We will adapt, tailor, and advance the results from the Horizon 2020 project SteamBio (Grant agreement 636865). SteamBio demonstrated innovative continuous Superheated Steam processing of agro-forestry biomass into clean burning solid biofuel. This was recognised by the EU Innovation Radar as a market ready innovation with three SMEs identified as key innovators, bringing these innovations to SteamBioAfrica. Across Southern Africa invasive encroachment by bush and other woody species, aggravated by climate change, is creating environmental, social, and economic damage. We will demonstrate superheated steam processing of invasive woody biomass into clean burning biofuel and water in rural Namibia. Operating at an industrially relevant scale (250kg/hour throughput) for over one year, we will validate this biofuel with domestic and industrial customers in Namibia, Botswana, and South Africa. We will prepare sustainable and inclusive business plans to justify post project investment in large scale replication that will result in economic impact, and jobs across the region. Our objectives will be to validate this superheated steam biomass processing as a viable and sustainable source of large scale, clean burning, secure and affordable energy across Southern Africa. We will confirm market acceptance and ensure that it creates greater value than the cost of harvesting and processing. Quantifying over five different market opportunities, we will create a plan for post project exploitation that will stimulate bush harvesting and reverse encroachment. This will lead to long term socio-economic and environmental benefit across the region. SteamBioAfrica will enable large scale, clean, secure, and affordable energy in Africa. It addresses multiple challenges facing Southern Africa, low carbon energy, climate change impacts and resource efficiency. It will transform these challenges into a resilient source of clean and secure energy, water, and sustainable rural economies.

The main objective of the SOLRESS project is to propose an integrated biorefinery system to replace the chemical origin of some of the most widely used solvents in the industry, such as ethyl acetate, ethyl lactate and butyl acetate with a bio-based origin from second generation sugars from post-consumer coffee grounds and lignocellulosic feedstocks. The aim is to reinforce the integration of bio-based research and innovation throughout industrial bio-based systems. Moreover, in the valorisation process of these feedstocks, not only the cellulose fraction will be valorised, but also the hemicellulose fraction to obtain 2 of the most notorious green solvents of today, 2-MeTHF and GVL, from an additional line dedicated to the processing of furfural. The challenges will lie in improving downstream purification (DSP) processes and the techniques employed to achieve a technology that is efficient and cost-competitive with current chemical production systems for solvents. At the end of the project, all solvents will be validated in at least 3 of the most relevant applications (productive processes, formulations and recycling technologies) & at least 3 of the sectors with the greatest use of solvents (paints & coatings, cosmetics & materials processing) with the aim of evaluating its performance in comparison with its fossil-based counterparts, but also as a replacement for other dangerous and toxic solvents, such as NMP, CCL4, THF or toluene. Thus, the ambition of the SOLRESS project is triple: To replace the use of fossil, non-renewable raw materials with specific bio-based feedstocks in the production of some of the most widely used solvents. Offer SSbD alternatives to controversial solvents in terms of danger & toxicity (including the ones under the SVHC & SoCs categories). To improve the competitiveness of these processes by incorporating new methods & technologies that increase efficiency & sustainability, demonstrating their scalability & industrial applicability.

The anaerobic digestion (AD) industry is currently facing serious environmental and economic challenges due to the restrictions on the usage of digestate (the slurry residue of the process), coupled with reductions in subsidies for biogas production. It is important for the biogas industry to shift towards an AD biorefinery approach to make valuable co-products from the digestate fraction while recovering nutrients. Algae is an efficient tool for recovering the nutrients due to its ability to assimilate the nutrients efficiently while producing biomass rich in proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, vitamins, and minerals. However, there are no relevant commercially-operating algal digestate treatment plants due to the high energy inputs required for producing and harvesting the algae. ALGALVANISE will advance the state-of-the art by developing two novel concepts: 1) enzyme-assisted enhanced algal cultivation; and 2) combinatorial bioflocculation using bacteria and biopolymers. These two processes are targeted towards efficient nutrient recovery by algae from the digestate and harvesting high-quality algal biomass to produce high-value functional ingredients. The proposed body of research involves extensive training of the hosted researcher in the development of skills that will have a clear positive impact regarding her professional development and career opportunities. It is expected that ALGALVANISE will enable the Researcher to progress significantly with regards to her career goals, a primary one regards being an independent researcher that can develop commercially-relevant high-impact research projects that develop and demonstrate innovations that can ultimately be deployed at flagship facilities. The innovations developed in ALGALVANISE could themselves ultimately lead to a flagship AD-algal biorefinery or they could develop the Researcher’s skills to such a degree that she could lead flagship projects, based on other technologies, in the future.

A circular bio-based economy is a key element of a European low carbon economy and is projected to increasingly contribute to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions, decreased dependence on fossil resources and drive economic growth over the next decades. It can help meet the European Green Deal's goals, including its plan to reduce EU greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030, compared to 1990 levels. It also contributes to other EU initiatives, including the Circular Economy Action Plan, the Biodiversity Strategy, Zero Pollution action plan and the Farm to Fork Strategy . EU biorefineries producing bio-based products are expected to be an important part of the circular bio-based economy. Moreover, deployment of biorefineries that utilise EU biomass will increase safe supply of raw materials, decrease emissions, and create jobs and business opportunities, especially in rural areas. Approximately 300 chemical and material driven biorefineries at commercial or demonstration scale are located in the EU . PROMOFER project will address the valorisation of two kinds of feedstock (lignocellulosic biomass and food industry waste) through the improvement of the fermentation processes and downstream purification. It will be produced 3 SSbD, circular bio-based products 1, 2) polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) to be used in geotextile nets applications (agriculture sector) and coated paper packaging applications (packaging sectors); 3) 2,3-Butanediol (2,3-BDO) to produce bio-based PU for the technical textile applications in the fashion industry sector. The integration of these waste streams as biorefinery feedstocks will allow reducing the volumes of landfilled waste, improving competitiveness, resource efficiency and opening new opportunities for the bioplastics production with added advantages of environmental performances and social acceptance.

EnXylaScope will discover novel enzymes for debranching xylan, a highly abundant polymer in plants. Productions systems for these enzymes will be optimised and the enzymes will be applied to produce a debranched (water-insoluble) form of xylan that has properties which make it suitable as ingredients in a scope of consumer products. The debranched xylan will be further modified, using available enzymes, to confer functionalities that expand the range of potential consumer products. In total 3 types of enzymatically modified xylan will be made and will be application tested for 6 consumer products. These product span 3 sectors (cosmetics, personal care, nutraceuticals). Advanced techniques will be used for the discovery, production, and formulation of these enzymes and the project is designed so that maximal research outputs are achieved in the period and that the post-project timeframe for launching these products on the market is significantly reduced.