Budget: €4 million, of which €2.4 million is funded by the European Union - INTERREG North West Europe

Objective:

Every year, 37 million tons of residual biomass are underutilized in North-West Europe (NWE), which corresponds to a potential of 30 million tons of CO2 emissions avoided, or 2.5% of NWE's CO2 emissions. Previous projects have shown that much of this biomass can be recovered and valorized to replace peat or fossil coal and create value chains with a negative carbon footprint. However, comprehensive approaches to biomass management are lacking for implementation in these regions.

This project will fill this gap by introducing circular biomass management systems in seven pilot regions via biomass valorization pathways into biochar and will create seven application scenarios that can be transferred to other regions.

As part of a transnational collaboration, a partnership of public entities, scientific institutes, and private/non-governmental R&D organizations will work on the circular design and valorization pathways for biomass:

In the first phase, biomass valorization pathways will be introduced, managed, and optimized, taking into account input variability, collection optimization, and transformation and conversion in the pilot regions at the urban and rural scales.

In a second step, regional pilot projects will be quality-checked and improved throughout a Plan-Do-Check-Act process based on technological, ecological, economic, and social criteria.

In a third step, a capacity-building program will be designed and implemented to deploy bio-based transformation pathways in these regions. A center of excellence and TechLab CASCADE will guarantee quality and offer training and development activities, roadshows, and a hybrid exhibition on bio-based products, services, and systems

Expected results:

• Successful implementation of carbon management systems in seven pilot regions, which will serve as a model for other European regions.
• Reduction of CO2 emissions through the creation of circular and CO2-neutral biomass-to-biochar transformation processes.
• Establishment of a capacity-building program, a center of excellence, and a TechLab to support ongoing training, development, and dissemination of project methodologies.
• Development of transferable application scenarios to facilitate the large-scale deployment of these systems across Europe.

Partners:

• Germany: University of Kassel (lead partner), blended learning institutions' cooperative,
• Belgium: Pro Natura operating as KiemKracht since January 3, 2023,
• Ireland: Irish Bioenergy Association,
• Netherlands: Municipality of Enschede,
• Luxembourg: Council for Economic Development in Construction

UniLaSalle contact: Lydia FRYDA

See the project's webpage

See the Website 

Biological risk assessments and optimization of indoor air treatment processes in air conditioning systems in the food industry.

Objective

To test/develop a process combining photocatalysis and cold plasma for treating indoor air pollution in the food industry, assess health risks, and acquire knowledge about degradation mechanisms.

Partners

ISCR (CIP-ENSCR), IRSET (LERES), Pôle Cristal

UniLaSalle contact: Abdoulaye Kane

Recycling biomass boiler ash to develop composite materials for civil engineering.

Objective

To promote the development of the circular economy in the construction sector through the implementation of a workshop dedicated to developing criteria and indicators that will serve as a scientific basis for its characterization. The research will focus more specifically on the integration into construction projects of materials or products from short supply chains or from a material cycle extension approach.

Partners

Project leader: LGCgE – IUT Béthune, Partner: UniLaSalle-EME, UMONS – Materials Sciences, Biallais Industries, Dalkia Nord Ouest – Bois Energie, CERIB, B2E, Cd2e.

UniLaSalle-EME: coordinator of a work package, Hayet Djelal (72%), Karine Dufossé (14%), Thierry Henrion (7%) Vincent Augiseau (7%)

UniLaSalle contact: hayet.djelal@unilasalle.fr

BIMGC project news

Project featured in Sustainability Magazine:

Karine Dufosse, Marine MARIE-CHARLOTTE, Vincent Augiseau, Thierry Henrion and Hayet DJELAL (2022) co-authored this article: Quantification and environmental assessment of wood ash from biomass power plants: a case study from the Brittany region in France, Sustainability

The BIMGC project is part of a wider initiative to promote the use of fly ash, a by-product of biomass heating systems. The construction industry has been selected for this project, which involves adding fly ash to concrete and/or using it as a substitute for cement. This study was made possible by a consortium comprising:

*Laboratoire de Génie Civil et géoEnvironnement - LGCgE,

* L'IUT de Béthune (62),

* The Cyclann research platform at UniLaSalle Rennes,

* the Materials Science Department of the Faculté Polytechnique de Mons - UMONS (Belgium),

* the CERIB (Centre for Studies and Research in the Concrete Industry) (28),

* Biallais Industries (62), a manufacturer of concrete blocks, and

* Dalkia Aegis, EDF Group Bois Energie Nord-Ouest (59).

The study is continuing with the BIOGRAFIC project (Valorisation of biomass ash as aggregates and fillers in construction blocks) with the same consortium and still supported by ADEME, ADEME Graine Project (2021-2023).