Project Partners
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UNIVERSITY OF GREENWICH (www.gre.ac.uk) |
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Representative:
The University of Greenwich contributes to solving real-world problems, and advancing issues that have a direct bearing on business, regional and international communities and ultimately, peoples' lives. Researchers have extensive links with industry and commerce, public sector bodies and policy makers, and support our objective to be a research- informed institution, where students benefit from the experience of academic staff carrying out leading edge research, and consultancy with business.
The Bio-Energy Research Group of the University is engaged in a series of multidisciplinary projects aimed at developing the technologies and value chains of second-generation liquid / gas biofuels associated with plant-based systems. These projects can be grouped into four themes;
- Developing new biofuel and green chemical feedstocks;
- Processing plant biomass;
- Exploiting energy stores of plants through Combined Heat and Power (CHP) systems;
- Developing biomass (plant and algal) supply chains
The diverse projects within these themes range from the investigation of the properties of plant oils and by-products obtained from terrestrial plants; micro-algae; the potential of plant and agro-industry “wastes” as a resource to deliver low carbon solutions; anaerobic digestion and thermochemical treatment of food and agricultural “wastes” for biomethane production; solid biomass and handling of waste plant lignocellulosics; fermentation of glucose from starch and sugar; to enzymes for lignocellulose biodegradation.
The University of Greenwich’s Bio-Energy Research Group has developed knowledge of the biofuel oil industry through its collaborative projects with bioenergy technology companies, the farming community, CHP and fuel companies and energy companies exemplified by projects such as the Kent Biofuels Project, which is an integrated process for the production of biodiesel from oilseed rape; the Zerowise Sustainable Food Waste Solutions Project; the creation of an Electricity Supply Company (Cantium Energy) in 2009, established with a loan from Finance South East to supply midi-scale CHP operated on renewable biofuel; and the provision of analytical services and consultancy to renewable energy industry majors.
Professor Pat Harvey trained as a plant biochemist from Durham University then spent 2 years at Genzyme Biochemicals in business development before leaving to conduct research into the biochemistry of lignin breakdown at Imperial College, then Greenwich University. Unravelling the nature and mechanisms of catalysis of the enzymes deployed by white-rot fungi to trigger lignin breakdown in lignocellulosic materials led on to applications in treating lignocellulosic waste streams and hydrocarbon decontamination, and fundamental research into the plant and fungal oxidative metabolic pathways associated with production of oxidative catalysts. Renewable energy, biofuels and the use of algal and non-food plant systems for CO2 capture and the synthesis of novel chemicals are now a major focus of her research, which includes expertise in analysis, extraction and catalysis of plant and microalgal energy reserves, and researching solutions for food and plant-based ‘wastes’ for energy extraction; plant growth in contaminated / degraded environments, and the whole issue of establishing global plant-based supply chains to meet future needs. She is a Board member of the European Algal Biomass Association and has served on European Co-operation in the Field of Scientific and Technical Research (COST) management committees Action 859 (Phytotechnologies to promote sustainable land use and improve food safety w3.gre.ac.uk/cost859) and Action 837 (Plant Biotechnology for the removal of organic pollutants and toxic metals from wastewater and contaminated sites http://lbewww.epfl.ch/COST837/) as chairperson of WG1: Organic pollutants: metabolic and enzymatic studies. She is currently Head of the Bioenergy Research Group at the University of Greenwich.