Heiko Keller

Biomass and Food

Research Topics

• Life cycle assessment (LCA) with focus on bio-based materials and chemicals, bioenergy and biofuels from stand-alone plants or integrated concepts such as biorefineries or cascading use
• Cultivated annual and perennial biomass, lignocellulosic residues, algae and fermentation of electricity-based synthetic hydrocarbons
• Integrated life cycle sustainability assessment (ILCSA): integrated analysis of environmental, economic, social and other aspects relevant for sustainability
• Consulting for international and national clients from politics, industry, associations and NGOs

Curriculum Vitae

• Since 2011 Research associate at ifeu, Heidelberg – current position: senior project manager
• 2010–2011 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Heidelberg
• 2006–2010 PhD in biophysics at the University of Technology Dresden and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden
• 2005 graduation in biochemistry (Dipl.-Biochem.) from the University of Hanover, Medical School Hanover and Veterinary Medical School Hannover

Professional Memberships and Teaching Activities

• Lecturer and workshop leader, e.g. at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), course on life cycle assessment
• Reviewer for scientific journals

Selected Projects

• EnXylaScope (2021–2025, EU Horizon 2020) Development of environmentally friendly ingredients for cosmetics, personal care products and dietary supplements based on xylan from lignocellulosic residues.
• UNRAVEL (2018–2022, BBI-JU / EU Horizon 2020) Lignocellulose biorefinery based on the acetone organosolv process to produce sustainable chemicals and building materials.
• BioMates (2016–2022, EU Horizon 2020) Co-processing of pyrolysis oil from biomass residues and perennial grasses to biofuels in crude oil refineries.
• NanoTextSurf (2017–2020, EU Horizon 2020) Development and demonstration of nanocellulose surface coatings to enhance membranes, protective textiles, friction pads and abrasive materials.
• PUFAChain (2013–2017, EU FP7) Algae strain selection, cultivation and isolation of omega-3 fatty acids (poly-unsaturated fatty acids, PUFA) for nutraceuticals.
• D-Factory (2013–2017, EU FP7) Microalgae biorefinery to cultivate Dunaliella algae and convert them into pharmaceuticals, nutraceuticals, food colorants, feed and other products.
• BIOCORE (2010–2014, EU FP7) Lignocellulose biorefinery project screening and developing numerous products including the polymer precursor itaconic acid, lignin-based resins and the sweetener xylitol.

