Description of the institution
ENEA is a public Agency targeted to research, innovation technology and advanced services in the fields of energy, environment and sustainable economic development. Its activities are devoted to: basic, missionoriented and industrial research; exploiting experimental facilities, specialized laboratories, new technologies and advanced applications; dissemination and transfer of research results; providing public and private bodies with high-tech services, studies, measurements, tests and assessments; training and information activities aimed at broadening sector expertise and public knowledge and awareness. ENEA has approximately 3,200 employees operating in ten Research Centres located across Italy. The Agency also provides advanced services contributing to both decreasing CO2 emissions and the national energy dependence on fossil sources.
Role in the project
ENEA will be WP leader for the research activities on Glycerol conversion to biofuel (WP2) and will work closely with AAU, but also Processi Innovativi, SINTEF and STUBA in WP5 (Demonstration) for the designing of a basic block diagram of an industrial facility for crude glycerol conversion to hydrogen and bioethanol. Moreover, ENEA will also be involved, together with all the other partners, in the dissemination of the results of the project (WP7), aiming to their future industrial exploitation. Information about the specific experience of ENEA key personnel relevant to the above mentioned tasks are available from the underneath enclosed.
Key personnel
Vito Pignatelli has worked at ENEA in the bioenergy field since 1983 and is at present the Coordinator of RTD activities on Biomass and Bioenergy Technologies in the Renewable Energy Sources Technical Unit. He has been and is at present responsible for a broad range of both national and international RTD and demonstration activities. Since 1994, Mr. Pignatelli has been selected as an international independent expert by the appointment of the European Commission, as it concerns with bioenergy issues. Since 1999, he has been Member for Italy of the Executive Committee of the IEA Bioenergy Agreement and since 2009 Chairman of ITABIA (Italian Biomass Association), whose mission is to promote the diffusion of efficient and environmentally-sound biomass production and conversion systems for energy and industrial purposes.
Roberto Balducchi is Head of “Biotechnologies Laboratory” (UTTRI-BIOTEC) at the ENEA Trisaia Research Centre, in charge for the agro-industry and agro-energy research, development, dissemination and transfer activities, scientific and technical support to creation of new biotech start-up. He is an expert biotechnologist and microbiologist, with a focus on development of biotechnologies for agro-industrial processes (up to pilot scale), development of biotechnologies for crops protection, as well as instruments and methodologies for Quality Systems in the food and non-food sectors, demonstration and technological transfer of methods/products/processes to SMEs.
Roberto Albergo is a researcher at C.R. ENEA Trisaia, where he mainly deals with the conversion of biomass to first as well as and second generation ethanol. He got his PhD in Chemical Sciences at the University of Bari He has been in charge of the cooperation agreements. At the moment he is the scientist in charge of the project FITOPROBIO “Productive phyto-depuration of cellulosic biomasses to obtain second generation ethanol”.