Europe’s bio-based economy will receive a major boost with the announcement of a new, over €200 million call for proposals on June 26 for the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU).
The latest call for proposals follows the July 2014 launch of the BBI JU, a €3.7 billion public-private partnership aimed at supporting the development of Europe’s emerging bioeconomy.
The 2015 call for proposals will formally be announced in Brussels at the BBI JU Info Day on June 26, an information and awareness event gathering program managers and experts.
The 2015 call is aimed at attracting project proposals that can fill the technological gaps within specific value chains, or actions addressing the whole value chain from feedstock sourcing to the market applications. Demonstration actions should include building a demo-scale production facility in Europe, while flagship actions should support the first application in the market of a proven innovation that has not yet deployed.
BBI JU’s Interim Executive Director, Barend Verachtert, hailed the new call for proposals as a landmark for Europe as it moves steadily towards a fully sustainable bioeconomy. “Today is an important day for the BBI JU,” said Verachtert. “It shows that we are on the way to building a strong bioeconomy in Europe.”
The new call comes just two weeks after G7 leaders meeting in Germany agreed to end all fossil fuel use by the end of the century.
Verachtert said that the new call reflects Europe’s clear commitment to develop cleaner ways to exploit its natural resources. “The bio-based industrial sector will significantly reduce Europe’s dependency on fossil-based products, help the European Union meet climate change targets, and lead to greener and more environmentally-friendly growth,” he said.
Moreover, Verachtert pointed out the social and economic effects of the BBI JU proposals, in particular their focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). “These proposals can go a long way to help SMEs produce the innovative bio-based products needed to lift Europe’s sustainable economy,” he said. “With the bioeconomy now at the heart of the EU’s investment agenda, the proposals underline a joint will to build new value chains between sectors like agro-food, chemicals and energy,” he added.
The second round announcement comes days after the BBI JU signed the first 10 grant agreements. The BBI JU 2014 call for proposals included support for the development of biorefining technologies to sustainably transform renewable natural resources into bio-based products, materials and fuels. The call resulted in the submission of 38 proposals, of which 10 received grants. The total BBI JU contribution for these 10 projects is almost €50 million with an additional industry contribution of over € 70 million.
Seven of the projects are aimed at replacing fossil-based materials with bio-based materials. They include projects dealing with the pre-treatment of lignocellulosic or plant dry matter feedstock (US4GREENCHEM); new sustainable pulping technologies (PROVIDES); fibres and polymers from lignin (SmartLi and GreenLight); fermentation processes to produce biosurfactants and specialty carbohydrates (CARBOSURF); extracting protein products from plant residues (PROMINENT); and nutrient recovery from waste streams and residues (NewFert).
A further three grants are for demonstration projects aimed at testing technologies. They include a biorefinery system for sugar beet pulp and products for detergents, personal care, oil and gas, paints and composites (PULP2VALUE); techno-economic viability tests on the production of chemicals from wood (ValChem); and exploiting underutilised oil crops to extract vegetable oils (FIRST2RUN).
The BBI JU is a public-private partnership (PPP), part of the EU’s plan to move its economy to a post-petroleum era. It is expected to help make the EU’s economy more resource-efficient and sustainable, while supporting growth and employment. €3.7 billion will fund the BBI JU between 2014 and 2024, with €975 million coming from the European Commission and €2.7 billion from its private partner, the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC).
The EU’s bioeconomy currently has an annual turnover of around €2 trillion and employs more than 22 million people.
The BBI JU Info Day on June 26 will be held at the Albert Borschette Conference Centre, 36 rue Froissart, B- 1040 Brussels.
