The BioBase4SME network
represents a group of leading biobased economy experts and advises SMEs from
across North-West Europe on how to develop new ideas into marketable products.
The BioBase4SME project can help Start-ups and SMEs to overcome technological
and non-technological barriers to bring their bioeconomy innovations to market.
The bioeconomy represents a
massive opportunity for Europe. Locally produced biobased feedstocks rather
than imported fossil resources can be used to produce materials, chemicals,
energy and more, creating a new knowledge and technology intensive economy with
high employment potential and with reduced environmental impact.
The BioBase4SME project expects
to bring at least 20 promising innovations closer to the market, resulting in
new investments and job creation, and provide training to about 200
entrepreneurs active in the biobased economy, thus boosting their innovation
capacity. Other principle outputs are a strong, interregional network to guide
entrepreneurs towards successful innovation, improved regional support for the
bioeconomy in terms of innovation and investment climate, legal framework and
public approval.”
Bio-Innovation
The BioBase4SME project can
provide ‘bio-innovation’ support to entrepreneurs throughout regions in
north-west Europe. This support can include:
Free workshops and professional
training
Innovation Biocamps
Innovation vouchers worth up to
EUR 100 000.
The support available through the
Innovation voucher system can include:
Technical assistance such as
support for scale-up to pilot scale
The programme has the ambition to
make the North-West Europe area a key economic player and an attractive place
to work and live, with high levels of innovation, sustainability and cohesion.
It invests EUR 370 million of ERDF money in activities based on the cooperation
of organisations from eight countries: Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland,
Luxembourg, The Netherlands, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
The final event of the Horizon 2020 project RoadToBio will take place on Monday 18 February 2019 in Brussels. This stakeholder workshop event will present and discuss the project’s ‘Roadmap for the Chemical Industry in Europe towards a Bioeconomy’.
Over the last 18 months, the RoadToBio consortium has developed suggestions on how to produce 25% of organic chemical products in Europe as biobased goods by 2030. The results of the project have been achieved in close cooperation with many stakeholders from industry, associations, NGOs, and academia.
At this final workshop, the project will share the insights that have been gained and discuss the results of the analysis, the proposed actions and the messages that can help to facilitate the participatory development of Europe's bioeconomy going forward.
Objectives
There are three main objectives to the workshop.
Firstly, to present the analysis on the selected nine product groups with a high potential to switch from a fossil-based to a biobased production pathway and to discuss their market opportunities. These nine products groups are: Agrochemicals, Adhesives, Cosmetics, Lubricants, Man-Made fibres, Paints and Coatings, Plastics, Solvents, and Surfactants. Participants to the workshop will be able to choose two breakout sessions covering specific aspects of each product group.
Secondly, to discuss general barriers that may hinder the development of Europe’s bioeconomy and the recommended actions from the project to overcome these.
And, thirdly, to explain how biobased products could be communicated better and what tools and messages can be used to better engage stakeholders and the public
How can the chemical industry in Europe meet the challenges in global markets while becoming more sustainable at the same time? RoadToBio is a Horizon2020 project funded via the Biobased Industries JU that aims to pave the way for the European chemical industry towards a higher biobased portfolio and competitive success based on the benefits offered by the bioeconomy. The Project will deliver a roadmap for the chemical industry that will specify benefits as well as barriers towards a biobased economy to meet societal needs in 2030.
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.
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 KETs success story number 8 highlights the WALEVA project funded by the EU under the LIFE / LIFE+ environmental programme and the associated Spanish national research project BIOSOS that demonstrated how the environmental damage from the burning of rice straw (a waste product of rice cultivation) can be eliminated, and the waste used as raw material for the production of the biobased chemical building block levulinic acid with multiple uses in consumer products from pharmaceuticals to biofuels and polymers to food.
WALEVA Technology
Fostering a new value chain producing high value products from lignocellusic wastes
Synchronised combination of Member State and EU funding accelerates breakthrough technology to market
The aim of Técnicas Reunidas’ (TR) WALEVA technology is to transform a lignocellusic waste (rice straw) into levulinic acid, a high value-added product which is currently considered one of the 12 most promising chemical platforms according to the United States Department of Energy. Levulinic acid is a monomer subject to significant industrial demand since, after its chemical transformation, it can potentially be applied to several industrial sectors such as pharmaceuticals, fuels, polymers, food and chemistry in general.
WALEVA technology falls under biotechnology area, which is one the major Key Enabling Technologies defined by the European Commission. WALEVA has reached a Technology Readiness Level (TRL) of 7 and first steps to commercialisation have been taken.
WALEVA technology will foster a new value chain that will produce high value products from residues ensuring the economic feasibly for each step in the chain: farmers, waste managers, biobased industries and end-users. This business model puts into practice the concept of Circular Economy and contributes to several UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), such as, Climate Action.
Preliminary results demonstrate the economic feasibility of WALEVA technology for scales starting at the range of 10 000 tons of levulinic acid per year. As for market deployment, levulinic acid is expected to play a key role in the Green Chemistry megatrend.
WALEVA will contribute significantly to improve rice sector sustainability, by reducing CO2 emissions up to an 80% compared to current practice of burning of rice straw. Moreover, WALEVA will contribute to economic development and wealth creation in rural areas that heavily depend on this crop.
