The European Commission has authorized grant support of €24 million from the Swedish Government for a new biofuel research project designed to test the commercial viability of the gasification of forest residue. The funding will be given to the Gothenburg Biofuels Gasification (GoBiGas) research and development project. Goteborg Energi, a Swedish energy company, will manage the project, which will be implemented by its subsidiary, GoBiGas.
The project will be carried out over a period of ten years and its costs are estimated at a total of SEK978 million (Eur105 million). The R&D activities to be undertaken within the project concern the development of a pre-commercial demonstration plant for indirect gasification of low-quality forest raw material into bio-methane. The Commission has concluded that the project is compatible with the EU Framework for State aid for research, development and innovation (R&D&I).
The project is expected to generate important external effects in the EU in terms of knowledge transfer, environmental protection and security of energy supply. It will deliver valuable information regarding the up-scaling and viability of the new technologies involved for the production of second generation biofuels.