Fuel from biomass: a new experimental centre opens in Tuscany

Economy & innovation · Lorenzo Brenna · 2018-01-30

On 23 January a new area dedicated to studying the conversion of biomass into combustible products was inaugurated in Tuscany.

The current climate crisis, closely linked to the reckless exploitation of fossil fuels, demands the use of less impactful fuels of organic origin. It is precisely to produce biofuels and obtain energy from biomass that a new experimental area dedicated to studying the conversion of biomass into combustible products has been established in Tuscany.

Impianto per la produzione di biogas — Biomass that can be exploited for energy purposes includes any material of organic origin (with a few minor exceptions) that can be used directly as a fuel or that lends itself to being converted into fuel in solid, liquid or gaseous form © Ingimage

Renewable research

The facility, located in Scarperia, among the hills of the Mugello and inaugurated on 23 January, was created by the research consortium Re-cord (Renewable energy consortium for research and demonstration), a mixed public-private non-profit research body founded and participated in by the University of Florence. Re-cord's objective is to carry out research into renewable energy, and in particular into bioenergy and biofuels.

New life for waste

The new area is to be added to Re-cord's k182 laboratory and enriches the consortium's facilities, which already include an innovative small-scale gasifier, a pilot pyrolyser and numerous microturbines powered by liquid fuels of biological origin such as pure vegetable oil, pyrolysis oil, biodiesel and bioethanol. Among Re-cord's areas of research is one linked to the reuse of agro-industrial waste to produce biogas, for example whey.

Campo di mais al tramonto — Re-cord is also active in research in the biopolymers sector, including the cardoon supply chain and the valorisation of lignin © Ingimage

The precariousness of research

The pioneering Re-Cord project was built thanks to fixed-term researchers. This aspect was dwelt upon by the minister for simplification and public administration, Marianna Madia, who was present at the inauguration of the new Tuscan experimental area. "I am sorry to learn that many precarious researchers work here too," said the minister, "I have tried to resolve this situation in the public administration by issuing circulars through which, over the next three years, there should no longer be any precarious state employees."

Campo desertificato — Circularity and the reuse of waste materials represent, according to Re-cord, one of the possible strategies for
combating climate change in agriculture in the Mediterranean area, particularly in those
regions at risk of desertification © Ingimage

Re-Cord against climate change

Re-cord dedicates itself to numerous areas of research with a single common thread: the production of energy and fuels of organic origin. It specialises in particular in the field of pyrolysis, a process of thermochemical decomposition of organic materials, and of hydrothermal conversion (carbonisation and liquefaction). The processing of agricultural waste and residues would foster rural development and the circular economy, also representing a possible strategy for combating climate change in agriculture in the Mediterranean area.