Sekab teams on using lignin to pave roads

In Sweden, the companies Peab Asfalt and Sekab have reached a milestone by replacing a fraction of the oil-based bitumen with softwood lignin on a highly busy road area in Sweden. The progress has been made under the EU project Rewofuel.

The Rewofuel project is starting the first attempts to lay asphalt with lignin on a road with around 8000-10 000 cars passing each day. Lignin is the wood’s natural binder and when it replaces the oil-based bitumen, both technical and environmental benefits are achieved

Peab Asfalt, one of the eleven partners within the EU industrial development project Rewofuel has performed the first field trial by adding softwood hydrolysate lignin produced by Sekab in Örnsköldsvik in their asphalt production. The Rewofuel project aims at developing various bio-based products from forestry residues such as, high performances drop-in renewable gasoline and jetfuel, lignin based products and animal feed.

The project has been going on for over two years. Sekab has produced sugar and lignin based on their CelluAPP technology platform applied in the Biorefinery Demo Plant, in Örnsköldsvik. Sekab has optimized the product stream to meet required specification for downstream project partners and produced sugar and lignin in ton scale.