Projects

The project SynoProtein (Carbon capture from syngas to Single Cell Protein (SCP) and use as fish feed Ingredient) started on September1st and it will end by March 2028.

Synoprotein is funded by the Horizon Europe programme under the call-JU-CBE-2022 (Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking).

The project’s coordinator is WAI ENVIRONMENTAL SOLUTIONS. WAI is a Norwegian technology company developing and implementing environmental technologies within wastewater treatment, bio-sludge treatment, nutrients and resources recovery, hazardous waste and soil remediation and aquaculture.

The main objective of SynoProtein is to develop and demonstrate a novel carbon-negative process that enables high value creation from sawmill by-products through carbon capture and use (CCU). The aim is to establish a sawmill by-products valorisation process in a continuous flow system at a pilot scale with a production capacity of 5 kg/day for Single Cell Protein (SCP) and biochar each (dry weight). Innovative processes are developed using forest residues to be converted to single cell protein for fish feed ingredients as alternative to the traditional climate and energy intensive soybean and resource-limited wild fish protein production and to biochar production for animal feed.  11 partners from four different European countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany) are part of the consortium representing industry, academia, and research institutes. For more information about the project see: https://www.cbe.europa.eu/projects/synoprotein

NORSUS is responsible for assessesing the potential environmental and social impacts of the novel SynoProtein solution by using environmental and social Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) methodologies. Data will be collected in the consortium from lab scale to pilot plant and published by the end of the project in European platforms. Comparison with the state-of-the-art of the technologies will also be established. Several environmental impact categories such as climate change, water scarcity, resource scarcity and biodiversity will be investigated. In addition, NORSUS will use the Responsible Research & Innovation (RRI) framework and will employ methods for involving the public in the development of the Synoprotein biobased value chains.

We acknowledge that the project is supported by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE-JU) and its members under Grant Agreement No. 101112345.

EarthresQue er et Senter for Forskningsdrevet Innovasjon (SFI) finansiert av Norges forskningsråd som går over 8 år og er bevilget 220 millioner kroner i støtte. Senteret er landsomfattende, og vil utvikle teknologier og systemer for bærekraftig håndtering og behandling av avfall og overskuddsmasser, inkludert forurenset masse og bruk av deponier. Prosjektet skal se på økonomisk og miljømessig forsvarlig forvaltning av overskuddsmasser (stein, løsmasser, organisk) f.eks. fra store infrastrukturprosjekter, og masser som allerede er lagt på deponi. I dag er det lite eller ingen insentiver eller krav for gjenbruk eller nyttiggjøring av disse massene og negative klima- og miljøeffekter fra slike prosjekter kan bli betydelige. Målet er å få på plass systemer for å utnytte disse ressursene.

NMBU er prosjekteier og leder prosjektet som består av 33 prosjektpartnere fra privat, offentlig og kommunal sektor, inkludert NORSUS. NORSUS har flere oppgaver i prosjektet, bl.a. har vi jobbet med mudringsproblematikken i Fredrikstad.

Due to the urgency to transform society and tackling the challenge of climate change, science needs to go beyond incremental change. NIYF develops and tests a methodology to stimulate transformative societal change in a co-constructive way with citizens and stakeholders from the civil, public, and private sector. NIYF is transdisciplinary in nature by combining social science, humanities (art), and environmental science, and involves a large group of local and national stakeholders. This provides new, participative models of local governance for the path towards carbon neutrality.

In the project, NORSUS quantifies the CO2 emission reduction effects achieved in each of the cases by state-of-the-art Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) based environmental scenario analyses, also assessing the upscaling potential.

The project is led by NTNU and funded by The Norwegian Research Council, KLIMAFORSK program, grant no 302111. Project period 2020.09.01 – 2024.08.31. See more information here: https://www.ntnu.edu/web/psychology/niyf

Prosjektet «Se min brukte kjole» er et forskningsprosjekt som har som viktigste formål å fremskaffe kunnskap som kan benyttes for å promotere samt faktisk økegjenbruksgraden av tekstiler i Oslo området.

However, there is a lack of data concerning the available products and their volumes, data on environmental effects and knowledge on business models for reuse. More specifically, there is no overview of how much of the collected textiles are suitable for reuse in Norway, there is a lack of environmental data and documentation that can support reuse, and barriers and opportunities in the Norwegian market for textile reuse are not known. Actors in the field of reuse thus have little to rely on when creating new business models.