The RoadToBio project is developing different business cases to show the possibilities for greater use of biobased feedstock and materials in the chemical industry, the barriers which hinder market uptake for biobased products and how to overcome them. as part of this the project conducted a webinar in mid-July that is now available for all. Nine new biobased opportunities identified for the Chemical Industry
The BBI-JU funded Horizon 2020 project RoadToBio has as its main main goal the development of a Roadmap to show the path to increase the bio-based share up to 25% in the chemical industry by 2030.
Survey on key barriers and hurdles on biobased products – what is your opinion?
Another feature of the RoadToBioproject is the involvement of stakeholders from the chemical industry, academia, NGOs as well as governmental bodies from the very start of the project. Currently the project is on the barriers which hinder market uptake for biobased products.
For this the project has developed a survey to give the different stakeholders the opportunity to share their opinions and to communicate them with greater impact. The project is seeking your input and opinion on significant barriers to biobased products that hinder market uptake.
Do you want to be part on the journey to a bioeconomy-based future? If so, complete the survey by the 31 August and return it back to the RoadToBio consortium. More information on the survey is available here.
More on RoadToBio
How can the chemical industry in Europe meet the challenges in global markets while becoming more sustainable at the same time? RoadToBio is a Horizon2020 project funded via the Biobased Industries JU that aims to pave the way for the European chemical industry towards a higher biobased portfolio and competitive success based on the benefits offered by the bioeconomy. The Project will deliver a roadmap for the chemical industry that will specify benefits as well as barriers towards a biobased economy to meet societal needs in 2030.
Registration is now open for the second RoadToBio stakeholder workshop on biobased opportunities for the chemical industry. The workshop is organised by the RoadToBio consortium and will take place on Tuesday 19 June 2018 - the day before the SusChem Annual Stakeholder event - in Brussels. The workshop will introduce and discuss the biobased opportunities identified within the project for the chemical industry to increase its biobased portfolio.
Over the past year, RoadToBio has identified opportunities to switch fossil process chains in the chemical industry to biobased alternative methods. For this purpose, the technical side was analysed and complemented with studies on public perception and regulatory barriers. In this way nine 'sweet spots' were identified, which are to be worked out in detail in a roadmap to show the possibilities for how biobased alternatives can be included in the portfolio of the European chemical industry.
The aim of the workshop is to invite participants to take a closer look at these sweet spots, the methods the project has used for their identification and to discuss what is important to develop a new process.
How can the chemical industry in Europe meet the challenges in global markets while becoming more sustainable at the same time? RoadToBio is a Horizon2020 project and funded via the Biobased Industries JU that aims to pave the way for the European chemical industry towards a higher biobased portfolio and competitive success based on the benefits offered by the bioeconomy. The Project will deliver a roadmap for the chemical industry that will specify benefits as well as barriers towards a biobased economy to meet societal needs in 2030.
Recently, many successful production and subsequent uses of biobased building blocks have started up. However, their production and applications are limited. Aside from technical and operational challenges, there is a plethora of hurdles in the fields of regulation and acceptance hindering the chemical industry to increase its biobased portfolio.
The roadmap developed in RoadToBio will contain two main components: first, an analysis of the most promising opportunities (‘sweet spots’) for the chemical industry to increase its biobased portfolio as well as the technological and commercial barriers and the hurdles in regulations and acceptance by society, governing bodies and the industry itself, and second, a strategy, action plan and engagement guide to overcome the existing and anticipated barriers and hurdles as mentioned above.
The roadmap for the chemicals industry to a bioeconomy will describe the actions that need to be done by all stakeholders to achieve the overarching objectives, set out over time, showing inter-dependencies between them. The overarching objectives are to achieve the full exploitation of the bioeconomy within the EU, specifically aiming for a 30% share of biobased products in the chemical industry by 2030.
The SuperBIO Horizon 2020 project is getting close to reaching its goal of developing 30 cross-border, cross-sectorial value chains in the biobased economy. The initiative has a target to develop 30 new disruptive biobased value chains together with EU SMEs through provision of 10 different accessible professional innovation services to SMEs at affordable prices.
Established in 2016, SuperBIO has been such a success that, only twelve months into the project, 20 value chains have already been developed. The project expects to reach its goal before the end of the year! New applicants should therefore hurry up to become one of the 10 new value chains that remain to be developed and supported by SuperBIO.
The newly established value chains in SuperBIO are very diverse and include biogas production, food, horticultural and agricultural waste valorisation, bioplastics production, and production of high-value compounds such as crop-protection products, fragrances or food additives.
SuperBIO is a truly Europe-wide project, attracting SMEs from Belgium, Finland, France, Israel, Italy, Portugal, the UK, Spain, The Netherlands, Norway and Turkey.
Innovation services
SMEs participating in the value chains can each receive innovation services to a value of €60 000, with 75% of the support funded through the project. The 20 developed value chains are now gaining more insight into feedstock and market information, life-cycle analysis (LCA), techno-economics, regulatory barriers, business planning and access to investors, subsidy strategy, intellectual property (IP) protection, and proof-of-concept or scale-up issues. With its innovation support services, SuperBIO fills a tangible need for EU bioeconomy SMEs and gives them a head start to get closer to their markets.
