VALWARP

Value Chains for Delocalized Wet feedstocks-to-Advanced BioFuels integrating Renewable Fuels of Non Biological Origin Pathways

Project Proposal number: 101326664

Project acronym: VALWARP (Value Chains for Delocalized Wet feedstocks-to-Advanced BioFuels integrating Renewable Fuels of Non Biological Origin Pathways)

Call: HORIZON-CL5-2026-02-D3-02

Type of Action: HORIZON-RIA (HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions)

VALWARP validates a circular, decentralized biorefinery platform converting EU wet biogenic waste (industrial sewage sludge and digestate) into advanced biofuels (SAF, diesel, maritime fuels) and bio-methane, integrating hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) with RFNBO pathways. All HTL streams are valorized: biocrude is upgraded electrochemically, CO₂-rich process gas is methanated with electrolytic hydrogen, water is recovered, and composted hydrochar becomes a soil amendment. The project assesses sustainability (LCA/S-LCA), costs (LCC/TEA), macroeconomic impact and replicability, strengthening EU energy security and industrial competitiveness.

AI is a component of the project led by UNIBO-DISI: it consists in a hierarchical experimental process simulations to an orchestration layer running stochastic simulations. These generate ground-truth datasets for Knowledge Graphs underpinning a physics-aware Value Chain Design AI Assistant, which answers stakeholders’ real-time what-if queries and ranks value chain configurations. KPIs include recommendation accuracy validated by experts (human-in-the-loop), hallucination rate measured against the physics engine, and user acceptance. Multimodal AI with satellite data also support geospatial feedstock mapping.