Description du projet
Un coup de pouce pour les produits d’origine biologique
Ces dernières années, la menace du changement climatique s’est accrue, les ressources fossiles ont diminué et leur prix a augmenté. Cela a déclenché une dynamique vers des modes de production plus propres et plus fiables. Mais un problème s’est posé: l’approche déjà existante des filières de production biologique est coûteuse et alambiquée, ce qui tend à n’offrir que peu ou pas d’amélioration par rapport aux filières précédentes. C’est pourquoi il existe un besoin de nouveaux produits de meilleure qualité et de filières de production plus simples. Le projet PURE, financé par l’UE, a pour objectif de rechercher et d’introduire une nouvelle méthode catalytique pour une production plus écologique et plus rentable d’éléments chimiques de base qui trouvent leur utilité dans de nombreuses industries.
Objectif
The need: The dwindling fossil resources and their increasing price together with concerns related to greenhouse gas emissions and environmental pollution necessitate an urgent transition to the use of renewable starting materials and the fundamental change of our manufacturing practices to cleaner, more sustainable production routes.
The challenge: Existing approaches for bio-based production routes are complex and costly, while oftentimes offering limited or no increase in quality over conventional approaches. Several challenges need to be tackled in order to further unlock the great potential of bio-based production methods. There is a pressing need for (i) simple, zero-waste production routes from raw material to end-product with a minimal number of reaction steps and high-yield; (ii) the discovery of novel, emerging products that are superior to existing ones in terms of properties, performance as well as environmental and health impact.
The solution: My ERC Starting Grant (CatASus) has introduced fundamentally novel catalytic methods for the environmentally benign, zero-waste, non-toxic, and cost-efficient production of chemical building blocks that find concrete valorisation potential in a wide array of industries, including pharmaceuticals, food, agriculture and fuels/energy sectors.
The proof of concept: Bringing PURE as a sustainable yet cost-effective chemical manufacturing process of valuable bio-based building blocks to the multibillion-euro chemical manufacturing market offers a highly attractive business case. In this PURE ERC PoC, I will explore the commercial viability of lignocellulose as renewable resource for the production of high quality fine chemical building blocks, by performing proof of concept studies: (i) confirming feasibility of upscaling to (pre-)industrial scale and (ii) outlining a solid business strategy that delineates the optimal product-market combination and path towards commercialisation.
Champ scientifique
- engineering and technologymechanical engineeringmanufacturing engineering
- medical and health sciencesbasic medicinepharmacology and pharmacypharmaceutical drugs
- natural sciencesearth and related environmental sciencesenvironmental sciencespollution
- engineering and technologyenvironmental engineeringenergy and fuels
- social scienceseconomics and businesseconomicssustainable economy
Mots‑clés
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitution d’accueil
8010 Graz
Autriche