SuperBIO can only support a limited number of SMEs, but the project still welcomes applications for new value chains from industrial stakeholders. Hurry up and take advantage of this exclusive opportunity to get a boost for your biobased business.
Biomass is a wonderful resource that can be transformed into chemicals, biobased materials, food and feed ingredients or energy. However, adaptation and optimisation of transformation processes and technologies remains a real challenge to fully valorise all biomass fractions in a true circular economy approach.
In the context of the circular economy, the need for an optimal valorisation of renewable resources, and of Industry 4.0 considerations BIOKET will be an excellent opportunity for all experts to discuss and share their experiences with emerging and key enabling technologies for the bioeconomy. Inspiring programme
An inspiring and targeted conference programme has been developed, which will tackle topics such as advanced and innovative biomass pre-treatment; technologies for biomass conversion and functionalization; extraction, separation and purification of biomass; process modelling and analytical methods and tools; innovative tools; design of bioprocesses, advanced fermentation.
Advanced and innovative biomass pre-treatment – Physical and thermochemical pre-treatment – Densification – Fractionation
Technologies for biomass conversion and functionalization
Extraction, separation and purification of biomass
Process modelling and analytical methods and tools - in situ characterization techniques
Innovative tools: Enzymatic and metabolic engineering, synthetic biology and bio-nanotechnology
Design of bioprocesses and advanced fermentation
In addition, a vast area of 1 500 square metres will host the BIOKET exhibition area and there will be ample opportunity for networking and finding new biobased business leads.
The BIOKET conference itself takes place on 7 and 8 March with a BBI and Bioeconomy Horizon 2020 project information and Brokerage pre-event scheduled for Tuesday 6 March.
Registration for the conference opens on 3 September, but you can find more information on the BIOKET website, where you can also subscribe to the BIOKET newsletter to receive updates on the event.
How can the chemical industry in Europe meet the challenges of global markets while at the same time becoming more sustainable? RoadToBio is an EU-funded project under Horizon 2020 that aims to pave the way for the European chemical industry to embrace a higher biobased portfolio and more competitive success. Despite considerable efforts over the past few years, the production and application of biobased chemicals is still limited. The roadmap developed in RoadToBio will specify the benefits for the chemical industry of moving from a fossil-based industry towards the bioeconomy to meet the societal needs of 2030.
Today (6 July) the project’s first expert workshop is taking place in Brussels to initiate a discussion on the biobased ‘sweet spots for the chemical industry and develop a list of criteria for biobased products and/ or the shift towards a bioeconomy in the chemical sector from the viewpoint of diverse stakeholders.
The results of the project, a Coordination and Support Action (CSA), first announced in the BBI JU 2016 work programme, will be of critical interest to SusChem stakeholders. The SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) focuses on a sustainable and inclusive bioeconomy as a priority and the outcomes of the project will inform future revisions of the SusChem SIRA.
The roadmap will consist of two main components: an analysis of the most promising opportunities (the ‘sweet spots’) for the chemical industry to increase its biobased portfolio, and a strategy, action plan and engagement guide to overcome the existing and anticipated barriers and hurdles.
The analytical part of the project will take into account feedstock, technologies and markets as well as regulatory issues, societal needs, consumer acceptance and communication. Business cases will be explored that cover new feedstock for the chemical industry, new intermediates for and by the chemical industry, as well as new end-products.
The business cases will be analysed in detail to understand the market potential, the different up- and downstream actors in the value chain as well as the benefits for society based on techno-economic and life cycle assessments.
30% biobased share
The outcomes of the analysis will be used to formulate a strategy, action plan and engagement guide for the chemical industry. They will describe the actions that need to be taken by all stakeholders to achieve the objective of a 30% share of biobased products in the chemical industry by 2030.
To maintain a realistic perspective and gain the support and commitment of the key players, representatives of the European chemical industry and other stakeholders will be involved in the project from the very beginning, providing input and feedback.
This means the roadmap will be developed in consultation with stakeholders, and disseminated to a wide audience. Furthermore, RoadToBio will bring together different parts of the chemical industry, society, and governing bodies in order to start a dialogue and to create a platform where this action plan can unfold to its full potential.
The consortium of this two-year project that started in May 2017 consists of SusChem founding member DECHEMA eV., BTG Biomass Technology Group BV, E4tech (UK) Ltd., and the nova-Institut.
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.
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.
‘Providing links to speed-up innovation in the bioeconomy’ is not only the full title of the BioLinX project, but also its primary goal. Migration towards a more biobased economy offers important opportunities for Europe, both in terms of ecology and in terms of economy. BioLinx project coordinator, Dennis van der Pas of the regional development authority REWIN in the Netherlands, explains.
“The European Commission has successfully supported bioeconomy related projects during FP7 and will continue to do so under Horizon 2020. However, a range of hurdles, as identified within FP7 projects like the SusChem supported Bio-TIC and R4R projects, slow down the pace of innovation and market exploitation of research results in the bioeconomy. These hurdles are strongly intertwined and mitigating them requires joint efforts by multiple actors. Actors from within and outside of the value chain (such as regions, governments, advocacy parties, and financial parties) should be involved to bring innovation to the market.”
