EKOAKKU
Utilisation of industrial side streams in the production of low-carbon battery chemicals
Branch: Chemistry and bioeconomy
Duration: 1.3.2025-31.08.2027
Region: National
Financed by: Keski-Pohjanmaan Liitto, Pohjois-Savon Liitto ja Pohjois-Pohjanmaan Liitto.
Budget: 549 098 €
https://net.centria.fi/hanke/ekoakku
Project Manager: Egidija Rainosalo
The project aims to drive innovation in battery production by utilizing industrial side streams,
thereby enhancing battery performance, promoting low-carbon production, and improving the
sustainability of the regions.
The technical objectives focus on utilizing industrial waste streams containing biochar, silicon,
iron, phosphorus, and lithium as raw materials for battery chemicals. Biogenic silicon will be
recovered from the food industry by-products, such as barley and oat husk. Biochar will be
produced via the pyrolysis of biomass. In addition, industrial side streams contain graphite,
which will be extracted and processed into anode-grade material utilizing thermal processes.
Lithium iron phosphate will be manufactured using lithium, iron, and phosphorus sourced from
by-products of the inorganic chemical industry.
A crucial aspect of the project is to strengthen research collaboration, which enables more
effective resource and knowledge sharing, accelerates research outcomes, and amplifies the
overall impact of the research. Promoting business cooperation is also a key objective, which
accelerates the transfer of developed solutions and innovations for recovering industrial side
streams into practice.
The project’s long-term impact could be both economically and environmentally significant. It
can contribute to the wider adoption and uptake of the circular economy, reduce dependence on
raw material imports, improve industrial competitiveness and create new business opportunities.
The project will also support the green transition and the achievement of climate objectives and
strengthen regional economic growth in Central and Northern Ostrobothnia and North Savo.
05/2026
What do beer, flatbread and batteries have in common?
Every batch of beer leaves behind a byproduct known as brewers spent grain (BSG), a solid residue from the mashing process. BSG is a biomass rich in fibre, protein and lignin. In Finland alone, over 60,000 tonnes of BSG are produced every year. While most of it ends up as animal feed or in landfill, it can be used as an additive in food industry and in biogas production. But the husk part of BSG contains something even more valuable.
The husk of barley grains contains structures called phytoliths, which are naturally porous structures consisting of amorphous silicon dioxide. The phytoliths of the husk can be turned into bio-based silicon by reducing the silicon dioxide using metallothermic reduction. This silicon contains naturally mesoporous structure, which can be utilized to improve the cycling stability of sustainable silicon anodes, by buffering the large volume expansion of silicon during the charging and discharging of the battery.
In EKOAKKU project, biomass based silica is converted into silicon for battery anodes with higher energy density, and to complement mined materials with alternative sources. In our next post, we’ll be looking at other sidestreams being studied in EKOAKKU project for carbon based anode and LFP cathode production.
10/2025
Centria’s expertise in the battery value chain was prominently showcased during Centria’s general Open Days as well as the RDI (Research, Development and Innovation) open house event. Over the two days, there was a strong turnout of visitors, with particular interest focused on the use of silicon as a battery material and the process of extracting it from spent grain generated in breweries.
“People were interested and even surprised that silicon used in batteries can be recovered from biomass generated as a side stream,” said Jakov Lubenets, an expert at the presentation point.
Jakov is currently working in the laboratory to optimize processes so that the full potential of experiments using bio-based materials can be realized in the future.
PARTNERS
Centria University of Applied Sciences
Oulu University
University of Eastern Finland