BBI JU 2019 Call now open

The BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has published its 2019 Call for proposals under Horizon 2020. This sixth call will provide a further EUR 135 million of funding to boost the development of the EU’s biobased industries sector. The call is built around four strategic orientations: Feedstock, Process, Products, and Market uptake and continues the BBI JU’s objective of accelerating the development of new sustainable value chains from biomass feedstock supply via efficient processing, to the acceptance and application of bio-based products in end-markets.

The 2019 call identifier is H2020-BBI-JTI-2019 and contains 21 topic areas previously outlined in the BBI JU Annual Work Plan 2019. This document gives the full texts of the call that include 10 Research and Innovation Actions (RIAs), 7 Innovation Actions (IAs) - specifically 4 Demonstration (DEMO) calls and 4 Flagship (FLAG) calls - and 4 Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs) under the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme.

The deadline for submission of proposals is 4 September 2019, 17:00 CET, with proposal evaluations taking place during October and November and results being sent to applicants hopefully during December 2019.

Proposals to the Call 2019 can be submitted through the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal - SEDIA (former known as the Participant Portal), the official EU funding communication channel, that gives an extensive overview of all Call information, such as Call documentation, how to get support regarding intellectual property, IT, and partner searches etc.

Via the BBI JU’s Partnering Platform, potential participants and consortia members can create  free, online profiles that enable a better interaction with other potential BBI JU Call applicants.

Applicants interested in receiving professional support or advice at the national level can get in contact with the appropriate member of the BBI network of National Contact Points.

BBI Info Day

On 12 April the BBI JU Info Day 2019 is taking place in the Charlemagne Building, Brussels. Plenary presentations on Europe's biobased sector and the development of the global bioeconomy will be followed by an outline of the BBI JU 2019 Work Programme from Philippe Mengal, Executive Director of the BBI JU. Information will be provided about the BBI JU initiative and all other aspects of the 2019 Call process including details of the proposal submission and evaluation processes.

After lunch, the BBI JU Networking event, will help participants to build their networks and find potential partners for the BBI JU Call for proposals.

And throughout the day, participants will have the opportunity to speak to representatives from BBI JU's founding partners and Member States as well as exchange views with entities in synergy with the BBI JU, including SusChem. The BBI JU's Programme Office staff will also be available to answer questions about the Call process and procedure.

KETs Impact: The SUNLIQUID® and LIGNOFLAG Projects

The recent SusChem White paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’ included a number of success stories highlighting publicly funded innovation involving KETs and the SusChem News blog is featuring a selection of these fruitful 'SusChem inspired' initiatives.

KETs are technologies selected for their ability to address global challenges, support the development of new products, and stimulate economic growth.

Sustainable chemistry is essential to the technological advance of KETs including advanced materials, advanced manufacturing technologies, industrial biotechnology, micro and nanoelectronics, nanotechnology and photonics. SusChem's key enabling technologies provide the critical building blocks for the solutions needed to achieve a sustainable low carbon circular economy. You can find out more here.

Our second highlighted success story is built around the BBI JU Horizon 2020 project LINGOFLAG that aims to optimise the efficiency and increase the capacity of Clariant’s unique flagship plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues (such as straw) based on its sunliquid® technology as a significant step towards a biobased, circular economy in Europe.

Agricultural residues into biobased chemicals

Innovative process technology reduces Green House Gas (GHG) emissions

The realisation of a first-of-its-kind flagship production plant using a new technology is always a high-risk project with significant higher costs compared to subsequent plants. The support through public-private funded projects helps to de-risk the investment in a production plant and leverages private capital in this important industry sector.

Clariant’s sunliquid® process converts lignocellulosic agricultural residues, such as cereal straw, into cellulosic ethanol or other biobased chemicals in a way that is highly efficient, economic, energy-neutral and sustainable. Sunliquid® contributes to the political objectives of reducing GHG emissions in the transport sector, to support the transformation from a fossil-based economy to a biobased, circular economy through creation of green jobs, especially in rural areas, mobilisation of currently underutilised agricultural residues, boosts to local economies and creation of additional business opportunities, and creation of a sustainable and competitive source of domestic renewable energy for the EU. Sunliquid® is a biotechnological process and hence contributes to the KET biotechnology.

How was the breakthrough innovation achieved?

The sunliquid® process was developed by Clariant for more than 10 years to overcome major technological hurdles like the need for high yields, low energy consumption, and a stable and economic process of cellulosic ethanol production. During this time the process was developed from Technology Readiness level (TRL) 4 to TRL 8. The maturity of the process was developed in pilot plant scale in Munich, Germany. As a subsequent step within the process development the technology was further up-scaled to demonstration scale with Clariant’s pre-commercial plant in Straubing, Germany. This plant is operational since June 2012 and successfully demonstrated the process in an operational and integrated environment. Clariant’s sunliquid® technology is now ready for a flagship production plant for lignocellulosic ethanol.