Van der Pas continues: “BioLinX contributes towards bringing research and innovation to the market in the bioeconomy by providing a variety of services aimed at overcoming the hurdles. The initiating BioLinX partners all have leading roles in their regional bioeconomies and have a strong foothold in the lignocellulose, agro- and agro-waste feedstock sectors. Incidentally: bioeconomy as per its proper definition does not limit itself to just industrial biotechnology, but also comprises sustainable chemistry and green chemical technologies; sectors of the SusChem community.”
“BioLinX has already engaged with and supported over sixty EU co-funded biobased projects from all stages of the value chain. Furthermore, BioLinX has created links with 10 key regional Bioeconomy clusters in Europe. The relevant partners of the selected projects and regions are invited to participate in the BioLinX Innovation Linking and Support Programme. This programme consist of activities focusing on Brokerage, Innovation Incubation, Business Development, Finance and Funding and identifies and shares good practices.“ BioLinX services in a nutshell
Are looking for private financing - BioLinX offers assistance to find (private) financing. We can parties to get investment-ready and can provide advice, training and access to private financing.
Are looking for public funding - Next to private finance, BioLinX assists in finding (public) funding resources as well. We help parties in (amongst others) finding grants, formation of project consortia and stakeholder analysis.
Are looking for value chain partners - BioLinX offers a well-established network capable of finding new value chain partners or new parties. The home base of the BioLinX project is formed by three well advanced regions/countries (Sweden, South-Netherlands / Biobased Delta, Northern Italy). BioLinX will expand its network to other regions as well (e.g. Germany, Scotland, Ireland, South Italy, Finland,).
Are looking for introductions to networks or (test) facilities etc - Because of its extensive network and the capabilities of the various BioLinX partners we can provide projects/companies with easy access to multiple lab and pilot facilities and regional stakeholders in different regions.
Are looking for bioconomy patents, literature and more - The BioLinX Intelligence Platform offers easy access to literature, patents and project information. The intelligence database facilitates filtering and access to relevant scientific articles (18 million articles), patents (European patent database), European projects and funding opportunities.
Have no time and budget to travel but have a need for visibility - BioLinX offers a Partnering platform alongside its Intelligence platform. BioLinX recognizes that time and budget constraints are sometimes limiting factors to have ‘face-to-face’ meetings or discussions. Therefore BioLinX organizes online partnering events where parties can find, contact and meet potential cooperation partners in a secured online meeting room.
These BioLinX initiatives are complemented with activities regarding advocacy, communication and dissemination.
Van der Pas concludes: Anyone who is interested in what BioLinX has to offer is invited to join the BioLinX community. You can register at the BioLinX website. Or alternatively get in touch with me directly - also via our website.”
From 31 May to 1 June the BioBased Live Europe event will be taking place at the Amsterdam Science Park. BioBased Live aims to take biobased innovations from laboratory to market through best practice sharing and making biobased products a key part of sustainable strategies.
BioBased Live and its organisers, BioBased World News, believe there has never been a more exciting time to work in the biobased industries - and SusChem agrees! Global production of biobased chemicals now exceeds 60 million tonnes with the global market for biobased chemicals expected to increase to at least $12.2 billion by 2021. We want to support this sustainable shift towards the circular economy and bio-based products. What is BioBased Live Europe?
This second annual meeting offers an interactive and intimate environment to make biobased innovations a key part of future sustainable strategies. Bringing together CEOs, senior R&D,and Process Heads with the sustainability professionals, brand marketing specialists and end users, the event creates a unique platform to do business and create practical takeaways to ensure long-term sustainable success.
As an emerging industry the journey from lab innovation to commercialisation for biobased products can be a difficult one. It is a convoluted ecosystem and all actors are required to collaborate and work together to ensure a productive future for the bio-based industry. This is where Biobased Live comes in.
Focus of the event, in which SusChem will participate is on two themes:
Process Innovation & Technology - developing biobased and green innovations that are cost-competitive at commercial scale.
Sustainable Products - improving the triple bottom line for brands and retailers by placing biobased and green adoption at the heart of sustainability strategies.
You can find out more at the BioBased Live website, where you can look at the event's agenda, download a brochure for the event and, of course, register. SusChem stakeholders are being offered a 15% discount on registration fees using the code SUS15.
The bioeconomy refers to the production and extraction of renewable biological resources and their conversion into food and feed, bio-based products and bioenergy. The current notion of the bioeconomy emerged recently as a knowledge-driven concept aimed at meeting a range of today's challenges. In the European Union (EU), the bioeconomy sectors have an annual turnover of about €2 trillion and employ between 17 and 19 million people. They use almost 75% of the EU land area.
The briefing highlights the strong research and innovation dimension of the bioeconomy, which may be applied to improve the production of food, feed and fibre as well as to develop new applications and products in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, chemicals and energy. This dimension, generally referred to as the 'knowledge-based bioeconomy', is in part driven by recent developments in bioscience and biotechnology, related in particular to bio-based materials and genetic engineering of crops. Recent applications include materials, textiles, cosmetics, furniture and food. A variety of products could be produced in integrated units, for instance integrated biorefineries producing fuels, chemicals, plastics, heat and electricity.
A stronger bioeconomy could trigger growth and jobs, and reduce dependency on imports. It could contribute to optimising the use of biological resources, which remain finite although they are renewable. However, it could also create competition between uses and technologies at various levels. Besides, the amount of available biomass remains disputed. A bioeconomy could contribute to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving public health. However, it could also trigger new greenhouse gas emissions and induce adverse impacts on the environment.
