NORSUS conducts research on how bio-based raw materials and residual streams can be refined into valuable products such as energy, fuels, materials, or chemicals.
The research is based on the need to reduce the environmental burdens associated with our consumption, while also reducing the use of non-renewable fossil resources. We examine how different types of biomass – such as forest resources, agricultural residues, side streams from the food and processing industries, and organic waste – can best be prioritized between energy, materials, chemicals, and other purposes.
We assess wheter these bio based products may replace fossil alternatives and how we can utilise them in ways that ensure high resource efficiency and limited environmental impact, thereby contributing to a more sustainable society.
Our results provide a knowledge base for authorities, industry, agriculture, and other stakeholders who develop and invest in bio based solutions. The research is used to assess climate effects, other environmental impacts, and resource use associated with biorefinery, to identify the most promising value chains, and to highlight trade-offs between land use, biodiversity, food production, and industrial development. We also assess how biogas and other bio resources are best utilised in transport, energy systems and industry.
We apply life cycle assessments, value chain and material flow analyses, process and system models, and often integrate these with economic analyses and scenario studies. This includes, among other things, biorefineries producing biofuels, biogas and biofertilizers, bio-based materials and chemicals, biochar and other carbon products, as well as solutions where these materials are evaluated within a broader energy and industrial system.
I NORSUS overlapper dette forskningsområdet med energi, biogas research, waste resources here, matsvinn and prosessindustri. Forskerne i NORSUS jobber på tvers av forskningsområder og både vi og våre oppdragsgivere har god nytte av forskere med ulik bakgrunn og prosjekterfaring.
We work closely with industry, and have for example collaborated with Borregaard over several years. This has included developing LCA models for internal use to map the environmental impacts of product manufacturing, as well as Environmental Product Declarations (EPDs) for documenting and communicating their environmental performance.
