LIFE

& Bioenergy

The EU LIFE Programme

The LIFE programme is the EUs funding instrument for the environment and climate action. Since 1992 it has co-financed
pilot and demonstration projects that contribute to the implementation and development of EU environment policy and
legislation.
LIFE projects have developed and demonstrated new technologies and methodologies to exploit renewable energy sources.
The latter facilitates the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and demonstrates ways of reducing the EUs dependence on imported energy. Of the many energy-related projects supported by LIFE to date, some 80 projects exclusively deal with bioenergy in order to replace
fossil fuels with sustainable biofuels or bioliquids.
The LIFE programme has supported a wide range of biogas-related projects that demonstrate innovative anaerobic digestion and gasification techniques to produce biogas from biodegradable waste e.g. municipal solid waste, manure and slurry to produce heat and power.
Furthermore, LIFE has backed projects which develop pioneer technologies for biomethane production either for injection into a natural
gas pipeline or for usage as a fuel for vehicles. Some projects have also dealt with state of the art techniques for the capture and use of
methane from landfills to generate heat and electricity. The programme also supported sustainably-harvested biomass from Natura 2000
sites or abandoned agricultural and industrial sites to generate heat and electricity. Other projects produced high-quality pellets from the
sustainable use of logging residues. Finally, LIFE currently supports projects on the development strategies of third-generation biofuels, in
order to investigate various algal cultivation methods and their potential application in biofuel refineries.
Two successful LIFE projects are profiled below, followed by a list of 14 other notable projects. Further details about these, plus more than
60 other projects on bioenergy, can be found in the LIFE project database: ec.europa.eu/environment/life/project/Projects/

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Title: SMARt-CHP - Demonstration of a small-scale

mobile agricultural residue gasification unit for
decentralized combined heat and power production

Title: Sludges Wealth - Ennobling of sludge for

energy use and industrial

Project number: LIFE08 ENV/GR/000576

Beneficiary: COOMI SOC.COOP. (SMEs enterprise)

Beneficiary: Research Committee Aristotle

University of Thessaloniki (University)

Email: d.marangoni@coomi.it

Project number: LIFE09 ENV/IT/000186

Website: www.coomi.it/life.html

Email: jimmer@auth.gr

SMARt-CHP

Sludges Wealth

The SMARt-CHP project demonstrated an innovative, small-scale, mobile

heat and power production unit which relies on the exploitation of agricultural residues, in rural areas. This unit promotes the concept of bioenergy
use via a decentralized electrical energy production unit - it operates close
to the place of feedstock origin thus minimising transportation and logistic
costs as well as weather uncertainties in the exploitation of biomass wastes.

The Sludges Wealth project successfully demonstrated a cost-effective and

efficient pilot treatment system for relatively small volumes of biological
sludge for offshore oil rigs and similar units that converts biological sludge
with 75% humidity into combustible pellets.

The mobile unit couples a gasifier with an internal combustion engine and
the generator is enclosed in a container with suitable dimensions for transportation. After the construction of the unit was completed, several biomass
residues (forest residues, tree crops, arable and energy crops and nut shells
and fruit kernels) were selected in order to test and demonstrate the new
technology.
The SMARt-CHP unit overall efficiency achieved was 48%, the net electrical efficiency 6% and the thermal efficiency 42%, considering as input the
calorific value of biomass (gasification process) plus the calorific value of
propane (cogeneration process gas combusts with propane) and as output
both the useful electrical and useful thermal energy produced.
SMARt-CHP as an integrated flexible technology has the potential to penetrate the electricity production market and further promote decentralized
energy generation which is likely to play a major role in the future.

A portable and small sized 12m-long pilot plant was constructed, based on
a hybrid microwave and hot air heating technology (the designed elements
include a system to level and convey the sludge into the process, a drying
tunnel, the position and number of microwave generators and the electromagnetic field distribution), in order to enhance the sludge and obtaining
agglomerates with high calorific value (having a maximum water content of
18%), leading to an increased use of biological sludge in combustion plants.
The project team built and assessed a fully operational prototype, which
achieved an annual conversion of 650 t of organic sludge with 75% humidity into sludge with 14%-18% of humidity through a highly efficient drying
system, enabling the generation of 280 t of pellets with high heating power
and easily transportable. It simultaneously ensured the elimination of unpleasant odours and the longer life of the systems components due to the
lack of abrasion in the process.