The EU policy framework for the bioeconomy is spread across a number of policies (agriculture, forestry, fisheries, climate, circular economy and research). Although a bioeconomy strategy from 2012 aims to ensure policy coherence, inconsistencies remain. The EU provides funding to innovative bioeconomy activities through Horizon 2020 and a range of other instruments.
The European Parliament has been supportive of the bioeconomy strategy, while highlighting the need for sustainability and policy coherence.
SusChem and the Bioeconomy
A sustainable bioeconomy features in the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) encompassing the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and associated waste streams into value-added products such as feed, food, biobased products and bioenergy.
Integrated biorefineries are central to the development of the bioeconomy and were one SusChem’s original flagship innovation concepts. They can deliver new sources of chemical building blocks that are either structurally similar to fossil-based feedstock or new with novel functionalities and improved properties. In order to unlock the full potential of a sustainable biomass supply, it is essential to consider all possible sources including second generation biomass and waste streams (such as municipal wastes). The bioeconomy can improve resource efficiency and is a key element in achieving the broader concept of a circular, integrated, renewable economy.
Innovation is also a key solution provider for the transition to a more Circular Economy and the development by the chemical sector of innovative advanced materials and process technologies is essential to enable a better use of existing resources along the whole life cycle, to develop new production and recycling paths.
About EPRS
The European Parliamentary Research Service is the European Parliament's in-house research department and think tank. Its mission is to assist Members in their parliamentary work by providing them with independent, objective and authoritative analysis of, and research on, policy issues relating to the European Union. It is also designed to increase Members and European Parliament committees' capacity to scrutinise and oversee the European Commission and other EU executive bodies.
One of SusChem’s first three visionary project concepts outlined in its initial Vision document in 2004 was the development of a fully integrated biorefinery. Now the BIOSKOH flagship research project, funded under the BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) in Horizon 2020, will demonstrate a first of its kind commercial-scale second generation biorefinery in Europe. This sustainable, circular bioeconomy project will transform a brownfield industrial site in eastern Slovakia into a 55 kton cellulosic ethanol production facility.
To establish an advanced European bioeconomy and transit towards a sustainable future, Europe needs to boost the sustainable conversion of renewable biomass into biobased products, chemicals and energy. Currently, there are no true full-scale producers of second generation (2G) bioethanol in Europe. BIOSKOH aims to change this through research and innovation and specifically to pave the way for the largest 2G biorefinery in Europe with a 110 kton capacity.
Development Phases
The project has two development phases. Initially it will develop a flagship 55 kton 2G biorefinery to produce cellulosic ethanol for EU biofuel mandates. This should pave the way for second stage investment to scale up to a 110 kton facility that will be the largest in Europe.
BIOSKOH, full project title ‘Innovation Stepping Stones for a Novel European Second Generation Bioeconomy', launched in October 2016 and includes eleven partners from seven EU member states in its consortium. The project members represent the full bioeconomy value chain including land owners, feedstock producers, supply chain experts, agronomical researchers, leading biotechnology companies, innovative technology providers, and plant constructors and operators.
BIOSKOH’s core project aims are to:
Establish a first of a kind biorefinery flagship for Europe in terms of size and innovation potential
Demonstrate a full regional biobased value chain, helping farmers to diversify business and create new opportunities including the exploitation of currently under-used resources by introducing farmers to innovative ways to use biomass
Improve regional infrastructure including substantial storage and shipment facilities for agricultural products
Support cross-industry collaboration between the agro-industry, bio-based, chemical and energy industries
Validate and optimise several design and process solutions to upscale and integrate them into the bioeconomy value chain
Create up to 160 direct and 500 indirect jobs across the value chain, from feedstock production and processing, supply chain logistics, up to bioethanol production and side-stream valorisation
Share a summary of the project’s sustainable business model, including how it used Innovation Stepping Stones to build techno-economic viability
By enabling full-scale production of 2G bio-ethanol in Europe, BIOSKOH will help to boost the bioeconomy and create an inspiring example for the global biobased market.
The project boasts four Innovation Stepping Stones: superior biorefinery technology; a brownfield approach, improving regional infrastructure; industrial symbiosis and energy autonomy; and abundant, secure and sustainable biomass.
The project will also explore the potential for emerging biobased materials including the use of lignin by-products from the BIOSKOH process and bio-ethylene. More information
For more information on the BIOSKOH project visit the project website or contact the project via email. You can also follow BIOSKOH on Twitter via @bioskoh.
The 2017 AWP is the fourth AWP in a total of seven that are planned between 2014 and 2020. The critical path towards 2020 for the PPP is the acceleration of the development of (new) sustainable value chains from biomass feedstock supply via efficient processing, to the acceptance and application of biobased products in end-markets. The 2017 AWP refocuses on the need to better integrate biomass feedstock suppliers on the front end of the value chain to create a demand for biomass feedstock from biorefining processes.
Similarly, the AWP aims to stimulate the formation of partnerships with end market actors to create a ‘market pull’ for biobased products for identified applications. As initiated in last year’s AWP 2016, the AWP 2017 moves away from a strict biomass feedstock ‘push’ based on traditional value chains, towards a demand for biomass to enable processing to respond adequately to a ‘pull’ from the end markets.
