The world currently relies heavily on fossil fuels, leading to significant environmental problems, such as climate change and pollution. The European Green Deal aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to achieve the 2030 emission reduction target and the objectives of the Paris Agreement. To achieve this, the (petro)chemical industry must explore alternatives. A promising alternative in this transition is the use of biomass raw materials, such as lignin. Lignin is a natural polymer of aromatic units found in woody (non-edible) lignocellulose biomass and residual streams from the agricultural and food industries. Lignin has the potential to be a source for fuel and chemical production, but its commercial use is limited due to the lack of efficient technologies for biomass pre-treatment and lignin separation. Thus, to make lignin a viable alternative, cost-effective processing technologies are needed to isolate oligomeric and less condensed lignin from lignocellulose biomass. This lignin can be dissolved and melted to create a suitable raw material platform that can be used in various high-quality applications. For example, this liquid lignin or biobased crude oil can be further refined and upgraded to sustainable Heavy Fuel Oil (HFO) drop-in blend and (basic) chemicals, such as aromatics (BTEX and phenols) and olefins. The consortium, consisting of Vertoro, TNO and Green Chemistry Campus, will work together in the SLICE project to develop and improve this processing technology in a more versatile and circular way. This will not only reduce the direct emissions of the process, but also contribute to the realization of a greener economy within the conventional (petro)chemical infrastructure and maritime industry around the Green Chemistry Campus in Bergen op Zoom and the port of Moerdijk. The project has two main objectives. First, it aims to demonstrate the upgrade of crude lignin oils to biobased (bulk) chemicals and fuels in existing naphtha crackers and characterize resulting fuels as a drop-in blend for use in current ship combustion systems. In addition, it includes the circular further development of the required processing technology by converting the current residue streams into biomethanol. Secondly, the project aims to develop a Biobased Skills Learning Community around biomass-oriented skills for technical staff from the (petro)chemical cluster around the Green Chemistry Campus and the port of Moerdijk. The main result is the demonstration of the production of biobased fuels and (bulk) chemicals by the circular upgrading of raw lignin oils from sustainable biogenic raw materials in the existing (petro)chemical infrastructure. This innovative and circular process will drastically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, promote economic diversification and ensure a greener energy supply and logistics value chain. The consortium also aims to address the employment challenges arising from this transition in West-North Brabant by developing and introducing a (re)training programme for fossil fuel sector personnel in this region. In short, with the completion of this project, this consortium can act as a catalyst in the transition from a fossil to a biomass-based (petro)chemical industry in West-North Brabant.
