Author: Louis Ferrini

The European Bioeconomy Network (EUBioNet) is a proactive alliance of EU funded projects dealing with Bioeconomy promotion, communication and support. The main goal is to maximise the efforts, increasing the knowledge sharing, networking, mutual learning, coordination of joint activities and events. The European Bioeconomy Network will work in close collaboration with the European Commission, to ensure that the objectives identified by the Bioeconomy Strategy update will be properly communicated, addressed and implemented.
 WaysTUP! project

 WaysTUP! project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Converting bio-waste into valuable products will contribute to a circular economy. The EU-funded WaysTUP! project aims to establish new value chains for urban bio-waste utilisation to produce higher value products, including food and feed ingredients through a multi-stakeholder approach. The project is set to showcase a rash of new products produced from urban bio-waste-to-bio-based processes starting from different feedstocks, including fish and meat waste, spent coffee grounds, household source separated bio-waste and used cooking oils. In its implementation, WaysTUP! will develop a behavioural change approach with citizens and local communities, improving and changing longstanding perceptions on urban bio-waste. It will also help promote active participation of citizens in the collection of urban bio-waste.

Contacts: Manolis Tsantakis: mdt@etam.gr
Maroulla Schiza mcs@etam.gr

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 VALUEWASTE project

 VALUEWASTE project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

On average, each European citizen produces approximately 200 kg of municipal biowaste per year, representing between 118 and 138 million tonnes of biowaste annually arising in the EU. The main municipal biowaste management systems currently existing in Europe represent one-way flow systems in which materials and resources are underused, limiting its potential recovery into high-value products. VALUEWASTE proposes an integrated approach in urban biowaste upcycling for the production of high-value biobased products, developing the first complete solution to fully valorise biowaste that can be replicated across Europe. We will implement three new value chains that will use urban biowaste as raw material for its valorisation into high-value end products in a cascading process, generating economic, social and environmental benefits: food & feed proteins and other ingredients, and biobased fertiliser. VALUEWASTE will be developed at two very different European locations, Murcia (ES) and Kalundborg (DK) with the purpose of finding a solution both technical and socially adapted to the different socio-economic contexts exiting across Europe. Social initiatives will be created to increase consumer awareness and acceptance of urban biowaste-derived products. End-user products applications and new market opportunities will be demonstrated. Outcomes of the project will contribute to new standardisation, and will be useful information for EU policy makers in terms of waste management and in the adoption of new policies.

Contacts: Africa Matilda Pardavila Morris: africa.pardavila@innovarum.es

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 VALOR PLUS project

 VALOR PLUS project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini

Project concluded

Objective

The Valor-Plus supports the realisation of sustainable, economically viable closed loop integrated biorefineries through the development of new knowledge, (bio-)technologies and products that enable valorisation of key biorefinery by-products. The project comprises five key areas:
• Pre-treatment and fractionation: development of a novel methodology for the controlled and selective breakdown, release and fractionation of the lignocellulose biomass to minimally degraded cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin fractions that are suitable for further downstream refinement and processing to value product streams
• Hemicellulose Valorisation: engineering of new enzymes and microorganisms for the controlled hydrolysis and transformation of hemicellulose to high value oligomers and bulk fermentation product streams (butanol, ethanol and single cell proteins for animal feed)
• Lignin Valorisation: utilisation of combined chemo-enzymatic and chemo-microbial processes for the controlled depolymerisation and transformation of standardised lignin feedstocks to discrete families of platform and intermediate macromolecular and monomer chemicals; and their subsequent transformation to value product streams (fuels, platform chemicals, monomers for synthesis of resins and functional additives)
• Glycerol Valorisation: engineering of new microorganisms that are the suitable for the fermentation of crude glycerol to higher value product streams (lipids, alcohols and organic acids)
• Demonstration of the technological and economic potential for integration and scale-up within existing and future biorefinery value chains: including: demonstration of component technologies, focused biodiesel refinery case study, roadmaps for technology and product stream integration, and a full life cycle assessment

The project assembles an industrially focused pan-European consortium spanning the complete biorefinery value chain, including 9 SMEs, 1 large enterprise, 2 research centres and 3 universities

Contacts: Beatriz Palomo (ASEBIO) Dissemination and Exploitation WP Leader Valor Plus: bpalomo@asebio.com
Thomas Kowalik (IFAM) Ifam Fraunhofer Institute Valor Plus Coordinator