Focus and impact
The identified priorities for the BBI JU continue to build on those for 2016, but add emphasis on products with new functionalities, and on supporting actions to better realise the associated expected impacts. In addition, the emphasis on sustainability, addressing the environmental, social and economic dimension, is increased.
The strategic orientations for 2017 and 2018 are:
Fostering a sustainable biomass-feedstock supply to feed both existing and new value chains;
Optimising efficient processing for integrated biorefineries;
Developing innovative bio-based products for specific market applications;
Creating and accelerating the market uptake of bio-based products and applications.
The 2017 Call
The 2017 call will have the identifier: H2020-BBI-JTI-2017 and the anticipated official publication date is 11 April with a indicative deadline for proposal submission of 17h00 (Brussels time) on 7 September. The call will be a single stage call and the total indicative budget for the call is € 81 million with an estimated value of the in kind contributions by the members other than the European Union or their constituent entities of a minimum of € 40 million.
The full call topic list is below. Research and Innovation Actions – Total indicative budget: € 36 million
BBI 2017.R1 – Valorisation of gaseous side streams from bio-based operations into chemical building blocks (Strategic orientation: Feedstock, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R2 – Innovative technologies for the pre-treatment and separation of lignocellulosic feedstock and complex composition streams into valuable fractions while maintaining key characteristics (Strategic orientation: Process, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R3 – Exploiting extremophiles and extremozymes to broaden the processing conditions to convert biomass into high value building blocks (Strategic orientation: Process, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R4 – Proteins and other bioactive ingredients from side streams and residues (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R5 – Novel bio-based chemical precursors to improve the performance of mass consumption products (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R6 – Competitive biodegradable, compostable and/or recyclable bio-based plastics for a sustainable end-of-life phase (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
BBI 2017.R7 – Novel secondary bio-based chemicals without significant fossil-based counterparts but with high application potential (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: € 2 million to € 5 million)
Innovations Actions – Demonstration Actions - Total indicative budget: € 22 million
BBI 2017.D1 – Valorisation of liquid and solid side streams from biobased operations into high added-value products to create new feedstock for bio-based products (Strategic orientation: Feedstock, Indicative project funding: up to € 7 million)
BBI 2017.D2 – Integrated multi valorisation of algae into advanced materials and high added-value additives BBI 2017. (Strategic orientation: Feedstock, Indicative project funding: up to € 7 million)
BBI 2017.D3 – Breakthrough primary bio-based chemicals without significant fossil-based counterparts but with high marketability (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: up to € 7 million)
BBI 2017.D4 – Innovative bio-based fertilising products to increase the sustainability of fertilising practises in agriculture (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: up to € 7 million)
BBI 2017.D5 – Advanced bio-based fibres and materials for large volume applications (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: up to € 7 million)
Innovation Actions – Flagship Actions - Total indicative budget: € 21 million
BBI 2017.F1 – Integrated ‘zero waste’ biorefinery utilising all fractions of the feedstock for production of chemicals and materials (Strategic orientation: Process, Indicative project funding: up to € 21 million)
BBI 2017.F2 – Large scale production of proteins for food and feed applications from alternative, sustainable sources (Strategic orientation: Products, Indicative project funding: up to € 21 million) Coordination and Support Actions Total indicative budget: € 2 million
BBI 2017.S1 – Establish cooperation and partnership with brand owners and consumer representatives to improve market access of sustainable bio-based products (Strategic orientation: Market Uptake, Indicative project funding: up to € 1 million)
BBI 2017.S2 – Identify opportunities for ICT to increase efficiency of biomass supply chains for the bio-based industry products (Strategic orientation: Market Uptake, Indicative project funding: up to € 1 million)
More information
You can download the BBI JU 2017 AWP here. On 28 April 2017, the BBI JU will organise its fourth Open Info Day and Brokerage event in Brussels, following the official launch of the 2017 Call for proposals. The venue is planned to be the Commission's Charlemagne Building. The Open Info Day aims to bring together potential applicants and provide information and networking opportunities in time for the 2017 Call for proposals. For more information visit the BBI JU website.
People who are employed by an organisation that is full member of Biobased Industry Consortium (BIC) are not eligible candidates for this Call. The Scientific Committee
The BBI JU Scientific Committee consists of no more than fifteen members who are appointed for three years. The appointments can be renewed once for a second three-year term following a recommendation of a pre-selection panel and confirmation by the BBI JU Governing Board. Each member of the committee serves in an independent scientific capacity and does not represent countries, employers nor other similar interests. Currently the committee has 10 members.
The Scientific Committee acts as an advisory body of the BBI JU established in accordance with the BBI Regulation and assists the BBI JU in providing scientific advice on the areas of work undertaken by the BBI JU. The Scientific Committee has two major tasks:
Advise on the scientific priorities to be addressed in the annual work plans
Advise on the scientific achievements described in the annual activity report
Moreover, the BBI JU Governing Board can ask the Scientific Committee to provide advice on a specific matter of interest to the BBI JU such as adjustments to the Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).
What is the BBI JU?
The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) is a Public-Private Partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). BBI JU is operating under Horizon 2020 rules and its activities are driven its Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA), which was developed by industry. The BBI JU was established on 6 May 2014. The mission of BBI JU is to implement the SIRA.
