Posts in category: Interviews

In this interview, we discuss the role of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in the ALIGNED project, which focuses on promoting sustainable practices in the bio-based chemical sector within the European Union (EU). NTNU has been key in developing tutorials for modeling life cycle databases and gathering data to map the bio-based chemical industry in Europe.

What is the role of NTNU in the ALIGNED project?

A: In the first half of the project, NTNU focused on two main tasks:

1) Compilation of tiered tutorials for modelling prospective background life cycle databases (Task 1.1 from WP1: Shared modelling framework and learning), developed by Marcos Watanabe and Francesco Cherubini. This was presented in the 2nd LCA Methodology Workshop , organized by our BTG partners.

2) Collection of data for an overview of the bio-based chemical sector in the European Union (EU) (Task 6.2 from WP6: Bio-based chemical sector). We created a roadmap detailing trends, environmental and socioeconomic aspects, common processes, feedstocks, production pathways, and existing EU strategies targeting the chemical sector. I presented this overview at the “Environmental sustainability in the biochemicals sector” workshop organized by BTG, and at the 11th International Conference on Life Cycle Management (LCM2023). This overview was further expanded to explore the challenges and opportunities in transitioning from a fossil-based sector to a bio-based one, particularly in reducing climate change, toxicity, and pollution impacts, while enhancing circularity. This resulted in a scientific publication that includes contributions from our BTG, A4F and AAU partners.

Now, in the second half of the project, the project partners will apply the tutorials for prospective background databases in their respective case studies with the industrial partners, while NTNU will continue refining these tools for better implementation. As for WP6, I’m working on the potentials for a sustainable expansion of bio-based chemicals in the EU, considering current EU production of chemicals and plastics, and the biomass availability. Preliminary assessments on replacing fossil polymers with bio-based alternatives have been performed and were presented SETAC 2024 .

How do you plan to conduct the data collection, modelling and assessment of this sector? What are the main challenges?

A: For the assessment of sustainable expansion of bio-based chemicals in the EU, we are using EU datasets to understand the currently volume of produced chemicals, and with literature data for country specific biomass availability and bio-based alternatives for the most produced chemicals and polymers.

The first major challenge in this assessment is biomass availability. Replacing all (or most of) the chemicals and polymers with bio-based alternatives would require a great amount of biomass, which is not currently available or produced. To avoid land use conversion and competition, our focus is on utilizing residue biomass (e.g., agriculture and forest residues, food wastes, among others).

A second challenge is that being bio-based does not automatically result in environmental advantages over fossil-based alternatives. It is key to identify the most environmentally concerning fossil-based chemicals and polymers, so we can target and prioritize bio-based options that offer significant benefits, such as lower climate change impacts, reduced toxicity, and improved degradability and recyclability.

Another challenge is the maturity level of these bio-based alternatives. Most are still at early stages of production, making it difficult to fairly compare their low TRL performance with fossil-based options that have been optimized over decade. To address this challenge, we apply a combined framework integrating ex-ante and prospective LCA. This stage of the assessment will benefit from the prospective background datasets developed by NTNU during the first part of the project.

In this interview with Mr. Jean-Luc Derycke, representing Utexbel, we explore Utexbel’s specific role within the ALIGNED project. Utexbel is at the forefront of this initiative, aiming to realize circular textile products, including yarns and fabrics, with an environmental impact comparable to their virgin material counterparts.

What specific role does Utexbel play within the ALIGNED project?

A: The role of Utexbel in the Aligned project is the realization of a circular textile product (yarns and fabrics), of which the environmental impact can be compared to equivalent products made of virgin material, based on the knowledge acquired during the Aligned project. Utexbel has for the moment a range of circular yarns and fabrics based on recycled cotton and Polyester/Cotton fibres. The fibres come from various sources: industrial waste, pre-consumer waste, and post-consumer textile waste.

Could you elaborate on the strategy for identifying and implementing solutions in the textile sector as part of the ALIGNED project? What are the primary obstacles or challenges encountered in this process?

A: The most important challenge is to find a suitable end-use for the circular product. For the moment, circular textile products are more expensive than textile products made of virgin fibres. The main reason is that many conventional textile products are produced in low-wage countries and imported in the EU. On the other hand, circular products are produced locally, i.e. in countries with higher wages, as we want a short supply line.

A second challenge for circular products is the lifetime of the textile material. If your customer expects that a garment can be washed for at least 100 times, it makes no sense to create a circular version that only lasts for 20 washing cycles. This is not a sustainable solution. It is important to know the expectations of the end customer to adapt your material choices in relation to the expected lifetime of the end product.

A third challenge for circular products is the homogeneity of the input material. If you want to get mechanically shredded fibers with a spinnable quality level, the input batch should be homogeneous in colour, composition, construction and origin. By construction, we mean knitwear or woven fabrics. By origin, we mean post or pre-consumer or industrial waste. Only in that case, a shredder can set up his machines in an optimal way to get the best possible fiber distribution and removal of external parts enabling good spinnability in the spinning mill.

To enable industrial processing, homogeneous batches should be at least 10 tons of usable textile material.

