• Aston University team of bioenergy researchers set to launch free tool to calculate energy potential
• The launch event on 1 July will allow participants to use the tool for themselves and is focused on bioenergy development in the Global South
• The tool can calculate bioenergy output from waste materials including straw, nutshells and manure
A simple tool which allows users to easily calculate how much bioenergy they can produce from biomass is being launched this week by researchers from the Energy and Biproducts Research Institute (EBRI) at Aston University.
The easy-to-use tool, called the Bioenergy Mass-Energy Balance Model, allows the user to experiment virtually with different biomass materials in several industrial processes including cement production, tea production and food processing to understand the potential implementation.
Developed with the focus on bioenergy development in the Global South, users can simply and easily calculate how much heat or electricity they can produce from the biomass.
The EBRI team based at Aston University who developed the tool will be launching the model and summarising their methodologies at an online event on Thursday 1 July.
Dr Katie Chong, lecturer in chemical engineering, who led the development team said they were looking forward to the launch.
“This tool will be available to everyone for free and has been built in Excel to make it accessible for all. We wanted to keep it as simple as possible and we really think it will make a difference, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa,” she said.
Mirjam Röder, associate professorial research fellow at EBRI, added: “The launch event will be a chance for us to introduce the Mass-Energy Balance Model, summarise the methodologies and give participants the opportunity to use the model and generate their own results in our guided walk-through during the workshop.”
The tool was developed as part of a larger two-year research programme by the team at Aston University who are a core member of the consortium implementing the Bioenergy for Sustainable local energy services and Energy Access in Africa (BSEAA). Aston University partnered with NIRAS-LTS, E4Tech and AIGUASOL.
The project was funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) as part of the Transforming Energy Access programme.
To sign up for the free event which runs from 9.30am until 11.30am on Thursday 1 July, click here.
For more details about the world-leading research taking place at EBRI, visit this link.
- Notes to editors
Founded in 1895 and a University since 1966, Aston is a long established university led by its three main beneficiaries – students, business and the professions, and our region and society. Aston University is located in Birmingham and at the heart of a vibrant city and the campus houses all the university’s academic, social and accommodation facilities for our students. Professor Alec Cameron is the Vice-Chancellor & Chief Executive.
Aston University was named University of the Year 2020 by The Guardian and the University’s full time MBA programme has been ranked in the top 100 in the world in the Economist MBA 2021 ranking. The Aston MBA has been ranked 12th in the UK and 85th in the world.
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About EBRI
EBRI’s capabilities cover the breadth of advanced thermal technologies and biological conversion processes. These include gasification, pyrolysis, catalysis, and the thermochemical refining of biomass, wastes and plastics to high quality products and fuels. Allied to this is EBRI’s expertise in energy systems, supply chains, techno-economic analysis, transport logistics, analytics, engines and power systems. The institute welcomes collaboration opportunities with academia, government bodies and industry both locally and internationally and actively bids for new research and industrial engagement projects to bring further benefits to the Midlands region. For more information go to www.aston.ac.uk/ebri or email bioenergy@aston.ac.uk