“A systematic approach to assess and visualize the bioenergy potential of

industrial ports: technology preview, examples and potential for port-to-port

symbiosis”

A. Kokossis and G. Lignos

SchoolofChemicalEngineering,NationalTechnicalUniversityofAthens

EPIC2020– WWGBusinessForumWismar,Germany,24September2015

Outline• Industrial Symbiosis• Port Symbiosis & Industrial Ecology• Bioenergy challenges and EPIC 2020 • The system approach

• Technology and applications• Results in four EU ports:

• Malmoe, Mantova, Wismar, Astakos• Work in progress and the way forward

IndustrialSymbiosisandIndustrialEcology

• Top priority in European industrial development 

• Industrial waste streams as resources to other industries

• Essential part of Industrial Ecology

• Closed life cycles

• Material flows

• Energy flows

• Alternative / complementary to recycling

• Often preferred over recycling

• Long recycle paths

• Expensive footprints

• Linking up industry with other economic actors

• Industry to industry

• industries to urban life and agriculture

Areferencepoint…• City of Kalundborg (1995)

• Fixed background: • Kemira, Statoil, Asnaes Power, Gyproc Novo Nordisk

• M$120 profits; Energy to 20,000 homes• Significant investment (M$60)• Long paypack times 9 (over 15yr) … but

• Can we open it up to a dynamic system? • Can we speed it up at lower budgets?

Scalingupatnationallevel• Participation: 

• More than 10.000 companies, 12 regions, 12,000 transactions/yr

• Economic benefits:‐ Revenues & sales – £1,4 billion‐ Cost savings – £11 billion

• Social benefits• New jobs – 10,000

• Still the cost to run the concept is high

• The program is phasing out in anticipation of new trends

Enablingurbanflows:portsymbiosis

Why Ports?

• Hybrid nature between industrial and urban activities• Promote industrial ecology concept• Host enabling activities and support links

• Established transportation  links• Road and seaward links

• Expand borders across municipalities, counties and countries• Potential use of space in fleets• Potential use of waste as fuel at sea

Technologicalchallengesandlimitations

The application domain is getting large!• Difficult to cope with increasing industrial diversity• Matching technology is called to review 

• waste, technology, industries and logistics

• Established practices for synergies become impossible• organized workshops• brute force investigation &  serendipitous discovery• Use of knowledge is limited: 

• Intuitively dependent on practitioners' ability• No modelling of tacit knowledge

• Technology is called to organize and optimize complex and diverse information

Technologypurpose

• Supporting  high‐throughput search and analysis• Building sharing communities

• Primal data, text, background knowledge (chemistries, technologies, supporting material)

• Capturing knowledge• Technology enablers: fuzzy, incomplete links with sources and sinks

• Building paths for innovation• Aside best practice a significant potential to discover latent matches

Semanticstoupgradedataintoinformationflows

Technologytocaptureknowledgeandbestpractices

• Use of linked‐objects• Translated as properties to appropriate concepts

Matching technology and support services

TechnologyandLCIrepositories

About 500 processes available for storage

PortSymbiosis:bringingtechnologyonelevelup!

Municipalitiestogetherwithindustries…

• Municipalities, port authorities, and households: • Malmoe, Wismar, Mantova, Astakos

• Power suppliers and energy companies• Chemical and process industries• Farmers and food industries • … a team that exports IS technology worldwide!

Purpose:assessbioenergypotential

Internal

External

• Example flows:• biomass, • waste water, • manure, • fertilizer, • biogas, • bioethanol, • steam

• Initial target: 400MW

FunctionalUnits

• Biomass supplies (orange), industrial units (blue), bioenergy producers (green), energy consumers (red)

• Each FU features mass and energy balances• Matching technology has been used to analyze and assess links and possible networks

Ontologies

Malmoe

Bioenergypotential

38,3 MW Internal(direct combustion and biogas)

149 MW external(direct combustion and

biogas)Functional Units 16 existing within the port area 2 new

Connections 42 existing 5 new

Sizable internal and external network, with a potential of transforming the existing fossil based system to a biomass-

based system that includes Industrial Symbiosis.

Wismar

Bioenergypotential

69MW bioethanol or 129MW direct combustion

16MW biogas

Functional Units 10 existing industries 3 new Connections 42 existing 12 new

Sits on a treasure of internal biomass, which can be put to a far better use through production of high - value added materials.

Mantova

Bioenergypotential

681 MW (411MW biogas and 270MW ethanol)

Functional Units 5 existing industries 4 new Functional UnitsConnections 8 existing 21 new

May leverage the vast external potential from its growing biomass – laden hinterland to propel itself to giddy

heights of bioenergy production.

Astakos

Bioenergypotential

137MW (direct combustion) 20MW biogas based on manure

Functional Units 9 industries were interviewed which belong to the greater area of Astakos

3 new

Connections 25 existing connections 5 new connections

The Port of Astakos presents a rare opportunity to invest in the ideal Industrial Symbiosis Network, where targets are not hindered by the past.

GISRepresentation• Quality depends on data provided by the ports• Integration of previous projects• Data stored in groups of layers• Statistical analysis enabled; several tools available• A variety of folors and icons are used to distinguish different types of biomass, connections and land uses

22

maps.epic2020.eu

GISRepresentation

23

Land use Livestock farms Connections

Biogas potential per MunicipalityCombination of active layers

Mindmaps• Graphs from previous work are available

• Industrial Symbiosis Networks• Bioenergy potential per biomass

24

DynamicMindmaps• Analysis of all possible connections for each flow or FU made possible

• Compatibility study of biomass and bioenergy with FU’s

25

Targetsandresults• Starting to scope for 437MW in bioenergy…• Symbiosis exceeded 2.5 times the initial expectations• Further scope by mobilizing communities, local industries and people

437187

681

175157

Goal Evaluation

MW

Bioenergy assessmentAstakosWismarMantovaMalmoeGoal

Workinprogress• Venice recently joined the consortium

• Own funding• Purpose: enhance the symbiotic links with Mantova (neighbouringports)

• Rostok has recently joined the consortium• Own funding• Purpose: establish links between Russia and Germany (mix of industrial and municipal flows)

• Copenhagen placed an interest to scope port‐to‐port exchanges with Malmoe

• Thessaly and Central Greece are adopting the matching paradigm for agro‐food industries and SMEs in Greece

SMEserviceforCentralGreece• RSE (Viotia): largest industrial region• Internal data

• Material flows• Waste stream specs• Locations• Secondary data

• Context description• Inspection audits• Commercial profile

• External data• Technologies• Knowledge base

1,500 production facilities

4,500 waste streams

Focus on solids

Thee‐Symbiosisplatform:registration

Synergies,visualization,businessstatistics

Valorising agriculturalresidues• Agricultural residues, now viewed as resources• Capitalizing on large databases and years of services by CRES• Building links to save energy and water reducing waste

• Electronic access and review of opportunities• Building an open community in Thessaly

… with commitment and support from the region

Scalingupsymbiosisflows

• Biomass producers: pellets, olive pits, branches, residues• Pulp, wastewater vs clean water• Energy: district heating, biogas

Buildingsymbiosissynergies…

…thatsaveenergyandresources

This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end but it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.

Thank you!