The project will gather data that can be used by actors in the reuse market, to inform consumers about the environmental footprint of reused products and motivate them to change their purchasing habits. Furthermore, the project will provide data and knowledge that can be used to influence the authorities for facilitation and incentives for increased reuse.

The project is financed by RFF Oslo, was initiated in March 2023 and will run until the first trimester of 2025. The project is led by NF&TA, and the consortium consists of a wide range of actors in the textile industry that cover production, collection and reuse activities.

NORSUS leads the first three work packages in the project, which deal with the data on available product and their volumes, with life cycle data for environmental assessments and with creating a market for used clothing.

The aim of this project is to understand where recycled plastic should be used. The project will analyze the environmental impact from using recycled plastics in product applications with different lifetimes. For example, how beneficial is it to recycle packaging material (short lifetime) in furniture products (longer lifetime). The project will also study the impact of different recycling systems on these results. Which type of products should be recycled in closed loops rather than open loops? Or are reuse solutions preferred? A better understanding of these dynamics will help policy makers and companies to make well-informed decisions when designing new circular systems.

The research project «GreenPlantFood » (Green technology for plant-based food) er et forskningsprosjekt som har som viktigste formål å legge til rette for implementering av grønn teknologi i form av utvikling av sunne, plantebaserte matprodukter med lav miljøbelastning i Norge og hovedsakelig basert på norske råvarer. Prosjektet er finansiert av Norges Forskningsråd og prosjektdeltagerne, ble igangsatt i 2022 og vil løpe til utgangen av 2024. Prosjektet er ledet av matforskningsinstituttet Nofima. Institusjonene NMBU, NIBIO, PIK, DTU, iBET og UFT er forskningspartnere og Lantmannen Cerealia, AM Nutrition, Mills, Hoff, Norgesmøllene og Flowfood er bedriftspartnere.

NORSUS will primary be engaged in work package 6 which is about economical, social and environmental sustainability impacts by using plant protein grown in Norway as ingredients in foods, both in fresh, unprocessed and processed form. Specifically, we will improve the methods we use to calculate environmental impacts of grain legumes produced in Norway so that we will have a clearer view of these impacts. We will also look at the impact on nutrition of these products in relation to their environmental impact. Another aspect that will be studied is the impact on social sustainability, in terms of employment and national self-sufficiency, of this plant protein playing a larger part of the Norwegian diet than what is currently has. We will also cooperate with Nibio in studying social and economic barriers and possibilities.  

The project does, in large part, build on results from the research project FoodProFuture (2017-2021) that resulted in an expanded knowledge base on growing, processing, environmental impact and consumer aspects related to the plant protein crops faba beans, field peas, rapeseed and turnip rapeseed.

Sustainable Eaters is a four-year project with support from the Research Council.

Senior Researcher Valérie Lengard Almli at Nofima is the project manager.

The research project is led by Nofima, in collaboration with 26 partners from research, industry, the public sector and non-profit organizations.

Participants in the project: BaRe, Grønt Punkt Norge AS, GS1 Norway, INN – Høgskolen i Innlandet, Karlstad University, Keep-it Technologies AS, Loop, Matprat (Nortura SA), Matvett AS, Mills AS, Multivac AS, NIBIO, NMBU, Nofima, NorgesGruppen ASA, NORSUS, Nortura SA, Orkla Foods Norge AS, OsloMet, Rema Distribusjon Norge AS, Rema 1000, Ruralis, Tromsø Kommune, Tromsø Matsentral, Vitenparken Campus Ås, Wipak Norway og Æra Strategic Innovation AS.

The main goal of the project is to enable and strengthen consumers’ contribution to achieving a sustainable Norwegian food system.

Background

The entire value chain for food must be re-evaluated. The use of resources must be more efficient, food waste must be reduced, and the diet must be adjusted. Reports such as “Klimakur 2030” have pointed to specific measures aimed at consumers to meet these challenges. There is no way around it; consumers must contribute to the shift toward a sustainable food system. To achieve this, we must re-think. There is a need to make changes in consumer behaviour related to food choice, food waste and recycling of packaging materials.

Goal

The main goal of the project is to enable and strengthen consumers’ contribution to achieving a sustainable Norwegian food system.