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The portability and small size of the plant makes it a very suitable and costeffective option for small towns and specific contexts, like on oil rigs.

Environment

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SELECTIVE LIST PROJECTS ON BIOENERGY

INTER-WASTE

GREEN PELLETS

Demonstration of an integrated waste-to-energy

system for energy generation from biodegradable
organic waste and wastewater

Best sustainable life-cycle fittings for mixed herbaceous

solid biofuels for heating to reduce GHG emissions

Beneficiary: Cyprus University of Technology (University)

www.interwaste.org/

Beneficiary: Association dInitiatives Locales pour

lEnergie et lEnvironnement (Development agency)
LIFE07 ENV/F/000178

LIFE08 ENV/CY/000457

BIOAGRO

PROGRASS

Innovative method for reduction of emissions of green

house gases and waste from the agriculture sector

Securing the Conservation of Natura Grassland Habitats

with a Distributed Bioenergy Production

Beneficiary: Sknefr Frvaltnings AB (SMEs enterprise)

Beneficiary: University of Kassel

LIFE06 ENV/S/000517

www.prograss.eu/

CHEFUB

Seq-Cure

Creative high efficient and effective use of biomass

Integrated systems to enhance sequestration of carbon,

producing energy crops by using organic residues

Beneficiary: BIOMASA, Association of Legal Entities

(NGO foundation)

www.biomasa.sk/en/

LIFE08 ENV/SK/000240

Beneficiary: Centro Ricerche Produzioni Animali - CRPA

S.p.A. (Research Institute)
www.crpa.it/nqcontent.
cfm?a_id=3995&lang=en

CO2ALGAEFIX

BlUe ConcEpt For A Low nutrient/carbOn System

regional aqua resource management

CO2 capture and bio-fixation through microalgal culture

Beneficiary: ALGAENERGY, S.A. (Research Institution)

LIFE10 ENV/ES/000496

LIFE11 ENV/SE/000839

BioReGen

BIOENERGY & FIRE PREV.

Biomass, remediation, re-generation: Re-using

brownfields sites for renewable energy crops

Contribution of forest biomass generated in the prevention of forest fires in the EU energy strategy

Beneficiary: University of Teesside

Beneficiary: Ayuntamiento de Enguera (Local authority)

www.bioregen.eu/

www.bioenergy-project.eu/

LIFE05 ENV/UK/000128

LIFE09 ENV/ES/000450

BIOGRID

BIOGASSYS

Biogas Injection into natural gas grid and use as vehicle fuel by upgrading it with a novel CO2 capture and
storage technology

Biogas Skne an energy system creating sustainable

development by combating climate change

Beneficiary: NATURGAS ENERGIA DISTRIBUCIN, S.A.

(Large enterprise)
LIFE07 ENV/E/000829

Beneficiary: Kommunfrbundet Skne (Public Enterprise)

http://kfsk.se/biogassys/

LIFE09 ENV/SE/000348

BIOCELL

CITROFUEL

Energy self-sustaining and environmental footprint

reduction on wastewater treatment plants via fuel cells

Demonstration project on a new process for secondgeneration bio fuel production: bio ethanol from citrus
flesh

Beneficiary: CETAQUA, Centro Tecnolgico del Agua

(Research Institution)
www.life-biocell.eu/

Factsheet-LIFE-Bioenergy.indd 2

LIFE06 ENV/IT/000266

BUCEFALOS
Beneficiary: Skne Regional Council (Regional authority)

European Union, 2015

LIFE07 ENV/D/000222

LIFE07 ENV/E/000847

Beneficiary: CITROTECNO (Professional organisation)

LIFE09 ENV/ES/000433

Visit the LIFE website:

ec.europa.eu/life

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