ULiège: Laboratory of Biomass and Green Technologies

General expertise of the research group

The laboratory of Biomass and Green Technologies from the University of Liege (Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech Campus) is engaged in research and education in the field of the chemistry of renewable resources and associated technologies. The PI (Prof. A. Richel) is involved in more than 15 national and international projects related to the production of bioenergy and bioproducts, including the design of innovative pretreatment protocols for the cracking of lignocellulosic materials, the formulation of novel “biomass-energy” solutions (including biofuels and energy vectors) as well as the upgrade of lignin for high-added value applications.

Specific hydrogen- related expertise & research topics

Production of hydrogen from renewable resources including mostly vegetal resources and organic waste: evaluation of the scale-up constraints, techno-economic analysis.
Application of hydrogen for biofuels production (e.g. synthetic fuels or drop-in fuels for road and air transportation): hydrotreatment, power-to-fuels, ammonia production, Fischer-Tropsch reaction, waste-to-fuels, etc. Conversion pathways, economics and prospects for transportation.

Available equipment/tools:

Several reactors allowing the thermochemical conversion of several inflows into fuels in the presence of hydrogen. Online analytical devices allowing the in situ determination of the key constituents during the reaction.

Participating in RW/B/EU funded projects with H2 related research:

ADV_BIO « Innovation technologique dans la production de biocarburants avancés applicables au territoire belge pour le transport routier et aérien et analyses technico-économique et environnementale » (2020-2025) Fonds de Transition Énergétique, SPF Energie.

Main relevant publications

On the last two years

1. Martinez-Villarreal, S., Breitenstein, A., Nimmegeers, P., Perez Saura, P., Hai, B., Asomaning, J., Eslami, A.A., Billen, P., Van Passel, S., Bressler, D.C., Debecker, D.P., Remacle, C., Richel, A. Drop-in biofuels production from microalgae to hydrocarbons: Microalgal cultivation and harvesting, conversion pathways, economics and prospects for aviation (2022) Biomass and Bioenergy, 165, art. no. 106555,
2. Berger, M., Radu, D., Detienne, G., Deschuyteneer, T., Richel, A., Ernst, D. Remote Renewable Hubs for Carbon-Neutral Synthetic Fuel Production (2021) Frontiers in Energy Research, 9, art. no. 671279,
3. Lepage, T., Kammoun, M., Schmetz, Q., Richel, A. Biomass-to-hydrogen: A review of main routes production, processes evaluation and techno-economical assessment (2021) Biomass and Bioenergy, 144, art. no. 105920
4. Martinez-Villarreal, S., Kammoun, M., Richel, A. The critical role of hydrogen in the development of new biofuels (2023) Current opinion in Green and Sustainable Chemistry, 39, 100716