CoLAB BIOREF leads project to reduce Europe's 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, with the aim of reducing Europe's dependence on natural gas. The project is funded by the Horizon Europe program 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, namely the National Energy and Geology Laboratory (LNEG), the Portalegre Polytechnic Institute (IPP) and the companies Dourogás Renovável and Circlemolecule.

This innovative technology will be installed in Tondela, in the district of Viseu, and will make it possible to produce a gas that is "in every way 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 have a strong impact on the development of the renewable gas industry in Europe", responding to the transport and mobility sectors and allowing greenhouse gas emissions to be saved.

The BIOREF CoLAB was created in 2019, focusing on research and innovation in biorefinery technologies. Like the 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, making it possible 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 stems from the promotion of the bioeconomy and bioenergy, as fundamental vectors for decarbonization and sustainable use of resources.

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

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