CoLAB BIOREF leads project to reduce Europe's dependence on natural gas

The Collaborative Laboratory for Biorefineries(CoLAB BIOREF) will lead a European consortium, the "HyFuelUp - Hybrid biomethane production from integrated biomass conversion", which seeks to develop a technology for producing renewable natural gas from waste, including forestry waste, aiming to reduce European dependence on natural gas. The project is funded by the Horizon Europe program and represents an investment of 10.2 million euros.

Besides CoLAB BIOREF, six public and private entities from Germany, Spain, Greece, United Kingdom and Switzerland are part of the consortium, as well as four other Portuguese entities, namely the National Laboratory of Energy and Geology (LNEG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP) and the companies Dourogás Renovável and Circlemolecule.

The installation of this innovative technology will be in Tondela, in the district of Viseu, and will produce a gas that is "in everything equivalent to natural gas, but has a renewable origin", in the words of Gonçalo Lourinho, coordinator of BIOREF. Francisco Gírio, Chairman of the Board of Directors of CoLAB BIOREF, stresses that "the construction of this biorefinery in Portugal will bring a strong impact on the development of the renewable gas industry in Europe," responding to the sectors of transport and mobility and allowing the saving of greenhouse gas emissions.

The BIOREF CoLAB was created in 2019, focusing on research and innovation in biorefinery technologies. Like the other Collaborative Laboratories, or CoLABs, its constitution sought to respond to the need for collaboration between science, technology and higher education institutions and the economic and social fabric, allowing to create, directly and indirectly, qualified employment and scientific employment in Portugal through the definition and implementation of research and innovation agendas aimed at creating economic and social value; in the case of BIOREF, the response to these needs is based on the promotion of bioeconomy and bioenergy, as key vectors for decarbonization and sustainable use of resources.

The CoLABs are technological interface centers of the national scientific and technological system supported by the FCT and must be composed of at least one company and one R&D unit of an FCT-funded higher education institution. CoLAB status is awarded through an application submitted to the FCT. Applications are evaluated by an independent panel made up of experts of recognized international merit and appointed by the Foundation's Board of Directors. After the attribution of the title, the CoLABs will be promoted, monitored and followed by the National Innovation Agency (ANI).

The BIOREF CoLAB press release about this project, which contains more information, is available here.