How can biomass be used sustainably?
Biomass, such as plant waste, offers an enormous potential as a green alternative for fossil fuels for example for the aviation and shipping industry and freight transport. It also serves well as raw material for the chemical and materials industry. The biomass as such is, however, not always ready to use and it is only truly sustainable when it is not in competition with the production of food.
The use of green (bio-based) raw materials for the chemical, materials and energy industry can only be sustainable if there is a good balance between ecological, humanitarian and economic goals. Biotechnology can help to apply non edible plant waste effectively as a basis for biofuels.
How is TU Delft contributing?Making raw materials availableTo be able to use biomass, such as plant waste, as a green raw material, micro-organisms need to be able to digest the energy sources (sugars) present in the material. These organisms are not always able to do that naturally. Research is aimed at adapting the properties of these organisms, such as baker's yeast, in such a way that they will also be able to digest sugars that do not come naturally to them. From nutrient to final productTo be able to apply micro-organisms as 'live factories', it is essential to meticulously design, regulate and optimise the entire production process from nutrient to final product. Only then a small number of nutrients can be turned into a broad range of bioproducts. For example biofuels such as bioethanol and biobutanol, biochemicals and biomaterials, such as bioplastics. To enable the implementation of the production process, researchers look into how it can be upscaled from the lab to an industrial environment. Waste as raw materialSoil and water contamination are often caused by the accumulation of non degradable fossil materials. Research is conducted into the process micro-organisms apply to turn this waste into valuable products, such as bioplastics, that are biodegradable. Another area of study focuses on how micro-organisms can use waste streams to strenghten the soil, for example in dikes or foundations. |
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Contact and links
- For more information about the research please contact the Delft Energy Initiative
- B-Basic consortium (biobased production concepts for the chemical and energy industry)
- Kluyver Centre for Genomics and Industrial Fermentation
