The University of Jaén (UJA), through the University Institute for Research in Olive Groves and Olive Oils (INUO), leads the ‘Olipfuel’ project. This European project aims to generate biofuels from waste from the oil industry olive oil, through the use of hydrothermal and biotechnological processes.
The project is funded by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (MSCA) postdoctoral fellowship program of Horizon Europe, it started last september under the supervision of the INUO professor and researcher Lourdes Martínez Cartas. The researcher of the Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research (AcSIR) of Ghaziabad (India), Adnan Asad Karim will be carried out this project at the Linares Scientific-Technological Campus, during 2 years.
The INUO researcher Lourdes Martínez Cartas points out that the olive oil industry produces significant amounts of olive pomace waste each year. “Disposal has environmental implications, as does its conversion into a biofuel because the conventional process often requires the use of corrosive and toxic acids. On this point, the OliPFUEL project will develop a profitable way to optimize the conversion without the use of toxic chemical substances through the use of hydrothermal and biotechnological processes”, assures the researcher. The results obtained by this project could lead to increased production of olive pomace biofuels and a greener energy future.