The bioeconomy at work: France's BioHub project
Earlier this month, the European Commission approved France's BioHub research project, allowing the French state to fund it. Initiated by the Agence d'Innovation Industrielle (AII), the R&D project [overview *.pdf] will result in the construction of a large biorefinery that will transform starch-rich grains into green specialty chemicals. These chemical building blocks - which can be seen as the environmentally friendly variant of the so-called 'platform chemicals' from the petrochemical industry - will then serve as feedstocks for a variety of commonly used and innovative products, most notably biopolymers, biosolvents, bioplasticizers, biocomplexing agents and active ingredients.
The biorefinery will transform an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of maize and grain crops grown on 160,000 hectares per year into green platform chemicals. Research will include the development of new crops with special properties beneficial to their conversion into particular products. Since the materials derived from the biorefinery will all be plant based and thus renewable, the project is seen as an important step forward in mitigating climate change in the chemical sector. Moreover, if the model proves to be successful and scaleable, it will cut Europe's dependence on foreign oil.
According to the AII, the biorefinery and the R&D program will create some 600 non-science jobs, and 75 places for researchers and scientists in the green chemistry sector. Funds for BioHub stand at €98 million (US$129mio), of which €41.8 million (US$55mio) will be granted by the French state now that it received the approval of the European Commission. The remainder is made up by a European private sector and academic constortium, consisting of some of the continent's top research organisations:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: sugar :: starch :: biorefinery ::bioeconomy :: bioplastics :: biopolymers :: France ::
Roquette Frères, a global starch manufacturer, who operates as the coordinator together with Metabolic Explorer, one of France's most promising biotech companies ; major European green chemistry companies are involved, such as Arkéma (France), Solvay (France), Tergal Fibres (France), DSM (The Netherlands), Cognis (Germany). Eurovia (France) and engineering firm Sidel (France) participate as well.
French top-laboratories are involved in BioHub: the laboratories of the CNRS based at the INSA in Lyon, the INSA in Rouen et and the 'Institute of Molecules and Condensed Materials' (l’Institut des molécules et de la Matière Condensée) in Lille.
But BioHub has a genuine European dimension, with the participation of the Technical University of Eindhoven (Netherlands) and the Kluyver Centre for Genomics in Delft.
The biorefinery will transform an estimated 1.3 million tonnes of maize and grain crops grown on 160,000 hectares per year into green platform chemicals. Research will include the development of new crops with special properties beneficial to their conversion into particular products. Since the materials derived from the biorefinery will all be plant based and thus renewable, the project is seen as an important step forward in mitigating climate change in the chemical sector. Moreover, if the model proves to be successful and scaleable, it will cut Europe's dependence on foreign oil.
According to the AII, the biorefinery and the R&D program will create some 600 non-science jobs, and 75 places for researchers and scientists in the green chemistry sector. Funds for BioHub stand at €98 million (US$129mio), of which €41.8 million (US$55mio) will be granted by the French state now that it received the approval of the European Commission. The remainder is made up by a European private sector and academic constortium, consisting of some of the continent's top research organisations:
biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: energy :: sustainability :: sugar :: starch :: biorefinery ::bioeconomy :: bioplastics :: biopolymers :: France ::
Roquette Frères, a global starch manufacturer, who operates as the coordinator together with Metabolic Explorer, one of France's most promising biotech companies ; major European green chemistry companies are involved, such as Arkéma (France), Solvay (France), Tergal Fibres (France), DSM (The Netherlands), Cognis (Germany). Eurovia (France) and engineering firm Sidel (France) participate as well.
French top-laboratories are involved in BioHub: the laboratories of the CNRS based at the INSA in Lyon, the INSA in Rouen et and the 'Institute of Molecules and Condensed Materials' (l’Institut des molécules et de la Matière Condensée) in Lille.
But BioHub has a genuine European dimension, with the participation of the Technical University of Eindhoven (Netherlands) and the Kluyver Centre for Genomics in Delft.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home