In Sweden, gasification is viewed as a large-scale alternative technology pathway for replacing fossil fuels with biomass and could help reduce the country's dependence on fossil fuels in many sectors, including transport. The Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) has recently approved SEK 78 million (≈EUR 8.14 million) in funding for the third phase in establishing the Swedish Gasification Centre (SFC).

Sweden has the ambition to become one of the world’s first fossil-free welfare countries. The government has also recently submitted a proposal on the so-called reduction obligation, which places tougher demands on biofuels blended into petrol and diesel.
Gasification technology is seen as a potentially effective pathway in producing biofuels at scale, and may also broaden the raw material base to encompass residues from agriculture and forestry and waste.
The Swedish Energy Agency (Energimyndigheten) has granted support to Luleå University of Technology (LTU), Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) and Chalmers University of Technology as three lead gasification research nodes. The funding totals SEK 78 million (≈EUR 8.14 million) and is for the period 2017 through to 2021.
– We need targeted efforts to make gasification competitive and come into commercial use. The Swedish Gasification Centre is one such investment, contributing to the development of a fossil free transport sector and industry, said Jonas Lindmark, Administrator at the Swedish Energy Agency in a statement.
Facts
About SFC
The Swedish Gasification Centre (Svensk Förgasningscentrum) was established in 2011. It is a national competence for research, development and research training in technology for the gasification of renewable raw materials and related fields. The upcoming Advanced Biofuels Conference in Gothenburg includes a site visit to the Gothenburg Biomass Gasification Project (GoBiGas), the world’s largest project to demonstrate gasification of woody biomass to biomethane.