Category: Biomass availability, quality, supply and sustainability

Preserve project

Preserve project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
This project ends on: 31/12/2024

Preserve: High performance sustainable bio-based packaging with tailored end of life and upcycled secondary use

Bio-based plastics, made in whole or partially from renewable biological resources, are mostly used in packaging applications. Growing concerns around single-use packaging waste is putting pressure on companies to improve the sustainability of their packaging. In this context, the EU-funded PRESERVE project will boost the circular use of bio-based packaging. Specifically, it will work to enhance the performance of primary food packaging. It will leverage the compounding of enzymes in bioplastics to stimulate biodegradation. The entire process that is required to produce at least 10 packaging demonstrators will be upscaled. Project results will benefit Europe’s plastic packaging market by creating jobs and growth.

Contacts:

Aldo Ramirez Reyes – IRIS (Coordinator) aramirez@iris-eng.com
Mara Menella – Kneia (WP Leader Communication and Dissemination) mara@kneia.com
Christian Schulz – European Bioplastics (Dissemination Manager) schulz@european-bioplastics.org
Natalia Grzomba – Crowdhelix (Clustering Lead) natalia.grzomba@crowdhelix.com

Founding source: Horizon2020

 

 LIFE EBP project

 LIFE EBP project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

LIFE EBP (Ecofriendly multipurpose Biobased Products from municipal biowaste) addresses environmental problems in municipal biowaste (MBW) management, agriculture and chemical industry by proving feasible production and use of new biobased products (BPs) obtained from MBW.

Contacts: Piergiuseppe Morone piergiuseppe.morone@unitelmasapienza.it

Founding source: LIFE Programme of the European Union

 

 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

Website

 PRO-ENRICH project

 PRO-ENRICH project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

The Pro-Enrich project will develop a flexible biorefinery approach able to processing a range of agricultural residues from rapeseed meal, olives, tomatoes and citrus fruit industries. This will help fulfil the growing global demand for alternative sources of protein and phenolic product streams.

The Pro-Enrich project will develop a flexible biorefinery approach able to processing a range of agricultural residues from rapeseed meal, olives, tomatoes and citrus fruit industries. This will help fulfil the growing global demand for alternative sources of protein and phenolic product streams.

Pro-Enrich take the process of fractionising biomass to a new level, identifying proteins, polyphenols, dietary fibres and pigments for use as food ingredients, pet food, cosmetics and adhesives.

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

Website

 LANDSUPPORT project

 LANDSUPPORT project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

The objective of LANDSUPPORT is the construction of a web-based smart geoSpatial Decision Support System (S-DSS), which shall provide a powerful set of tools devoted to (i) support sustainable agriculture/forestry, (ii) evaluate trade-off between land uses (including spatial planning) and (iii) contribute to implementation, impact and delivery of about 20 European land policies and also selected 2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals including climate change resilience goals and the key SDG 15.3 “achieving a land degradation-neutral world”. This objective is achieved by the integration of already existing databases (interoperability) at different scales with the development of high performance modelling engines simulating agriculture & forestry (e.g.crop growth), land degradation and environmental issues (e.g.fate of pollutants, ecosystem services). All the above, including their validation by remote sensed data will be ensured by a technology at the state of art for the developing environment (i.e.COMPSs) high-performing computing (e.g.GPU) and massive raster data management (e.g.RASDAMAN). LANDSUPPORT will be applied at four geographic scales: EU; 3 Nations (Italy, Hungary, Austria); 2 European Regions in IT and HU; 3 pilot sites in AU, IT, HU; and 2 pilot sites in Tunisia and Malaysia. By doing that, LANDSUPPORT will reconcile grand agriculture/environmental sustainability policy ambitions with operational reality as required by RUR-03-2017 call such as the evaluation of “land use trade-offs” and “incentivizing real actions/behaviour/investments”; all requiring activities at detailed spatial scale. LANDSUPPORT fits with the priorities of this work programme, as LANDSUPPORT S-DSS is (i) scientific and technology innovation as driver for rural development, (ii) a framework for innovation and new business models adapted to the rural context, (iii) support for skills development in rural communities, (iv) a new approach towards policies and governance (subarea 1).