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 SMARTCHAIN project

 SMARTCHAIN project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

SMARTCHAIN is an ambitious, 3 year project with 43 partners from 11 European countries including key stakeholders from the domain of short food supply chain as actors in the project. The central objective is to foster and accelerate the shift towards collaborative short food supply chains and, through concrete actions and recommendations, to introduce new robust business models and innovative practical solutions that enhance the competitiveness and sustainability of the European agri-food system.
Using bottom-up, demand-driven research, the SMARTCHAIN consortium i) will perform a multi-perspective analysis of 18 case studies of short food supply chains in terms of technological, regulatory, social, economic and environmental factors, ii) will assess the linkages and interactions among all stakeholders involved in short food supply chains and iii) will identify the key parameters that influence sustainable food production and rural development among different regions in Europe.
The project aims to establish 9 national communities of short food supply chains (Innovation and Collaboration Hubs) in different partner countries (France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Serbia, Spain and Switzerland) and a virtual innovation hub in order to facilitate stakeholder engagement, bringing farmers and consumers together in a trust-enhancing environment enabling them to generate demand driven-innovations.
Combination of scientific and practical knowledge and the use of innovation workshops will enable the development of practical innovative solutions as well as the promotion of a framework for different forms of collaborative short food supply chains in urban and rural areas. SMARTCHAIN will generate concrete actions for knowledge transfer, through the organisation of multi-stakeholder workshops and training activities for farmers and short food supply chain entrepreneurs.

Contacts:  Susanne Braun: susanne.braun@uni-hohenheim.de

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 UrBIOfuture project

 UrBIOfuture project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

UrBIOfuture’s main goal is to bring Europe to the forefront of the bio-based industry, a sector in full growth that requires a high number of experts in its workforce. However, one of the challenges for its development is the educational gap between the professional profiles demanded by the sector and the existing educational offer. To bridge this gap is one of the main purposes of UrBIOfuture, which started on May 1st with the goal of boosting careers, new educational programmes and research activities. Since then, this initiative carried out research to map European educational programmes involving bio-based activities and to identify the skills mismatch between them and the bioindustry needs. In addition, it involved stakeholders from the education sector, academia and industry, it organised a series of events, and it elaborated a set of materials, all with the aim of setting the path for the industry to attract qualified talent.

Contacts: info@urbiofuture.eu and Ana Martinez: anamartinez@sustainableinnovations.eu

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 Transition to Green Economy project

 Transition to Green Economy project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

The main objective of the project was to contribute to a transition towards a green economy in Europe through organization of the international conference “Transition to a green economy” (T2gE). This international conference was an event of major strategic nature during the Slovak Presidency of the European Council. Conference brought together a broad spectrum of stakeholders. Its ambition was to improve understanding of the green economy concept, identify conclusions and pathways for transition as well as to involve and mobilise various actors and stakeholders in the discussions of possible future actions. The conference also aimed to strengthen synergy among various recent initiatives and programmes launched by the European Commission (i.e 7EAP, Circular economy package, Energy Union, Juncker Commission’s priorities etc) and by the Member States, to the benefit of the overall coherence.

The conference aimed to bring together policymakers from various EU countries, as well as a range of stakeholders from international organizations, academia, business, and civil society and encourage an open debate around key green economy issues. At the end of the conference, draft conclusions, for both the national and the European level, were approved in order to be useful tool for implementation of policy in the field of green economy. Parallel breakout sessions were devoted to various relevant subjects with the involvement of representatives from civil society, policymakers, business, science and innovations, and regional and local authorities. The participants presented examples of the green economy approaches from successful countries, which were discussed and reflected in the conclusions to ensure that green economy policy conclusions are relevant to countries’ needs. Part of the conference was oriented on practical demonstration of Slovak examples of green/circular economy – field trip.

Contacts: Robert Miskuf: r.miskuf@pedal-consulting.eu

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 Transition2BIO project

 Transition2BIO project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

An integrated package of activities for sustainable production and consumption

Production and consumption drive the economy. Global challenges like climate change, land and ecosystem degradation, coupled with a growing population, force us to seek new, sustainable ways of life that respect the ecological boundaries of our planet. The EU-funded Transition2BIO project is proposing an integrated package of activities addressing a wide range of stakeholders (demand side, supply side, multipliers and supportive environment). It will valorise and exploit sectoral communication tools and activities, raise public awareness of bioeconomy and contribute to the transition towards more sustainable production through engagement and education activities. The project is also funding the activities of the European Bioeconomy Network, an alliance of more than 80 projects and initiatives promoting bioeconomy.