To enable this, the project aims to:

  • Develop intervention strategies, industry- and policy recommendations for reduced food waste, healthy and sustainable diets, and increased recycling of food packaging.
  • Refine scientific knowledge on what sustainable food means in the Norwegian agroindustry context.
  • Develop knowledge, awareness, and new sustainability habits in the younger generation.
  • Elaborate on industry solutions that support consumers in embracing sustainable behaviours.
  • Optimize the dynamics of the online shopping value chain toward higher resource efficiency, lower food waste, and lower climate impact from producer to consumer.

Organization

The project will carry out the following tasks:

  1. Identify consumer typology and behaviour change
  2. Evaluate behavioural effects on the value chain
  3. Educate young generations and connected citizens
  4. Develop industrial innovations
  5. Project communication and dissemination

The project consists of five work packages and four cases. These are outlined in the figure over this text.

Siden det norske dyrkbare arealet er begrenset, er det et klart potensial i økt produksjon og verdiskaping fra veksthusnæringen. Det er et spesielt potensial for både økt norskandel på tomat og økt forbruk, gitt at produksjonen blir mer konkurransedyktig mot import og at smakene treffer den norske forbrukeren. En forutsetning for økt, norsk veksthusproduksjon er at dette foretas på en stadig mer bærekraftig måte. Ny kunnskap om teknologiske løsninger for redusert energibruk, bedre utnyttelse av naturlig og kunstig lys for økt produksjon, miljøfotavtrykket fra veksthusproduksjon samt gode verktøy for å ta de rette beslutningene, er viktig for at BAMA skal nå sine mål. Den overordnede ideen er å skape verdivekst i norsk veksthusproduksjon med mål om økt norskproduksjon og økt forbruk av viktige veksthuskulturer, på en stadig mer bærekraftig måte.Dette skal oppnås gjennom bedre kunnskap om bruk av lys og hvordan man aktivt kan øke produksjonen ved bruk av lys, samt ved å få vurdert og utviklet et verktøy for å sammenlikne miljøfotavtrykket til ulike produksjoner av veksthuskulturer i Norge sammenliknet med import. Prosjektet vil være i tråd med og som en klar oppfølging av Grøntutvalgets rapport.

NORSUS will, on behalf of Matvett, carry out the project "A system for food waste in the public sector", which, as the title suggests, will develop a system for receiving food waste data from the public sector. In addition to looking at the way in which food waste should be mapped in business, and the means by which data should be reported, it will develop a system for receiving the data and for upscaling it to national food waste statistics.

"Power distribution with sustainability" will provide transmission system operators (TSOs) with a framework for the mapping and documentation of environmental sustainability, in the establishment, operation and maintenance of components, together with their dismantling for reuse or recycling.

This framework must be suitable for the production of both data and results for anything, from major, broad analyses of the energy system, to extremely detailed analyses and the selection, for example, of individual components in a transformer.

The project results will contribute to an overview for the TSOs, when identifying the relevant environmental challenges. This will enable them to develop strategies and set goals for their work on internal environmental sustainability.

There is an increasing requirement for the documentation of sustainability, both in the case of individual actors within the energy sector, and for the energy sector as a whole.

The framework must be capable of being used in communicating with customers, suppliers and the authorities. This will be achieved through the specific selection of robust and scientifically based indicators for the environmental and resource effects of the distribution grid.

As a result of this innovation, environmental sustainability will become an important component in the business management of participating TSOs. It will enable them to make changes in their distribution and transformation systems, and thus lead them in a sustainable direction.

The framework must also be suitable for use in the documentation of the overall sustainability of network operations in Norway.

Among the research questions the most important will be:

  • Which components in the network contribute environmental challenges relating to network operations?
  • How can land use and land changes be quantified, alongside the possible effects on biodiversity from the distribution of electricity?
  • Which environmental indicators with their associated calculation methods, are relevant in assessing the environmental impact of network operations?
  • How can these environmental indicators be employed in the strategy development of TSOs?

The results from the project will be in constant use in establishing the strategic goals of the TSOs, being implemented as assessment criteria in business management and strategy plans, as well as in the reporting of environmental and climate accounting.

The project manager is Energi Norge AS. Project leader Ketil Sagen.

R&D suppliers are NORSUS, NMBU and Geodata.

The transmission system operators participating in the project are: Agder Energi Nett AS, BKK Nett AS, Elvia AS, Lede AS and Tensio TN AS.