In a valuable and promising initiative, a joint Biorefinery and Biomethane event was held on 22 Oct 2025 at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The event was organised by IEA Bioenergy’s Task 42 Biorefining in a circular economy and Task 37 Energy from Biogas as part of a two-day joint meeting between the tasks, and attracted a strong turn-out from industry and government. EBNet’s director Sonia Heaven attended in her role as Task 37’s UK National Lead and also as a representative of EBNet.
One area of interest for the Task 42 group is the potential for modifying AD plants into biorefineries by expanding them into multi-product systems:Â examples presented in talks before and during the joint event included a plant in Austria and several studies in Norway. Another key question raised in discussions between the two Tasks was the potential suitability of digestates as a biorefinery feedstock.
Synergies between environmental biotechnology and biorefineries are a key element of EBNet’s remit and are particularly relevant to our WGs on Anaerobic Digestion, Anaerobic Fermentation, Biochar, Bioelectrochemical Systems and Process Integration & Sustainability Assessment. These groups also have a string of successful joint activities with our sister-NIBB the Biomass and Biorefinery Network (BBNet).
Prof Heaven said, “So far, Task 42’s main focus has been on crop-based systems rather than waste based biorefineries, whereas EBNet’s target is treatment of challenging wastes to produce value-added materials (see the AF Animation, and YouTube videos from other WG). So although the UK is not formally a Task 42 member there is clear potential for collaborative links”.
While the current NIBBs are coming to an end, watch out for news of further activities in this area from our successor groups and partner organisations. For more information on the meeting presentations and site visits contact Prof Heaven via EBNet.
