EuroBioRef Annual Meeting in Colombes , France
The EuroBioRef project (European Multilevel Integrated Biorefinery Design for Sustainable Biomass Processing a 4 years program coordinated by CNRS, France, has been launched on March 1st, 2010. t is supported by a 23 M€ grant from the European Union 7th Framework Program (FP7). EuroBioRef deals with the entire process of transformation of biomass, from non-edible crops production to final commercial products. It involves 28 partners (industry, SMEs, academics) from 14 different countries in a highly collaborative network, including crop production, biomass pre-treatment, fermentation and enzymatic processes, catalytic processes, thermochemical processes, assessed by a life cycle analysis and an economic evaluation of the value chain. "The concept of this project is based on several principles that must be included in the new integrated and flexible biorefinery that bridges the gap between the agriculture and the chemical industries by providing a stream for a variety of biomass feedstocks and producing a menu of finished green chemical products adapted to the future sustainable bio-economy-based European society." *** Main achievements in the first year *** Various non-edible crops are now grown in field tests, despite some issues in accessing seeds for cultivating some of them. The project is thus seeking seed providers, with also the aim of diversifying the potential crop candidates. The project is especially developing a strategy for culture rotations and combinations in order to find synergies between edible and non-edible crops. In the case of nonedible crops, additional revenues for farming communities generated from new business, such as honey as well as silk production, is investigated to increase local development and sustainability of the production. In addition, low-input (water, fertilizers, pesticides…) perennial crops and woody species are also grown in field trials for supplying the conversion units with lignocellulosic material. An efficient and versatile pretreatment technology for lignocellulosic material has been developed and it will be thoroughly evaluated in a pilot plant that will be constructed in Norway. Concerning the vegetable oils, extraction has been performed for castor, jatropha and lunaria, and optimization is under way. After harvesting, crambe, safflower, cuphea and lesquerella oils will be extracted as well. One of the original aspects of this project is to value a strong integration of the thermochemical, chemical/catalytic and biochemical processes, which work in synergy for transforming the whole crop. Several products were synthesized based on research on catalytic processes, and the first samples are now being tested for formulating aviation fuels and high value applications such as chemicals and polymers. These actions pave the way for demonstrations that are planned from next year. As another strong point, life cycle assessment is not restricted to the carbon footprint but also includes the socio-environmental and economic impact assessment in order to determine the sustainability of the proposed solution. Some specific tools are now being developed for doing so, taking into account harmonisation efforts with major sister projects in the EU. EuroBioRef has also a strong power of dissemination and education. The first EuroBioRef Summer School “The concept of biorefinery comes into operation”, aiming at the effective training of young researchers from academia and staff from industry on the most up-to-date scientific and technological aspects of biorefineries, is being organized on the 18-24th September 2011, in Castro-Apulia in Italy. A textbook will be edited for this occasion. As a conclusion, the launching of EuroBioRef was a success, and the first results are emerging, with demonstrations foreseen in the mid-term for some technologies that have provided early excellent results. Acknowledgements This project is funded by the European Union Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement n° 241718 EuroBioRef.
Countries
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czechia, Germany, Denmark, Estonia, Greece, Spain, Finland, France, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Latvia, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Sweden, Slovenia, Slovakia, United Kingdom