Contacts: Fabio Terribile: fabio.terribile@unina.it

Website

 ISAAC project

 ISAAC project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Objective

Although Italy has a great potential for biogas production, many non-technical barriers are still present in the current framework. Some of the limiting factors involve public acceptance of the biogas facilities diffusion, as well as lack of a reliable coordination between different stakeholders. Furthermore, normative and legislative inadequacies and deficiencies haven’t facilitated the implementation of these technologies within the national context.
The main project objective consists on the construction of a communicative model oriented to spread balanced information, based on environmental and economic benefits, between all the actors potentially involved in biogas/biomethane implementation. At the same time, actions will be focused on reducing the fragmentation between farmers, foresters and other stakeholders in order to reach the minimal facility dimension needed, increased biogas and biomethane penetration and reduce cost management.
A participatory process model will be developed as the main project’s approach to reduce social conflict and to include all actors in important common decision making process; starting from the experience, a normative proposal on the participatory process will be recommended.
The effectiveness of the proposal will be maximized applying the actions on specific and restricted areas: the study of the energetic unhatched potential deriving from anaerobic digestion of residual biomass or organic waste will constitute the starting point for communication and information campaigns toward the territory and its stakeholders. The attention will be focused on some high energetic potential regions where the diffusion of these technologies struggles to be realized and the effects of project actions on awareness and acceptance will be evaluated.
In particular, a specific decisional participative model will be implemented and applied in one of the selected districts, as case study, involving in an active way all the stakeholders.

Contacts: Azzeroco2: ricerca@azzeroco2.it

Website

 ICT BIOCHAIN project

 ICT BIOCHAIN project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

ICT-BIOCHAIN is a project aiming to promote the adoption of ICT, IoT and industry 4.0. solutions to improve the efficiency of biomass value chains. In order to achieve this, it developed a platform to connect stakeholders in the bio-based industry with ICT providers, and it established two Digital Innovation Hubs, located in ready-made, test-bed bioeconomy regions: South-East Ireland and Andalusia (Spain). Leading experts and support networks developed region-specific bio-resource data models and provided access within these hubs to best practices, expert knowledge, and information.

Contacts: Ana I. Martinez: anamartinez@sustainableinnovations.eu  and info@ictbiochain.eu

Website

 GO-GRASS project

 GO-GRASS project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

Grasslands are important for land use in Europe, covering more than a third of the European agricultural area. Grasslands are also diverse in terms of management, yield and biodiversity value, providing forage and other key resources for Europe’s livestock sector. The EU-funded GO-GRASS project will create new opportunities in rural areas based on grassland and green fodder. These will be tested in four EU regions at small scale to ensure wide replication. Within a circular system, the project will develop business models that are circular, sustainable and suitable for remote areas with unexploited resources. The GO-GRASS consortium comprises a multidisciplinary team of 22 partners from 8 European countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Hungary, The Netherlands, Romania, Spain, and Sweden).

Contacts: Philipp Grundmann (coordinator): go-grass@atb-potsdam.de
Natalie Höppner (communication & dissemination): nah@esci.eu

Website

 ENABLING project

 ENABLING project

Posted on by Louis Ferrini
Project concluded

ENABLING is the initiative of 16 partners in 13 EU and associated (IL, NO) countries. The main goal is to support the spreading of best practices and innovation in the provision (production, pre-processing) of biomass for the BBI (Bio-Based Industry).

In particular, ENABLING aims at creating appropriate conditions for the development of efficient biomass to BBPs (Bio-Based Products and Processes) value chains.

The consortium’s vision is that Europe bears a huge potential for optimising the supply of biomass into innovative bio-based processes and products.

Upscaling biomass production and pre-processing, and combining streams towards the BBPs with those of more traditional bioenergy chains would enhance at least three interlinked types of impact. a) biomass production gains scale to meet higher demand in both sectors (bioenergy and the BBI); b) the reinforcement of biomass supply for the BBI benefits smaller BBI players, helping them diversify and consolidate biomass input sources; c) reinforcing the biomass and BBPs linkages may contribute to job-creation, due to the increased need for specialised workers.

To realise such potential, ENABLING also anticipates its longer term exploitation pathways. In the intention of the consortium, the project should aggregate and engage partners for the establishment of a permanent innovation brokerage platform, likely to become in the future, one of the main marketplaces and innovation transfer accelerators at European level.

In this sense, the project organises its work around two building blocks: one relates to animating the stakeholders (on the farming and BBPs sides), identifying best practices, turning them into easy to access content (in the EIP format) for their potential users and providing stakeholders with coaching and guidance on innovation. The other one looks at future developments, with the consolidation, in a self-sustainable way, of the innovation brokerage platforms after the end of the EU funded initiative.

Contacts: Zusepe Elias Zidda: zusepe.zidda@euknow.eu

Website