Selected Publications

• Keller, H. (2021): Potential sustainability pitfalls in the success story of lignin use. Conference of the European Cooperation in Science&Technology LignoCOST, 1-2 September 2021, Pisa, Italy and online
• Senn, J., Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Reinhardt, G.A. (2021): Environmental assessment of biocommodities from biomass pyrolysis. Proceedings of 17th RRB – International Conference on Renewable Resources and Biorefineries, 6-8 September 2021, Aveiro, Portugal
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Zinke, C. (2021): How can biomass pyrolysis sustainably contribute to climate change mitigation? Proceedings of 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies, online, 26-29 April 2021.
• Rettenmaier, N., Keller, H., Zinke, C, Reinhardt, G.A. (2021): Life cycle assessment of electromicrobial production of renewable hydrocarbon fuels. Proceedings of 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies, online, 26-29 April 2021.
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Reinhardt, G.A. (2021): New method attributional land use and land use change (aLULUC) applied to biofuels. What can it do better than iLUC and dLUC? Proceedings of 29th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies, online, 26-29 April 2021
• Keller, H., Franke, B., Gärtner, S., Reinhardt, G.A. (2020): Techno-economic assessment of nanocellulose-enhanced products. In: NanoTextSurf project reports, supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme under GA No. 760601, ifeu – Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany
• Keller, H., Fehrenbach, H., Rettenmaier N., Hemmen, M. (2019): Extending LCA methodology for assessing liquid biofuels by phosphate resource depletion and attributional land use / land use change. Proceedings of the 9^th International Conference on Life Cycle Management (LCM), Poznan, Poland, 1-4 September 2019
• Keller, H., Fehrenbach, H., Rettenmaier N., Hemmen, M. (2019): Operationalising UN sustainable development goals on a project level by linking them to integrated life cycle sustainability assessment applied to algae-based products. Proceedings of the 9^th Nordic Seaweed Conference, Grenaa, Denmark, 9-10 October 2019.
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Reinhardt, G. A. (2018): How to Set Up Sustainable Algae Biorefineries – Learning from Algae-Based Nutraceuticals. In: Proceedings of 26th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies, Copenhagen, Denmark.
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Reinhardt, G. (2018): Final report on socio-economic assessment. In: SEEMLA project reports, supported by the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme under GA No. 691874, IFEU - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. http://seemla.eu/en/project-deliverables/.
• Peñaloza, D., Keller, H. (2018): Using the social hotspots database to assess the social risks of prospective value chains: The case of D-Factory. In: Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Social Life Cycle Assessment, Pescara, Italy.
• Keller, H., Gärtner, S., Reinhardt, G., Rettenmaier, N. (2017): Environmental assessment of Dunaliella-based algae biorefinery concepts. In: D-Factory project reports, supported by the EU’s FP7 under GA No. 613870, IFEU - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. www.ifeu.de/algae.
• Keller, H., Reinhardt, G., Gärtner, S., Rettenmaier, N., Goacher, P., Mitchell, R., Peñaloza, D., Stahl, S., Harvey, P. (2017): Integrated sustainability assessment of Dunaliella-based algae biorefinery concepts. In: D-Factory project reports, supported by the EU’s FP7 under GA No. 613870, IFEU - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. www.ifeu.de/algae.
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Schorb, A., Dittrich, M., Reinhardt, G. A., de Wolf, P., van der Voort, M., Spruijt, J., Potters, J., Elissen, H., Stehr, M., Reyer, S., Lochmann, D. (2017): Integrated sustainability assessment of algae-based PUFA production. In: PUFAChain project reports, supported by the EU’s FP7 under GA No. 613303, IFEU - Institute for Energy and Environmental Research Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. www.ifeu.de/algae.
• Keller, H., Reinhardt, G., Rettenmaier, N. (2017): Übersichtsökobilanz zu Transformatoren mit unterschiedlichen Isolierölen. Im Auftrag der Netze BW GmbH, ifeu – Institut für Energie- und Umweltforschung Heidelberg, Heidelberg.
• Keller, H., Rettenmaier, N., Reinhardt, G. A. (2015): Integrated life cycle sustainability assessment – A practical approach applied to biorefineries. Applied Energy, Vol. 154, pp. 1072–1081.
• Keller, H., Gärtner, S., Müller-Lindenlauf, M., Reinhardt, G., Rettenmaier, N., Schorb, A., Bischoff, S., Hanebeck, G., Kretschmer, W., Müller-Falkenhahn, H. (2014): Environmental assessment of SUPRABIO biorefineries. In: SUPRABIO project reports, supported by the EU’s FP7 under GA No. 241640, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU) & Institute for Environmental Studies Weibel & Ness GmbH (IUS), Heidelberg, Germany. http://ifeu.de/landwirtschaft/pdf/IFEU_&_IUS_2014_Environmental assessment of SUPRABIO biorefineries_Update of 2014-10-31.pdf.
• Rettenmaier, N., Keller, H., Reinhardt, G. A. (2014): Life cycle greenhouse gas emissions of furniture and bioenergy production from oil palm trunks. GCB Bioenergy, Vol. 6, No.5, pp. 509–520.
• Rettenmaier, N., Harter, R., Himmler, H., Keller, H., Kretschmer, W., Müller-Lindenlauf, M., Reinhardt, G., Scheurlen, K., Schröter, C. (2014): Integrated sustainability assessment of the BIOCORE biorefinery concept. Supported by the EU’s FP7 under GA No. 241566, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), Heidelberg, Germany. http://www.biocore-europe.org/file/BIOCORE_D7_6_Integrated assessment_2014-03-31.pdf.
• Gärtner, S., Hienz, G., Keller, H., Müller-Lindenlauf, M. (2013): Gesamtökologische Bewertung der Kaskadennutzung von Holz Umweltauswirkungen stofflicher und energetischer Holznutzungssysteme im Vergleich. Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IFEU), Heidelberg, Germany. http://www.ifeu.de/fileadmin/uploads/landwirtschaft/pdf/IFEU 2013_Umweltbewertung Holzkaskadennutzung.pdf.
• Keller, H., Gärtner, S. (2011): Kaskadennutzung von nachwachsenden Rohstoffen: eine ökologische Bewertung. In: Kolloquium Sustainable BioEconomy des KIT, Karlsruhe, Germany.