Mobile plant produces fuel from waste wood

TWELVE research groups from seven countries have developed a sustainable method for producing biofuel from wood waste. The process takes place in a mobile unit which has the potential to decentralize fuel production. Wood waste and tree bark are ideal raw materials as they don’t need to be specially cultivated and don’t compete with food production. Wood waste is also available in large quantities, for example in Germany around 12m t/y is available, compared to a gasoline consumption of 16m t/y. When it is combusted, it only releases the CO2 that was absorbed by the trees as they grew, making it carbon neutral. The aim of the EU-funded project BOGO was to develop a biomass-to-liquid plant capable of producing sustainable synthetic fuel. The plant is transportable and has a modular infrastructure that contains catalytic reactors for each process step.