Aston University develops bio-oil technology

This will be the focus of Aston University’s Bioenergy Research Group (BERG), which is involved in a £1.4m project funded in part by the Research Council of Norway.

The researchers will develop new, integrated bio-oil technology to transform biomass more efficiently into biofuels through fast pyrolysis – the process of heating materials in the absence of oxygen. This will include turning biomass material such as tree bark and waste wood into usable oil for heating and transportation needs.

Prof Tony Bridgwater, the head of BERG at Aston University, said their biomass project is unique because it is looking at the possibility of processing the whole components of a tree – everything from wood, residues, needles, twigs and bark.

He explained that other fast pyrolysis research programmes have looked at using hardwood trees, as opposed to the softwood trees of Norway, and only select components.

Bridgwater estimated that if the process is successful, a 1,000kg dry tree would give about 700kg of bio-oil.