The MACBETH consortium provides a breakthrough technology for advanced downstream processing by combining catalytic synthesis with the corresponding separation units in a single highly efficient catalytic membrane reactor (CMR). This disruptive technology has the ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) of large volume industrial process by up to 45 %. Additionally, resource and energy efficiency will be increased by up to 70%. The revolutionary new reactor design will not only guarantee substantially smaller and safer production plants, but has also a tremendous competitive advantage since CAPEX is decreased by up to 50% and OPEX by up to 80%. The direct industrial applicabilty will be demonstrated by the long term operation of TRL 7 demo plants for the highly relevant and large scale processes: hydroformylation, hydrogen production, propane dehydrogenation. The confidence of the MACBETH consortium to reach its highly ambitious goals are underlined by two special extensions that go well beyond the ordinary scope of an EU project: 1) Transfer of CMR technology to biotechnology: Within MACBETH we will demonstrate that starting from building blocks of TRL 5 (not from a TRL 5 pilot plant), that fit the requirements of selective enzymatical cleavage of fatty acids with the combined support and system knowledge of the experienced CMR partners, a TRL 7 demo plant will be established and operated 2) Creation of the spin-off European “Lighthouse Catalytic Membrane Reactors” (LCMR) within MACBETH: A European competence center for CMR will be established already within the MACBETH project with an actual detailed business plan including partner commitment. These efforts will ultimately lead to the foundation of the “Lighthouse Catalytic Membrane Reactors” (LCMR) that will provide access to the combined knowledge of the MACBETH project .

C-C bond forming reactions are at the heart of industrial organic synthesis, but remain largely unexplored due to long development timelines and the lack of broad biocatalytic reaction platforms. CARBAZYMES addresses these challenges by assembling an interdisciplinary and intersectoral consortium as a powerful synergistic tool to promote innovation in the field of biocatalytic C-C bond formation at large scale, and thus the global competitiveness of the European chemical and pharmaceutical industry. The proposed consortium, with 50% industrial participation, represents academia but also commercial interests in different stages of the research-to-market process. This top-down approach, together with a life-cycle innovation approach ensures an industrial drive to the project. Clearly aligned with the scope of topic BIOTEC3-2014, CARBAZYMES will pursue the biocatalytic synthesis (spanning TRLs 5-7) of 4 APIs and 3 bulk chemicals –corresponding to market needs detected by the industrial partners in the Consortium. This will be accomplished through an inter-disciplinary approach which includes: i) a broad platform of 4 types of unique C-C bond-forming enzymes, mostly lyases; ii) the capacity to rapidly evolve enzymes to operate under industrial conditions by means of novel enzyme panels and massive screening methods; iii) application of microreactor technology for bioprocess characterization; iv) demonstration actions comprising technical (up to 100L) and economic viability studies carried out by industrial partners. CARBAZYMES unmistakably aims to have social and economic impact by addressing markets worth bn €, developing enzyme evolution technologies beyond the state of the art and creating qualified jobs and technical-scale facilities at the industrial partners’ sites. CARBAZYMES will also achieve an environmental impact by enforcing that the developed processes replace more energy and resource intensive processes, thus leading to reduced environmental footprints.

In BIOCASCADES, nine early-stage researchers (ESRs) will investigate the development of sustainable (chemo)enzymatic cascade reactions under the ‘green chemistry’ philosophy. The proposed BIOCASCADES project combines different techniques such as compartmentalization, protein engineering and reaction engineering in order to develop commercially viable and environmentally benign one pot reactions. By avoiding intermediate downstream- and purification-steps, cascade reactions minimize production costs, energy demand and waste production and are thus expected to make a major contribution for the development of sustainable and efficient production processes. Small- and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) are emerging as main drivers of European Research. They are dynamic, explore new areas and create new ideas, while large companies rely more and more on outsourcing research or involving SMEs by joint ventures. However, small companies are not strong enough as stand-alone enterprises, which requires them to form networks with other SMEs and academia. This creates a strong demand for young researchers who can move freely in an international and interdisciplinary environment. In a tailor-made training program BIOCASCADES aims to provide the nine early stage researchers with specific scientific and transferable skills for careers in the highly dynamic European biotechnology sector. Training at leading laboratories of biocatalysis will develop their scientific skills, while secondments to the industry and specific workshops will develop their entrepreneurship. The graduates of this doctorate program will be highly qualified for collaborative research between European academia and industry. The consortium is formed by leading academic laboratories from biocatalysis and protein engineering together with a network of four innovative biotech companies. By combining their versatile expertise, the consortium can achieve a success that would not be possible in isolated projects.

The COSMOS proposal aims to reduce Europe’s dependence on imported coconut and palm kernel oils and fatty acids and castor oil as sources for medium-chain fatty acids (MCFA, C10–C14) and medium-chain polymer building blocks. These are needed by the oleochemical industry for the production of plastics, surfactants, detergents, lubricants, plasticisers and other products. In COSMOS, camelina and crambe will be turned into profitable, sustainable, multipurpose, non-GMO European oil crops for the production of oleochemicals. Seed properties will be screened and optimised through genetic techniques aiming at high yield, low resource inputs, optimization of the value generated from vegetative tissues and fatty acid profiles adapted to industrial needs. Large-scale field trials will be performed at different locations in Europe to assess the potential of the crops in terms of cultivation practices, seed yield, oil content, ease of harvesting, and resource inputs. Extracted oils will be fractionated into various fatty acid types (monounsaturated versus polyunsaturated) by selective enzyme technologies and extraction processes. The monounsaturated long-chain fatty acids so obtained will be converted to MCFA and high-value building blocks for bio-plastics and flavour and fragrance ingredients through chemical and enzymatic chain cleavage processes. The ω3-rich PUFA fraction will be purified for use in food and feed ingredients. Vegetative tissues such as straw, leaves and press cake will be fed to insects producing high-value proteins, chitin and fats. Insect fats and proteins will be isolated and prepared for use in food and feed products. The overall economic, social and environmental sustainability as well as life cycle of the whole value chain will be assessed. The impact of the project for Europe will be assessed in terms of value chain potentials for value creation and number of jobs that can be created.