Besides the industrial feasibility, traceability is also a very important issue, as you need to prove the circular content of a circular article. Identification of batches and input materials is mandatory.

There is also an administrative burden concerning circular products, as, for the moment, there is no clear European regulation concerning the definition of textile waste and textile material that can be reused in the supply chain. In Belgium e.g. we have to rely on regional regulations, which are very stringent. Only a few cases of circular textile products are available, and the administrations don’t know how to deal with the issue: when does old textile material, considered as waste, become a reusable raw material? I hope the future will bring us a sustainable and practical solution. Finally, I can say that the development of circular products is a discovery at each stage and for each project. A lot of issues, on the technical, economic and administrative level have to be settled. We are only at the start of a great adventure!

Jean-Luc Derycke

Utexbel

Oleon, an oleochemicals company, plays a crucial role in representing the biochemicals sector within the ALIGNED project. In this interview featuring Adrien Karolak, we will explore Oleon’s specific role, with a primary emphasis on their selected case study concerning the production of acid dimers derived from plant-based fatty acids.

What is the role of OLEON in the ALIGNED project?

Oleon is an Oleochemicals company, and we are involved in the ALIGNED project as an industrial partner representing the biochemicals sector. Within this framework, our role is to provide a case study representative of our activities. We have chosen to work on acid dimers produced from plant-based fatty acids. This case study plays an essential role in the development of the ALIGNED project.  Its aim is to provide information that will enable our academic partners to develop their models and tools. Ultimately, this will enable high-quality evaluation studies to be carried out in the bio-based sectors, with industrial relevance and interoperability.

How do you plan to conduct the identification and demonstration of solutions in the chemical sector? What are the main challenges?

The first step is to carry out a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the case study we have chosen to work on. LCA is a very good analysis tool that will allow us to identify the major environmental impacts of our product and its location in its life cycle. Our experience in LCA developed prior to the Aligned project, has already enabled us to identify them. The next step will be to focus on the solutions to be put in place to reduce the environmental impact of this product. To do this, we are fortunate to be surrounded by skilled teams who are contributing their knowledge and expertise to our project. The role of our academic partners is also essential, with BTG and NTNU bringing a fresh outside perspective to our manufacturing and raw materials processes. And they are in a better position to make innovative proposals on the subject. Of course, developing a project of this scale comes with its share of challenges, as its objectives go beyond our usual working framework. For example, we want to carry out a complete environmental assessment of our product, its application, and its end-of-life (cradle to grave). This poses several difficulties, as Oleon is an intermediate player in the value chain. We collect a lot of information on the upstream part of our value chain, but little on the downstream part. So, we can carry out cradle-to-grave LCAs. We supply raw materials to our customers, who then transform them before they reach the end consumer. To carry out a cradle-to-grave LCA, we therefore need to include other stakeholders.  In the bio-based chemicals sector, most of the environmental impact of products is due to the production of raw materials. If we want to effectively increase the sustainability of our products, it is essential that we also work on upstream agriculture. This means including our suppliers and studying the eco-design proposals for their production.

In our interview with Laura Monteiro from AlgaeForFuture, a key partner in the ALIGNED Project, we dive into their role in advancing sustainability within the Blue Bio-based industry. A4F focuses on implementing advanced Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methods to evaluate the environmental performance of large-scale industrial microalgae cultivation and biorefinery. This pioneering work aims to shape the future of sustainability standards and practices in this emerging industry.

What is the role of A4F in the ALIGNED project?

A4F leads WP9, dedicated to the Blue Bio-based industry. Our goal is to apply and evaluate the performance of the advanced LCA methods developed within the project, in a real-world case study of industrial microalgae cultivation and biorefinery. In the ALIGNED project, A4F aims to better assess the environmental performance of this emerging industry in Europe, particularly on what concerns water and energy use, but also the effective CO2 uptake by the microalgae. These are critical aspects for this industry to thrive, so it is very important to develop robust assessment methodologies. Also, A4F will identify improvement measures that are suitable at the industrial scale and provide guidelines that can be uptaken by other companies for the sustainable development of the microalgae industry.

Could you elaborate on how A4F intends to apply the advanced LCA methods developed within the project to analyze the performance and value addition in a real-world case study of the blue biobased industry?

A4F is implementing the largest microalgae production facility in the EU, which includes also a biorefinery. The sustainability assessment studies that exist usually refer to small pilot to demonstration facilities. The use of the advanced LCA methods to the industrial facilities of microalgae cultivation and biorefinery will allow to creation of breakthrough knowledge on microalgae sustainability assessment. A4F will use the advanced LCA methods to assess the industrial processes and depict environmental hotspots that will be optimized, within the project lifetime, to improve the environmental performance of the system. The lessons learned will be extrapolated and will allow to improve the performance of future microalgae facilities developed by A4F and others.

Because the microalgae sector is a new and small sector, there are no specific sustainability standards or policies for this industry. However, the need to create standards and knowledge on sustainability assessment of microalgae cultivation and processing is key to improving the ongoing debate on CCU/CCS and the potential role of microalgae on the carbon credits market, as well as to demonstrating the advantages of using microalgae feedstocks in alternative to conventional plant-based feedstocks.