The BIC is a non-profit organisation that was created to represent the industry group that supports the BBI JU. The members of BIC cover the entire bio-based value chain and consist of large industries, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), regional clusters, European trade associations, and European Technology Platforms. The aim of BIC is to ensure and promote the technological and economic development of the bio-based industries in Europe.
April 2017 will see the Plant Based Summit launch its 4th edition in Lille, France. With an even sharper positioning on the innovation, co-development and operational implementation required to deploy biobased products, the Plant Based Summit 2017 (PBS 2017) will be a great opportunity for participants to contribute to the evolution of plant-based, green and sustainable chemistry.
From 25-27 April the Plant Based Summit presents the latest developments and solutions to more than 700 international public and private decision-makers at the Lille Grand Palais. Participants to the conference typically include end-users, producers of biobased intermediates, biomass producers and transformers, R&D specialists, business angels, investment funds as well as European and national decision makers.
The focus of the PBS 2017 Conference is to stimulate biobased product development through a market driven approach. The conference program demonstrates how a higher uptake of biobased solutions in everyday products will benefit consumers.
In particular PBS 2017 will address the markets of home and personal care, pharmaceuticals, construction, packaging, transportation, coating, adhesives, as well as a dedicated cross-market stream on biobased solutions for infants and children.
SusChem is an active supporter of the Plant Based Summit and participated in previous events including running a session at the last summit in Lille providing a vision of how biobased chemistry is part of the wider world of sustainable chemistry.
Plant based programme
The PBS 2017 programme includes three plenary sessions, 20 thematic sessions and an exhibitors workshops.
To speed up the development process, all operators in the value chain need to deal with environmental issues, industrial and investment challenges by:
Bringing companies together to move towards an integrated plant based chemicals supply chain
Achieving technology scale up
Exploring business opportunities (industrial formulation, packaging, bio-cosmetics, plastics etc.)
At the Plant Based Summit, stakeholders in the biobased economy will be able to share their experience, find the best solutions to fit its own specific place and development stage, enabling them to make the decisive leap forward and contribute to empowering the biobased economy.
What is the Plant Based Summit?
PBS 2017 is the dedicated European exhibition, covering some 2.300 square metres, for the plant-based sector with more than 75 exhibitors covering manufacturers of biobased products, agricultural cooperatives and raw material traders, agro-industrials, suppliers and distributors of biobased products, equipment suppliers for the chemical industry, chemicals companies, engineering, Consulting and Investment companies, and public and political institutions
PBS 2017 is also the leading biobased products congress with 30 targeted conferences sessions and more than 100 international key speakers, providing first-hand insights and updates. The 2017 congress focus is on stimulating biobased product development through a market driven approach.
Dear colleagues and members of the SusChem community, The year 2016 represented a significant milestone for SusChem. Together we defined five main priority areas for our research and innovation activities in sustainable chemistry - Sustainable bio-economy, ICT for processes, Water, Catalysis and Processes, and Materials for Energy - and developed a comprehensive plan for following up other important topics.
We successfully held our annual Stakeholder event in June, as usual in Brussels, and a very successful Brokerage event in Seville in September during the 6th European Chemical Congress. New Working Groups were created and substantial and significant input, based on the needs of our sector, was gathered, delivered to the European Commission and well received by them. Moreover, our network of National Technology Platforms expanded to include a record number of fourteen Member States.
But above all, the greatest success factor for SusChem in 2016 was YOU! Your commitment, trust and involvement strengthened SusChem and motivated the platform in its mission to represent the significant sustainable chemistry research and innovation efforts of the Chemical Industry within the chemical science community, to the European Institutions, and beyond.
On behalf of the SusChem Board and the SusChem secretariat, I would like to thank you for your continuing engagement and we wish you all very happy and relaxing holidays and a healthy, happy and “sustainable” New Year. 2017 will be another important year for SusChem and we look forward to working with you on new SusChem inspired initiatives over the next 12 months.
SuperBIO is an innovation project supported through the Horizon 2020 funding programme. The € 3.8 million project supports the development of promising industrial value chains in the bioeconomy and engages with the EU biobased business community. The SuperBIO consortium includes four industrial cluster organisations (from Belgium, France, Spain and Poland), and six service providers (from the UK, Germany and Belgium).
The workshop kicks off at 15:30h with a description of the SuperBIO project from Dr. Gloria de la Viña from project partner Corporación Tecnológica de Andalucía (CTA). This is followed by a discussion on SuperBIO Support to SMEs with Dr. Holger Bengs of BCNP Consultants GmbH, Dr. Lieve Hoflack from Bio Base Europe pilot plant and Dr. Caitlin Burns of NNFCC.
Examples of the valorisation of agricultural and horticultural residues from a range of Horizon 2020 projects will then be presented.
Dr. Francisco Egea from Almería University will describe the biomass potential of intensive horticulture followed by discussion of Biotechnological valorisation of horticulture residues by Dr. Javier Velasco of NEOL S.A and the final presentation will be on a success story showcasing horticultural bioproducts that are already in the market. The workshop will close at ~17:50h
SuperBIO’s strategic vision is to build new industrial value chains by integrating and supporting groups of SMEs in collaboration with other innovation actors.
