Innovation of Bio Fuel from Olives

Olives are not only delicious snacks, but also valuable because of the oil produced. Now olives are used by researchers in making biofuels to reduce CO2 emissions.

The Vienna University of Technology scientists work around a steel construction as high as nearly six meters. This is a new generation of 'gasification installations', first introduced by the university two decades ago. The installation is capable of turning biomass into gas, and in Austria as well as a number of other European countries, this gas is used to run generators and produce electricity.

Now the problem is buying affordable biomass to compete with renewable energy sources and fossil fuels. Given the steadily rising prices of timber and agricultural products, the EU finances a project aimed at changing pomace - what remains of olives after its oil is squeezed - into bio fuel.

"At the end of the process there is residue and no remaining olive oil, so it's kind of waste material from an olive oil refinery, but the energy content is still quite high," said Stefan Müller, a senior researcher at Vienna University of Technology, told DW.

More than just snacks

The Phenolive project aims to maximize the value of olives. In Phenobia's laboratory, a start-up initiated by the University of Bordeaux, the researchers identified compounds that could be extracted from olive pomace after the oil was squeezed and before it was converted into energy.

"The special laboratory analyzes phenols from different types of raw materials for end products such as cosmetics, food or food supplements," said director Xavier Vitra to the French website LaBiotech. He added that taking polyphenols would add value to the pomace.

Suppress energy consumption

A number of areas of olive producers in Europe have burned olive pomace as fuel, but Müller wants to analyze the residue and fully investigate its energy potential. Other uses of pomace include compost and fertilizer.

The university research team also produces liquid fuels from biomass. And they say it has the potential to allow the olive industry to run their transport vehicles with fuel from olive residue. A gasification installation developed at Güssing, Austria, already produces liquid fuels for vehicles.

"The idea is bio refining, renewable resources producing future fuels," says engineer Johannes Schmid. The target, he says, is to demonstrate that refineries do not need to burn fossil fuels.

Europe produces 80 million tons of olive oil pomace every year, according to the Phenolive project. If the project is successful, the olive industry will strengthen and its cost, especially for energy, will be much reduced.