The main objective of IEA IETS Task 11 is to aim for widespread decarbonization of and by industrial biorefineries to achieve net zero or negative greenhouse gas emissions. Within this objective the following sub-goals were pursued:

• Objective 1: Establish a network and communication within the national and international consortium.
  
  
• Objective 2: Elaboration of the state of research and research questions on negative/net-zero emissions in biorefineries to give an overview on
  o emerging technologies
  o tools and methodologies
  o biorefinery light-house projects
  
  
• Objective 3: Dissemination of results to increase visibility.

The content of the Austrian activities in the present working period related specifically to the leadership of and associated knowledge transfer within Subtask 6: "Technology Pathways towards Negative and/or Net-Zero Emission Biorefineries". In an extensive network of research and industry, the current research landscape of technological pathways towards negative/net-zero emissions in biorefineries was reviewed. In addition, existing tools and methodologies for the evaluation of energy efficiency and environmental footprint were summarized. To demonstrate that opportunities for net-zero/negative emissions in industrial biorefineries are feasible, as well as to ensure and improve knowledge transfer, case studies at various stages of development (from conceptual to demonstrated) and from different industrial sectors were compiled.

The following results are available:

• Exploration of the role of industrial biorefineries in the bioeconomy
• Insights into the relationship between biorefineries and greenhouse gases
• Assessment of life cycle analyses as a critical evaluation tool
• Strategic pathways for implementing emission reduction measures
• Case studies on the journey toward net-zero biorefineries
• Key aspects of business models and associated challenges
• ... all summarized in the perspective article "Pathways Towards Net-Zero and Negative-Emission Biorefineries"

Project leader

DI Dr. Bettina Muster-Slawitsch
AEE - Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien
E-Mail: b.muster@aee.at

Project collaborators

DI Christoph Brunner
AEE - Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien
E-Mail: c.brunner@aee.at

DI Sarah Meitz
AEE - Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien
E-Mail: s.meitz@aee.at

Project partners

DI Philipp Petermeier, PhD MSc
AEE - Institut für Nachhaltige Technologien
E-Mail: p.petermeier@aee.at

DI Johannes Lindorfer
Verein Energieinstitut an der Johannes Kepler Universität Linz
E-Mail: lindorfer@energieinstitut-linz.at

Univ. Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Dr. Anton Friedl
Technische Universität Wien, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering
E-Mail: anton.friedl@tuwien.ac.at

Sebastian Serna-Loaiza, PhD.
Technische Universität Wien, Institute of Chemical, Environmental and Bioscience Engineering
E-Mail: sebastian.serna@tuwien.ac.at

Canada (Lead), Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Austria, Netherlands