Contacts: Chiara Pocaterra: pocaterra@apre.it

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 TRADEIT project

 TRADEIT project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

The TRADEIT project is a multidisciplinary, multi-sectorial collaborative project supporting a Network of Traditional Food SMEs and Food Researchers in the areas of Collaboration, Innovation, Entrepreneurship, Knowledge and Technology Transfer to increase the competitiveness and inter-regional advantage of Traditional Food Producing SMEs. This will be achieved through focused regional coordination and support activities and events facilitated by the establishment of 9 Regional Traditional Food Knowledge and Technology Transfer Hubs. Each Hub will host a TRADEIT stakeholder sub-network (defined by region, language and/or food group), the members of which will benefit from a suite of knowledge and technology offerings over the course of the project. Food researchers from across Europe will be provided with the opportunity to attend the TRADEIT Entrepreneurial Summer School in which an entrepreneurial skillset will be developed to facilitate future R&D&I Enterprise and Commercialisation activities. The regional focus of the project will be further developed in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda which will promote regional R&D&I for pan-European benefit. The TRADEIT project aligns with, and contributes to, the goals and objective of a number of EU Initiatives, Strategies and Policies including Europe 2020 the Innovation Union Flagship Initiative, Horizon 2020, Cohesion Policy in particular Smart Specialisation Innovating for Sustainable Growth: a Bio-economy for Europe and Food Law Regulation

Contacts: Helena McMahon
helena.mcmahon@staff.ittralee.ie

Website

 Tech4Biowaste project

 Tech4Biowaste project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Bio-waste is a key waste stream in Europe with a high potential for contributing to a more circular economy. The Tech4Biowaste project will pave the way for deployment of bio-waste technologies and technology configurations by setting-up a database providing a comprehensive technology overview (technology readiness level –TRL- 4 and higher) for the valorisation of bio-waste (food waste and garden waste) into value added applications including organic soil improvers, fertilisers, organic chemicals, fuels and energy.

The database content will be determined jointly with actors across the bio-waste value chain. Technology providers can showcase new and emerging technologies, even at lower TRL. Technology searchers can analyse and compare bio-waste valorisation technologies. Both categories of users can assess their commercialisation potential through the associated decision support tool.

The Tech4Biowaste database will be composed of unique features based on the latest IT technologies, including artificial intelligence, and use of Open Source software. In order to catalyse significant database usage and future growth, it directly builds on the BBEPP-led Pilots4U network and links with the NOVA-led (parallel-developed) Renewable Carbon Initiative. A hybrid model will be used to populate the database, combining inputs from the consortium’s publishers’ team, a community of volunteers, and automated scripts and tools („bots”).

Tech4Biowaste will mobilise stakeholders (incl. intended users and contributors) for direct involvement (Co-creation, Training, Testing Panel, and Advisory Board) e.g. in the design of the database, in the development of a continuation and expansion scenario and finally for the Business Plan targeting sustained growth and continuity of the open platform

Contacts:

Project Coordinator: John Vos, BTG Biomass Technology Group: vos@btgworld.com

Stakeholder Relations Manager: Stef Denayer, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant: stef.denayer@bbeu.org

Communication & Dissemination Manager: Freya Sautner, nova-Institut: freya.sautner@nova-institut.de

 

Website

 

 SuperBIO project

 SuperBIO project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

SUPERBIO focuses on the biobased economy. This emerging economy relies on the use of biomass (e.g. plants, waste) as renewable raw material for the production of new or existing products.

The technologies used are a combination of biochemistry, biotechnology, chemistry and processing technology. The cluster coordinating SUPERBIO (GBEV) has already more than 3 years’ experience in building new biobased economy value chains at regional level and is active in European projects aimed at supporting SMEs to bring innovations to the market.

The consortium consists of three cluster organisations specialised in the biobased economy from regions with synergetic smart specialisations, 4 highly skilled and experienced SME intermediates considered as important opinion makers in the biobased economy and 2 cross-sectorial SMEs regarded as specialists in their respective activities. The biobased economy goes along at least 19 different industrial sectors.

The project aims at constructing and validating new value chains providing the SMEs in the new value chains the tools to convince investors to contribute to building new emerging industries or to generate improved processes or products.

SUPERBIO will create a comprehensive open collaboration space based on the combined network of all partners, an idea validation procedure and a complementary innovation support program. Specifically, we expect to identify 10 validated value chains. With an average of 3 SMEs per value chain, this would result in providing support to about 30 SMEs or 10 SME groups. Our approach ensures the validation of sustainable and commercially viable value chains.

The output of this project will lead to the implementation of new value chains, the production of drop-in chemicals and products the production of new chemicals and products with improved features and can lead to investments in dedicated industrial production sites.

Contacts: Anneleen Devriendt anneleen.de.vriendt@bbeu.org

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