Various development steps and parts of the sunliquid® process received and still receive funding. The funded projects on Bavarian, National and European level as well the partnership with the region Straubing enabled Clariant to develop the technology and still supports the proof of techno-economic viability of the sunliquid® technology at commercial scale.

Impact

Clariant is investing in a new commercial-scale plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol made from agricultural residues, based on the sunliquid® technology, in the southwestern part of Romania. This undertaking will have the following impact:

• Reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of up to 95%
• Clariant investment in southwestern Romania of approx. EUR 150 million
• Number of jobs: 80 direct and 300 indirect. 800–900 during construction phase in an underdeveloped region of the country with unemployment rates of 20%
• Additional income for farmers and local businesses: >EUR 20 million
• Additional tax generated in the region: >EUR 1 million annually for the next 20 years
• Regional Development: Industrial plant using agricultural residue as feedstock in a strong agricultural economy along with energy integration of actors along the whole value chain

More information
SUNLIQUID - Large scale demonstration plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol (FP7 GA number 322386)

LIGNOFLAG - Commercial flagship plant for bioethanol production (Horizon 2020/ BBI JU GA number 709606)

Read the SusChem White Paper ‘Impact: Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) in Horizon Europe’

BBI JU announces € 115 million of funding boost for the EU Biobased Industries

The BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has just announced its fifth Call under Horizon 2020: H2020-BBI-JTI-2018. With a total budget of € 115 million, the 2018 Call is built around four strategic orientations: Feedstock, Process, Products, and Market uptake. This new Call moves away from a strict biomass feedstock ‘push’ approach based on historic value chains, towards a demand for biomass that enables processing in order to respond adequately to a ‘pull’ from end markets.

A total of 21 topics are included in the 2018 Call with 11 Research and Innovation Action (RIA) topics, 3 Coordination and Support Actions (CSA) and 7 Innovation Actions (5 DEMOs and 2 Flagships) while novel eligibility criteria have also been introduced.

BBI JU’s current project portfolio is well-balanced across the types of actions deployed, relevant value chains and has achieved an excellent SME participation of 38%. Like previous BBI JU Calls, the 2018 Call respects the Horizon 2020 principles of openness, transparency and excellence.

Commenting on the 2018 Call launch Philippe Mengal, BBI JU Executive Director said: "All of us in BBI JU, together with our founding partners the European Commission and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) are proud to see the development and the geographical spread of the projects covering all corners of our continent. Every Call is a step closer towards the creation of EU’s biobased sector and it is exciting to see sectors such as the primary one to start developing such a strong interest and presence on the field. This is a clear indication that more actors see the potential, the creation of a sustainable and competitive bio-based sector has for Europe and its citizens".

More information
Details of the BBI JU Call for proposals 2018 can be found here. The deadline for submission of proposals to the BBI JU 2018 Call is 6 September 2018 at 17:00 CET.

More information about the 2018 Call will be provided during the BBI JU Info Day on 17 April in Brussels. The morning sessions will provide information about the BBI JU initiative and all aspects of the Call process. While in the afternoon participants will have the opportunity to hold face-to-face meetings in a brokerage/ partnering session.

Registration for the Info Day is now closed, but the event will be web-streamed and the link will be made available online on 16 April via the BBI JU website.

The BBI JU
The BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) is a €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). Operating under Horizon 2020, this EU body is driven by a Vision and Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) developed by the industry. The initiative is a direct result of SusChem activities.

The BBI JU is dedicated to realising the European bioeconomy potential and contributing to a sustainable circular economy, by turning biological residues and wastes (from agro-food, forestry and municipal) into greener everyday products, through innovative technologies and biorefineries, which are at the heart of the bioeconomy.

The BBI JU is the largest and most ambitious initiative in the EU to develop competitive and sustainable biobased industries. The ambition that drove its creation was to bring about the systemic change needed to develop a European biobased industry allowing investment to remain in Europe: creating new jobs and providing clear value for all EU citizens.

BioLinX Online Brokerage: Biobased Business Partnering made easy!

The EU-funded project BioLinX is organising an online brokerage event for the European bioeconomy community on 25 and 26 April. Participation in the brokerage event is free and it can help you to easily identify, contact and meet potential bioeconomy cooperation and business partners. All you need to do is register! 

