CoLAB BIOREF leads project to reduce European dependence on natural gas

The Collaborative Laboratory for Biorefineries ( CoLAB BIOREF ) will lead a European consortium, “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 Europe's dependence on natural gas. The project is funded by the Horizon Europe programme and represents an investment of 10.2 million euros.

In addition to CoLAB BIOREF, the consortium includes six public and private entities from Germany, Spain, Greece, the United Kingdom and Switzerland, and four other Portuguese entities, specifically the National Energy and Geology Laboratory (LNEG), the Polytechnic Institute of Portalegre (IPP) and the companies Dourogás Renovável and Circlemolecule.

This innovative technology will be installed in Tondela, in the district of Viseu, and will allow the production of a gas that is “equivalent in every way 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, highlights that “the construction of this biorefinery in Portugal will have a strong impact on the development of the renewable gases industry in Europe”, responding to the transport and mobility sectors and enabling savings in greenhouse gas emissions.

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

CoLABs are technological interface centers of the national scientific and technological system supported by the FCT, and must be constituted by at least one company and one R&D unit of a higher education institution, financed by the FCT. The CoLAB status is granted through an application submitted to the FCT, with the applications being assessed by an independent panel, composed of experts of recognized international merit and appointed by the Foundation's Board of Directors. After the title is granted, CoLABs are promoted, monitored and accompanied by the National Innovation Agency (ANI).

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