Biomaterials Engineering and Environmental Technologies Research Group
Biomaterials Engineering and Environmental Technologies Research Group conducts interdisciplinary research in the areas of the bioeconomy, circular economy, and energy transition. The team focuses on developing technologies for converting biomass and waste into valuable products—energy, biohydrogen, carbon materials, and innovative biomaterials.
It employs biological and thermochemical processes such as anaerobic fermentation, torrefaction, gasification, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal treatment. The group’s goal is to create scalable solutions that support sustainable industrial development and environmental protection.
Group members
Prof. Andrzej Białowiec
Andrzej leads the Biomaterials Engineering and Environmental Technologies Research Group at Łukasiewicz – PORT Polish Center for Technology Development. He has more than 25 years of scientific and engineering experience in waste management, environmental engineering, and the development and implementation of technologies for a sustainable bioeconomy.
His work focuses on developing innovative solutions for waste processing, including constructed wetland systems for wastewater neutralization, waste biostabilization, biogas recovery, composting, and biodrying. He also works on converting waste into solid and gaseous fuels using torrefaction, pyrolysis, and hydrothermal treatment, as well as on integrating biological and thermochemical waste-processing methods.
Prof. Białowiec earned his habilitation in environmental engineering at Gdańsk University of Technology, and his professorial title in engineering and technical sciences confirms his significant contribution to the development of this field.
He gained academic experience at the University of Warmia and Mazury in Olsztyn and the Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, where he founded and headed the Department of Applied Bioeconomy. He completed numerous international research stays, including a Fulbright Senior Award fellowship (2018–2019) at Iowa State University in the United States and a postdoctoral fellowship at Cardiff University (School of Biosciences).
In total, he spent more than three years in research institutions abroad, developing international collaborations and expertise in applied projects. Prof. Białowiec’s scientific output includes over 140 publications in journals indexed in Web of Science and the execution of more than 40 research and R&D projects, 35 of which he led as principal investigator.
The technologies he developed have been implemented at full scale 16 times. He has supervised 9 PhD graduates and is currently supervising 9 additional doctoral projects. He collaborates with numerous research institutions worldwide, including Penn State University, USDA-ARS Conservation and Production Research Laboratory, Cardiff University, Fudan University, Tongji University, Technical University of Munich, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, and University of Beira Interior.
He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Polish Academy of Sciences (Wrocław Division) in the field of materials engineering. In 2021, he was recognized as one of “Wrocław’s 30 Creatives” in the science category. He is also active in the industrial sector as a board member of the Lower Silesian Hydrogen Valley Association.
Prof. Białowiec’s research interests include hydrothermal processing of biomass and waste, anaerobic fermentation, waste torrefaction and gasification, Waste-to-Hydrogen and Waste-to-Carbon technologies, as well as the development of innovative solutions within the circular bioeconomy. In his work, he combines scientific insight with practical solutions for industry and environmental protection.