Green light for EU manure SAF project

Animal manure could be a new resource for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The EU is funding the Circulair project, that aims to develop conversion technologies to produce sustainable fuels from abundant agricultural residues including manure and straw.

Europe produces about 1.4 billion metric tons of manure annually from animal farming. The four-year research project is set up to develop a biomass conversion pathway that uses hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) to produce a crude-like oil under moderate temperature and high pressure.

AviationWeek reports that manure and straw have been chosen because of their abundance and potential synergies in the co-liquefaction of the feedstocks. Using manure as a source has two advantages over other sources: it can reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well as air and water pollution issues that result from current manure handling issues.

Furthermore, integration of the HTL process with green hydrogen generation will enable almost complete feedstock utilization, yielding methanol as the main byproduct.