BEST – Bioenergy and Sustainable Technologies

A new test method for firewood stoves enables the practical evaluation of efficiency and emissions levels. In the future, manufacturers will be able to develop and optimise their devices even more effectively. Upon purchase, end customers will receive detailed information on emissions and efficiency levels during operation. In the long term, these project results could also be incorporated into the development of standards for firewood stoves.

Bioenergy 2020+ concludes a research project on "mixed alcohol synthesis" with an international consortium. In this project, a laboratory-scale pilot plant for the conversion of wood gas to alcohols was operated with real wood gas.  This resulted in a mixture of different alcohols used, above all, in the chemical industry or as fuel.

The research project "ModiSys Power" aims at the development and evaluation of a high-performance micro-CHP with thermogenerators for biomass boilers that can be installed or retrofitted with minor adjustments. Te+, BIOENERGY 2020+, the Institute of Experimental Physics of the JKU and the Energieinstitut an der JKU are working together on the design of a heating system consisting of a biomass boiler and thermoelectric generators/heat exchangers.

For years, Bioenergy 2020+ has been conducting research and development on the production of diesel and kerosene from wood at its site in Güssing. In a new project, a pilot plant will be built with the goal of improving the economic feasibility of biofuel production. The plant will produce 1 barrel/day (159 litres/day) and will serve as a step towards scaling-up and transferring knowledge from the laboratory to the industrial scale.

In the project "SAM", Bioenergy 2020+ and other scientific partners work on the synergies of the cultivation of microalgae and the cleaning of different sewages. After the end of the project, further research and development on basis of these results should lead to the development of technologies which unify the treatment of sewages and the energetic and the substantial use of microalgae.

Bioenergy 2020+ is a research institute and biomass competence centre. Their newly developed test is able to rate the annual use efficiency and annual emission factors for small-scale biomass boilers. This reference method allows to differentiate between different boilers and to compare different equipment. Also it is a cost-effective method to detect realistic efficiency factors and rate boiler effiency.

Currently, BIOENERGY 2020+ coordinates four European projects and is a project partner in two others. The projects focus on clean combustion of smaller biomass systems (BioCAT), the development of a test for the ash melting point of wood pellets (AshMelT), the safety and quality assurance measures during the pellet supply (SafePellets) and cost-effective biomass boilers with highest efficiency and lowest emissions (BioMaxEff). In 2011, 100 % of the proposals coordinated by Bioenergy 2020+ were approved.