To do good business means finding the right partners. The BioLinX Online Brokerage is an innovation exchange and a matchmaking platform serving academia, SMEs and large companies. If you are looking for new business partners, exciting inventions, new products and services or investments, BioLinX will connect you with the right people from the European bioeconomy community.

The third BioLinX Online Partnering and Brokerage Event takes place on 25-26 April 2018. Pitch your products, services and technologies and make new contacts in live bilateral online meetings in this international two-day event.

Matchmaking has never been easier 

• Upload your profile and cooperation offer on the brokerage platform.
• Present your business ideas and projects in live bilateral online meetings to CEOs, business developers, technology scouts and potential investors.

Or more effective

• Learn about the latest offers & requests of leading universities, research centres and SMEs.
• Identify promising innovators, contact them and let BioLinX automatically schedule your online meetings.

What are the advantages?

• Saves time and costs.
• Avoids unnecessary business trips.
• Enables experts from all over Europe to participate.
• Makes it quick and easy to pinpoint offers and requests.

Interested? Join the BioLinX Online Brokerage event and find new cooperation and business partners. You can register now for free here.

What is BioLinx?
The Horizon 2020 project BioLinX supports participants in FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects to commercialise their innovative ideas and connects them to markets and regional networks. Don't let your projects' research and development results be shelved- translate them into innovativebioeconomy solutions and products!

Contact BioLinX to find out more via Andreas Scriba at DECHEMA e.V.

Can the EU Chemical Industry go Carbon Neutral by 2050?

The chemical industry’s ambition is to play a leading role in the transformation of the European economy to a sustainable low-carbon and circular economy by creating innovative climate and energy friendly solutions, both for its own processes and for many other industries through chemical products. A new report 'Low carbon energy and feedstock for the European chemical industry' from SusChem founding partners Dechema and released via the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) explores how the chemical industry can become carbon neutral by 2050. 

The Dechema study analyses the technological options available for the chemical industry and outlines the conditions necessary to facilitate the transition of the European chemical industry to carbon neutrality.

As well as giving a first full overview of all available technologies for the main chemical production processes, it describes what is needed to refurbish the industrial base we know today in Europe, in a world of shale gas and low oil prices:

• Abundant low-carbon electricity in much larger volumes and at competitive prices;
• Availability of alternative feedstocks (e.g. bio-based raw materials, CO2 or industrial waste gases).
• An enabling fiscal structure to modernise ageing production facilities and equipment or build new plants;
• Government or public-private support to scale-up technologies and share investment risk for those technologies that are first of a kind or high risk
• Innovation and research into new chemical technologies that help overcome these challenges.
• Enabling business models to enhance cross-sectoral collaboration to find sustainable ways to re-use CO2

Role for SusChem and SPIRE

The report concludes that, in order to achieve the EU’s 2050 objectives, an ambitious research and innovation programme will be essential to improve the potential of required advanced technologies, and public-private-partnership efforts will be critical to enable fast deployment and risk sharing for the investments needed. 

In addition, industrial symbiosis opportunities and sustainable materials recycling options should be further explored in order to improve energy and resource efficiency beyond sectorial boundaries. 

Clearly these areas where SusChem and SPIRE are currently working hard to advance sustainable chemistry and sustainable process industry technologies.

Energy intensive

The chemical industry has already halved its energy intensity and greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, but producing chemicals remains one of the most energy intensive industrial processes. Making the sector carbon neutral while retaining its competitiveness in a full circular economy in Europe is a significant challenge, which cannot be solved by the industry on its own.

In an interview with Politico Energy Marco Mensink, Cefic Director General, said that the fact that the industry is looking at how to cut carbon emissions shows that it’s embracing the need for change, “I think we have always taken the position that we are very energy-intensive and that there are huge challenges to become energy neutral,” he said. “But this is a different stance.” Why? Because the attitude of the sector is changing, because the Paris climate agreement has become a reality, and because time is ticking, he added.

The main findings of the report are that the implementation of the technologies investigated in the study would allow for a very significant reduction of CO2 emissions in 2050 (up to 210 Mt annually under the maximum scenario). And including the production and use of fuels related to the pathways considered in the study, the additional CO2 abatement potential in 2050 exceeds the chemical sector’s current emissions even under the intermediate scenario.

Commenting on the report, Marco Mensink said: “Many promising low-carbon technologies are available at a relatively advanced stage of development. The industry will need to find the way to overcome the investment, raw material and energy challenges for them to be implemented on a large scale in Europe.” 

Kurt Wagemann, Executive Director of DECHEMA added: “The implementation of the technologies investigated in this study would allow for a very significant reduction of CO2 emissions of the chemical industry by 2050 even under the least ambitious scenario.”

