biofuel precursors suitable for further upgrading, from contaminated biomass
- Provide decision support to stakeholders and policy makers in order to achieve optimal win-win solutions for site-specific land decontamination through phytoremediation while simultaneously producing clean liquid biofuels.
CERESiS Value Chain and Stakeholders
The CERESiS proposed solutions span across the whole energy crops phytoremediation to biofuel value chain as illustrated in this figure. The figure shows the future CERESiS proposed value chain, matches the related existing or future stakeholders to each of the value chain stages, and links them with the exploitable results of CERESiS.
There are opportunities for a range of existing stakeholders, as well as newcomers, such as start-ups, to be engaged in the emerging value chain. The CERESiS consortium and associated External Advisory Board is designed to involve all relevant key players in the value chain: They include phytoremediation/energy crops cultivation, conversion technology and contaminant separation, upgrade of biofuel precursors, experts in sustainability assessment, Decision Support Systems experts and developers, as well as representatives of potential end users of biofuel and the phytoremediation strategies and the DSS developed, including policy makers/ regulators and local authorities.
Output
The development of a decision support system for stakeholders and policy makers that will take into consideration all the critical parameters affecting the best choice of energy crops, the most appropriate cultivation and harvesting methods, conversion and separation technologies and supply chain design, to propose optimal pathways for each individual case of site, area, region or country. It will form an expandable, modular, open access platform and will be able to incorporate parametric data about any site worldwide for stakeholders wishing to produce biofuels while decontaminating land.
CERESiS Use Cases
Use Case #1
Brazil
Large agricultural areas with Cr contamination from tanneries waste used as fertilizers for many years.
Use Case #2
Italy
Agricultural farm area in Viterbo contaminated with As from historical use of pesticides.
Use Case #3
UK
Non-agricultural landbanks, including brownfield sites, former landfills and mining sites, such as Pb-Zn mines.
Use Case #4
Ukraine
Heavy metals contamination at tailing sites of ilmenite sand mines, located within Zhytomyr region.
News & Events
CERESiS Final Event – Final Agenda and Concept Note
CERESiS is coming to an end and the final event will be held in Thessaloniki, Greece, to discuss the
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