Descrizione del progetto
Piattaforma biotecnologica olistica che sostituisce le materie prime ricavate dal petrolio e dagli oli vegetali con biomasse fungine
Con l’intensificarsi della domanda di biomassa nel passaggio globale verso un’economia a basse emissioni di carbonio, sorgono delle sfide, in particolare per bilanciare l’uso delle risorse biologiche. Il progetto VALUABLE, finanziato dall’UE, si concentrerà sulla valorizzazione della biomassa non vegetale. Pertanto, VALUABLE intende dimostrare la fattibilità economica della produzione di oli di lievito dalla biomassa di Aspergillus niger, un flusso di scarti sottoutilizzato della produzione industriale di acido citrico. Intende inoltre mostrare la valorizzazione dei flussi di rifiuti di biomassa fungina ricchi di chitina come fonti non animali di chitosano derivato in modo enzimatico, che può essere utilizzato nella produzione di cosmetici e di prodotti chimici a base biologica come gli adesivi. Utilizzando in modo efficiente i flussi di rifiuti di biomassa fungina, VALUABLE apre la strada a una bioeconomia sostenibile, preservando i terreni per la biodiversità e la produzione alimentare e riducendo al contempo l’uso di materie prime fossili.
Obiettivo
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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Meccanismo di finanziamento
HORIZON-IA - HORIZON Innovation ActionsCoordinatore
80333 Muenchen
Germania