However, such a transition to carbon neutrality will entail huge challenges for the European chemical industry including availability of low carbon energy, availability of alternative feedstock, investments in new assets that far exceed the typical level of investments in the recent years, uncompetitive production costs. 

The report

The report Low carbon energy and feedstock for the European chemical industry looks into technology options and pathway scenarios to ensure a low-carbon, yet competitive European chemical industry by 2050. The study focuses on the main chemical building blocks used in upstream large volume production processes (ammonia, methanol, ethylene, propylene, chlorine and the aromatics benzene, toluene and xylene), which represent about two-thirds of all GHG emissions in the chemical sector.

BIC Announces New SIRA For Europe’s Bioeconomy

To help build a resource-efficient, circular and bio-based economy, the Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) has just launched its new Strategic and Research Agenda (SIRA). The SIRA identifies the activities needed to speed up the development of sustainable and competitive biobased industries in Europe – an aim that SusChem wholly supports and has helped to foster for many years.

The SIRA reflects BIC’s ambition to transform Europe into a world leading bioeconomy. The updated SIRA addresses the technological and innovation challenges facing the biobased industries, takes a ‘multi-value-chain’ approach and integrates new feedstocks such as aquatic-based sources, biowaste (including from waste from food processing) and the use of carbon dioxide (CO2). The document also considers the aims of BIC’s newest members, as well as technology and market developments since the first BIC SIRA was adopted in 2013.

The new BIC SIRA identifies the research and innovation actions needed to deliver tangible and increasingly ambitious environmental, social and economic benefits by 2020 and also 2030.
Biobased value chains are at the heart of the SIRA, which is founded on four key pillars:

• Fostering a supply of sustainable biomass feedstock for both existing and new value chains 
• Optimising efficient processing for integrated biorefineries through research, development and innovation (R&D&I) 
• Developing innovative biobased products for identified market applications 
• Creating and accelerating market uptake of biobased products and applications 

The biobased industries in Europe have been evolving rapidly. Driven by business and consumer demand for greener products and by policy developments such as the European Bioeconomy Strategy and equivalent strategies in Member States, they have started to invest in technological advancements and deployment. They will receive a further boost from the increased efficiency of innovative technologies and their upscaling to commercial levels, and from the new policy focus on the circular economy and decarbonisation that initiatives such as the European circular economy package and COP21 have brought.

Circular bioeconomy
John Bell, Director for Bioeconomy, DG Research & Innovation, European Commission said:

“The latest SIRA is designed to attract new industrial sectors and stimulate closer collaboration between different industries. It envisages the creation of novel value chains, making it easier for the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) to fully support the development of a circular bioeconomy, while enabling Europe to achieve its climate goals and the objectives of the Juncker Plan to boost investment, sustainable growth and job creation.”

Mat Quaedvlieg, Vice President Strategic Business Projects at Sappi, and Chair of the BIC and BBI JU Governing Boards said:

“Since the start of the BBI JU, new value chains have emerged using feedstocks from the food processing sector, the aquatic-based sector, and even biowaste and CO2. More and more industrial sectors are collaborating on BBI JU projects, seizing the opportunity to create value from waste and side streams. This growth will speed up the development of an innovative, sustainable and competitive European economy, in line with the European Bioeconomy Strategy.”

Dynamic and sustainable
Dynamic and sustainable biobased industries in Europe can deliver many environmental, economic and social benefits. They can help to meet EU objectives in areas ranging from economic growth, job creation, the circular economy and resource efficiency to climate change mitigation, security, agriculture modernisation and regional development.

Biobased industries make use of European biomass sources and sustainable European supply chains. As such, they lower our dependency on imports and contribute to our raw material security. With 90% of Europe’s chemical industry feedstocks for non-energy use coming from fossil resources, access to alternatives is an important strategic issue. In addition Biobased industries can create opportunities for local regeneration in rural and coastal areas, fostering cooperation between different stakeholders along the value chain.

You can access and download the revised SIRA here.

Biobased Industries Consortium
The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) is a non-profit organisation based in Brussels. It represents the private sector in the public-private partnership (PPP) with the EU on Bio-based Industries (BBI). Worth €3.7 billion, the partnership mobilises investment in innovative facilities and processes that manufacture high-quality bio-based products as well as in biorefining research and demonstration projects.

BIC is host to a unique mix of sectors that currently covers agriculture, agro-food, forestry, pulp and paper, chemicals, energy and other manufacturing sectors. With over 200 members including large companies, SMEs, SME Clusters, RTOs, universities, technology platforms and associations spread across Europe, BIC brings together an authoritative pool of cross sector and multi-disciplinary expertise in the field of bio-based industries.