ToFuel Project | From Tomato Plant Residues to Sustainable Aviation Fuel

The ToFuel project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No. 101235233 (DOI: 10.3030/101235233). With a total budget of €3.49 million, a duration of 48 months, and an implementation period from 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2029, the project addresses innovative pathways for the production of sustainable aviation fuel.

The project focuses on the valorisation of residues from tomato processing, including stems, leaves, flowers and tomato pomace, with the objective of developing an integrated biorefinery concept for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other bio-based products.

Within the project, two processing routes will be developed and compared. The first route investigates extrusion as a biomass fractionation technology prior to microbial fermentation to lipids. These lipids are subsequently purified and converted into sustainable aviation fuel. The second route applies a hydrothermal treatment process at elevated temperature and pressure, converting biomass residues mainly into biooil and biochar. In this pathway, the biochar functions as a soil conditioner, while the biooil is purified before conversion into aviation fuel.

The overall biorefinery concept also includes CO₂ fixation via algae cultivation, using lipid-producing algae species to increase the overall process yield. In parallel, water management is addressed as a key aspect of the process development. To ensure sustainability, life cycle assessment will be performed for both processing routes.

As an outcome of the project, a carbon-neutral biorefinery concept for the production of sustainable aviation fuel is expected, with potential transferability to other agricultural and food processing residues.

The ToFuel consortium brings together eleven partner institutions from seven European countries under TU Graz coordination, Marlene Kienberger, TU Graz. Within the project, ESEIA contributes as lead of Work Package 7, responsible for dissemination, communication and stakeholder engagement activities.

ESEIA Members involved in the project include ESEIA (AT), TU Graz (AT), UZagreb PBF (HR), LNEG (PT), TU Vienna (AT).

The ToFuel project has been featured in Kleine Zeitung, AT, in an article highlighting research on sustainable aviation fuel from tomato processing residues. Read the article.

Contact:

ToFuel Project Coordinator: Marlene Kienberger, TU Graz, marlene.kienberger@tugraz.at

ESEIA Project Manager: Zina Mejbri, zina.mejbri@eseia.eu