ABC Salt Summer School 2019
The ABC-Salt Research Consortium was proud to host the project’s first Summer School in August 2019 on “Advanced thermochemical conversion biomass technologies“.
The three-day event took place Aston University (UK) and was jointly organised by Aston and the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (Norway) with full contribution of other project partners. It was also one of the designated activities for Work Package 7 of the project and was a great networking event for everyone involved, with people who share common goals and interests all under one roof.
The event attracted 51 participants from 10 EU/EEA countries including Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Sweden. During the Summer School, delegates attending the workshops and forums discussed the following:
- Thermochemical biomass conversion technologies
- Upgrading the technologies of pyrolysis liquids
- Application of molten salts in different conversion processes
- Novel characterisation methods of biomass feedstock
- Applications, properties and standardisation of middle distillates
- The creation of professional networks for research ideas exchange and future collaboration
- The training young researchers on setting up own research projects and on how to successfully benefit from the Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme by writing winning proposals
- The improvement of personal ‘soft skills’ by active participation in group and panel discussions, oral and poster permutations
Who attended
37 of the 51 participants were present in a non-teaching capacity (MEng and PhD students, research fellows and young R&D researchers). The Summer School participants had an opportunity to visit facilities of the Energy and Bioproducts Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University.
EBRI conducts world-class research into all aspects of bioenergy including energy-from-waste and the development of new bioproducts and services, all of which contribute to improving the carbon footprint and improving security of energy supplies. The guided tours included visits to biological and thermal processing labs, bio-fuels characterisation and analytical labs and a visit to the 400 kg/h gasifier (0.5MW) power plant which has a 400kWe dual fuel engine for the production of heat and power.
Key presenters
Key presenters included: Tony Bridgwater (Aston University, UK), Robbie Venderbosch (Biomass Technology Group, Netherlands), Frederik Ronsse (University of Ghent, Belgium), Heidi Samuelsen Nygård (The Norwegian University of Environmental and Life Sciences, Norway), Jacob Moulijn (Guest speaker from Delft University of Technology, Netherlands), Maria Sedin (Research Institutes of Sweden), Ralph-Uwe Dietrich (German Aerospace Center, Germany), Fabienne Brutin (Ayming, France), David Brown (Guest speaker from Trihelica Ltd, UK), Marino Bonaiuto (the Inter-University Centre for Research in Environmental Psychology, CIRPA, Italy) with moderators Federica Dessi and Nuccio Ludovico, also from CIRPA.
Networking events were arranged throughout the course of the Summer School (photos below).
Posters
