Description du projet :
Statistic figures for mobility and traffic in 2018 show that cars and leisure activities prevail in passenger transportation. The car is the most common transport means with an average of 10'370 km per year. Each Swiss citizen consumes on average 700 L of fossil fuels yearly and transport accounts for 39% of CO2 emissions of Switzerland. To reduce these emissions, sustainable biofuels are required. Fossil fuels are already blended with biodiesel or bioethanol from renewable resources, but this corresponds to only 3% of total fuel consumption. Furthermore, biofuels production is currently in competition with food sources.
Although electro-mobility is emerging, there are still more than 6 million petrol/diesel vehicles in operation in Switzerland - there is an evolution, but not a revolution in the vehicle population. To this end, solutions for sustainable fuels needs to be developed rapidly, which a) can be integrated into the existing infrastructure, b) are CO2-neutral and c) do not compete with food supply.
This is where this project comes in: many bacteria naturally accumulate polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) in presence of carbon substrate when another nutrient (nitrogen or phosphorus) is limiting growth. We established a bioprocess with microorganisms that are able to produce PHA with up to 80% in the biomass from CO2. We further chemically convert PHA to various biofuel derivatives (yields >90%, scale >100 g). By our approach of depolymerization and/or hydrogenation (from H2 from solar water splitting) we produced biofuels not competing with food & feed sources. The ecologic potential of our new PHA-based biofuel was assessed by a life cycle assessment (LCA) and compared to alternative and existing competing technologies. Test of the new PHA-based biofuels in an engine test bench unveiled the potential of this novel and innovative biofuel production chain. A patent application is pending.
Research team within HES-SO:
Pott Julien
, Micaux Fabrice
, Zinn Manfred
, Pilloud Vincent
, Dardano Florian
, Miserez Florian
, Albergati Luce
, Nellen Christian
, Alber Bastien
, Monney Nils
, Maruel Frédéric
, Sthioul Hervé
, Richard Jacques
, Hanik Nils
, Utsunomia Camila
, Amstutz Véronique
, Marti Roger
Partenaires académiques: HES-SO Rectorat; VS - Institut Sciences du vivant; hepia inSTI; FR - EIA - Institut ChemTech; Marti Roger, FR - EIA - Institut ChemTech
Durée du projet:
01.04.2019 - 30.09.2021
Montant global du projet: 270'000 CHF
Statut: Completed
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