Project description
Holistic biotechnology platform replacing petroleum and plant oil feedstocks with fungal biomasss
As the demand for biomass intensifies in our global shift toward a low-carbon economy, challenges arise, particularly in balancing bioresource use. The EU-funded VALUABLE project will focus on non-plant-based biomass valorisation. As such, VALUABLE aims to demonstrate the economic viability of producing yeast oils from Aspergillus niger biomass, an underutilised waste stream of industrial production of citric acid. Moreover, valorisation of fungal biomass waste streams rich in chitin as non-animal sources of chitosan derived enzymatically, which can be used in the production of cosmetics and bio-based chemicals such as adhesives. By efficiently using fungal biomass waste streams, VALUABLE paves the way for a sustainable bioeconomy, preserving land for biodiversity and food production, while reducing the use of fossil raw materials.
Objective
Biomass is at the core of the bioeconomy and the demand for it is increasing worldwide as we transition to a low-carbon economy. Biomass is predominantly used for feed and food products (~55% of global biomass available) followed by bioenergy, with only 8% to date used for bio-based materials despite offering an alternative to fossil-derived chemicals. To promote the development and commercialisation of bio-based materials, an abundance of feedstocks (i.e. sugar, starch, vegetable oil and ethanol) are required. However, this may lead to biodiversity and land use change as potentially more land would be needed to enable the replacement of fossil raw materials, estimated at an additional 2.8 billion tonnes (Bt) Dry Matter (DM) biomass per year, which competes with food and feed production.
To achieve a sizeable and economically feasible bioeconomy, new technologies are therefore needed in order to diversify and deliver processes that can use available, underutilised and more sustainable biomass feedstocks to leave more land available for biodiversity protection and food production, whilst facilitating the substitution of fossil-based resources with bio-based ones.
VALUABLE will focus on the demonstration of a platform non-plant-based biomass valorisation process for the production of yeast oils as a viable substitute for fossil-based and plant-based products (such as palm oil) in applications such as cosmetics, adhesives and resins. More specifically, the VALUABLE process will valorise Aspergillus niger biomass feedstock to demonstrate:
1. Techno-economic viability of producing oils as a substitute for fossil based and plant-based products for applications in cosmetics and bio-based chemicals (e.g. resins for coatings) markets.
2. Better valorisation of fungal biomass waste streams rich in chitin for the production of non-animal derived chitosan and chitosan oligomers for use in applications such as cosmetics and bio-based chemicals (e.g. adhesives) markets.
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HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinator
80333 Muenchen
Germany