The project aims to:
create open collaboration spaces for SMEs, Larger Enterprises (LEs) and other stakeholders in the biobased economy
identify new industrial value chain concepts maximizing the benefits for EU business and citizens
construct highly promising, disruptive and sustainable new industrial value chains by selecting synergistic groups of SMEs, LEs and other stakeholders, and
provide a diverse, stepwise and comprehensive innovation support programme that enables the efficient and optimal validation of new value chains and brings them closer to the market.
The SuperBIO project main objective is to build at least 10 new biobased value chains around innovative and promising ideas from the business community. In addition, SuperBIO will offer innovation services to at least 30 third-party SMEs that are part of identified value chains.
To further innovate in the EU bioeconomy, new partnerships and connections need to be established between different sectors (for example between chemistry and agriculture, between producers and end-users). SuperBIO helps to build these connections by engaging with the wider biobased business community. It supports cross sectorial and cross border industrial value chain building and provides innovation support services to SMEs.
Industrial stakeholders are invited to submit their idea for an innovative value chain to the SuperBIO project. The consortium ensures that their information will be treated as confidential throughout the process. The combined expertise in the biobased economy and skills of the consortium enable them to identify promising ideas for new innovative value chains. SuperBIO then supports cross sectorial and cross border development of the value chain of the selected ideas.
Once a value chain is created SuperBIO analyses the gaps to be filled and further requirements to bring this value chain closer to the market. Based on this, SuperBIO offers selected innovation services to SMEs that are part of the value chain. Six services providers are included in the consortium offering a combined set of 10 different professional innovation services: scale-up and proof-of-concept, IP support, life cycle assessment, techno-economic evaluation, feedstock analysis, market research, sustainability advice, business planning, access to investors and grant writing. These services are funded by the project for 75%, the remaining 25% being covered by the SME receiving the service.
This project will lead to the implementation of new value chains, the production of drop-in biobased chemicals and products and/ or the production of new chemicals and products with improved features. It can lead to investments in dedicated industrial production sites for the new value chains, for example via ESIF funds, and therefore provide leverage for the re-industrialisation of the EU using innovative technologies.
In brief, SuperBIO offers a unique opportunity to bring innovative, sustainable, cross border and cross sectorial biobased value chains closer to the market.
For more information on the SuperBIO project and the scope of its innovation services visit the project website (under construction).
Over 450 000 enterprises and around 6.8 million jobs are dependent on Europe’s process sector, which includes chemicals, engineering, minerals and ore, non-ferrous metals, steel and water. The process industries, which generate more than EUR 1.6 billion in annual turnover and represent 20% of the EU’s total industrial production, are absolutely vital to Europe’s economy and long-term industrial competitiveness.
However, these vital industries have to face the key challenge of reducing their high dependency on resources. Although energy efficiency in industry across the EU has gradually improved (by an average of 1.8% per year up until 2009), there is still much work to do to encourage the uptake of cleaner technologies, more efficient methods and better industrial procedures to reduce environmental impact.
Achieving a better environmental footprint for the process industries is now even more pressing due to the EU’s target to cut its emissions to at least 40% of 1990 levels as a part of its comprehensive 2030 climate and energy framework. In April 2016, the EU also formally signed the Paris Agreement on Climate Change (COP21), formally committing the Union to fully embracing the transition to a low-carbon economy.
The CORDIS Results Pack showcases some SusChem-inspired and EU-funded projects that have taken up the challenge of developing the novel methods and enabling technologies that will increase energy efficiency in industrial processes.
Project examples
Examples include the implementation of more sustainable and less-resource dependent manufacturing methods, the design and optimisation of new and accurate computational frameworks and software, and the cultivation of better international cooperation.
The full list of projects described in the package is:
MORE developed new tools to help large plants achieve resource efficiencies including new resource efficiency indicators and software that can be easily integrated into large processing plants in order to achieve optimal daily performance.
TOP-REF worked on novel resource indicators and tools for competitive and sustainable continuous processing that will lead to the substantial improvement of resource efficiency in energy intensive industrial processes within the agro-chemical, chemical and petrochemical industries.
MAPSYN researched new techniques to energise the EU chemical industry through new energy sources and catalysts that can achieve cost efficient, high yield chemical production and boost competitiveness.
CYCLICCO2 was one of the first project to investigate conversion of carbon dioxide into commercially viable chemicals in a sustainable way that could be scaled-up for energy efficient industrial use.
ALTEREGO helped to ‘green-up’ the chemical industry with efficient alternative energy sources including ultrasound, microwave and non-thermal plasma technologies to power chemical processes, replacing fossil fuels and achieving higher levels of energy efficiency.
R4R used stronger regional cooperation to drive innovation in energy and resource efficiency forward in Europe’s chemical and processing industries.
InnoREX looked to accelerate the production of ‘green’ biobased plastic polymers in an environmentally-friendly, energy efficient and commercially viable process.
COOPOL produced new monitoring tools for more efficient polymer processing in the chemicals sector that will improve polymerisation reaction quality and provide new continuous production methods.
E4WATER helped to cut water use in the European chemical industry by creating novel systems and processes and make the European chemical sector more competitive.
OPTICO developed an adaptive and integrated computational framework for intensified processes in the chemical and biochemical industries consisting of multi-scale, multi-phase phenomena-based modelling technologies, and advanced process analytical tools.
