The use of bio-oil has significant positive effects on the environment.

By replacing fossil fuels with bio-oil in heat generation, carbon

dioxide emissions can be cut by 70–90 per cent. Sulphur emissions are

also considerably lower.Bio-oil has for a long time been pegged as the successor of fossil

fuels as our future source of energy. However, large-scale commercial

use of bio-oil in heat generation requires a cost-effective production

technique. The new technique enables a considerable cut in the

production cost of bio-oil.

Fast pyrolysis involves heating biomass such as forest industry waste

to a high temperature to form gas. When the gas is cooled, it condenses

into liquid known as bio-oil. Combining the pyrolysis process with

traditional fluidised bed boilers used in power plants brings a range

of efficiency gains. Producing bio-oil with the new technique is

cheaper than in a separate pyrolysis process. Bio-oil plants that are

integrated into power plants are extremely energy-efficient, because

the energy contained in the by-products of the pyrolysis process can be recovered in fluidised bed boilers. The innovation award for the new technology was distributed in December by the European Association for

Research and Technology Organisations EARTO. EARTO wants to reward

innovations that have significant societal and economic impact.