Report

Business with biomass and biobased gas

Under the guidance of CE Delft and in collaboration with government agencies, sustainability frontrunners DSM, AkzoNobel Specialty Chemicals, FrieslandCampina, Cosun, Gasunie, Rotterdam Port Authority, Groen Gas Nederland, ECN and Energy Academy Europe have taken a look at how biomass can best be put to industrial use. The main conclusion is that an incentive framework geared to CO2 emission reduction via both feedstocks and energy leads to the best business cases when it comes to value creation with biomass streams.

Multiple value creation with biomass: feedstocks and energy in a single process
Intelligent use of sustainable biomass is one of the key pillars of a climate-neutral, circular economy. Sustainable biomass is available in only limited quantities, certainly in a small country like the Netherlands. In the view of the participating companies it is therefore crucial to aim for multiple value creation with biomass streams. They see opportunities for innovative technologies like bio-refining, waste-to-chemicals, gasification and mineral recovery from animal manure. Multiple value creation is rooted in the cascading principle: first high-value raw materials like minerals, proteins and fibres are extracted from the biomass, with renewable, green gas being produced in the process. As this gas contains renewable hydrocarbons, these can also be used as feedstocks for other sustainable materials. In addition, waste and biomass can be used directly to produce new raw materials and products. Both routes thus achieve CO2 emissions reduction.

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