Black Liquor to Fuel (BL2F) is a Horizon 2020 project that will use “Black Liquor“ to create a clean, high-quality biofuel. Black liquor is a side-stream of the chemical pulping industry that can be transformed into fuel, reducing waste and providing an alternative to fossil fuels.

Launched in April 2020, BL2F will develop a first-of-its-kind Integrated “Hydrothermal Liquefaction” (HTL) process at pulp mills, decreasing carbon emissions during the creation of the fuel intermediate. This will then be further upgraded at oil refineries to bring it closer to the final products and provide a feedstock for marine and aviation fuels. The future of using black liquor as fuel is promising and, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA),  it is seen as the fifth most important fuel on earth!

BL2F aims to contribute to a reduction of 83 % CO₂ emitted compared to fossil fuels, an important step in fighting climate change. A large deployment of the processes developed by BL2F, using a variety of biomass, could yield more than 50 billion liters of advanced biofuels by 2050, more than satisfying the EU demand for advanced biofuels for aviation and shipping.

The goals and strong consortium can strengthen European leadership in renewable biofuels and climate protection!