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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - BIOFOREVER (BIO-based products from FORestry via Economically Viable European Routes)

Teaser

Summary

BIOFOREVER demonstrates the potential of lignocellulosic biomass as a feedstock to the chemical industry by establishing several new cost-competitive and sustainable value chains based on various sources of lignocellulosic wood-based feedstocks.

There is an increasing awareness in society of the need for more sustainable production systems to fight global warming and make the transition to a circular economy. The switch to bio-based feedstock not competing with food allows the chemical industry to actively work towards solutions for these global issues by:
â€¢ Cutting dependency on finite fossil feedstock.
â€¢ Using more efficient bio-based technology (e.g. fermentation or enzymatic processes) with a low carbon footprint to convert these materials into products.
A bio-based origin alone is not sufficient to compete with fossil based products. Advantages in sustainability, cost competitiveness and crucially, material performance are key to commercial success. In addition, diversification in biomass feedstock is essential for feedstock security and avoidance of conflicts with food production. The targeted end products are either existing bio-based building blocks, end-products or new products very close to market introduction. As such, a significant part of the market risks has already been mitigated and the focus of the project therefore is to replace first generation biomass based products with lignocellulosic based products. The project aims to make lignocellulosic value chains for selected products as cost-competitive and sustainable as possible. BIOFOREVER will also explore additional opportunities for lignocellulosic products in the market by performing a consumer preference study for lignocellulosic based products in specific markets. Parties potentially interested in establishing a consortium to implement a commercial biorefinery will be approached and potential locations will be identified and evaluated. The BIOFOREVER consortium expects in this way to accelerate the actual implementation of the lignocellulosic based value chains by means of one or even several commercial scale plants.

Work performed

To target the above sustainability issues and reach the ambition formulated, BIOFORVER established and set up the collaboration infrastructure and website for a consortium of 14 leading industrial partners in feedstock supply, pre-treatment, downstream processing and market research and development.
For pilot testing the logistics around the supply of the wood-based feedstocks (spruce, poplar, two types of waste wood) have been set up and feedstock has been supplied to the 4 pre-treatment partners. These partners have made good progress in testing the different feedstocks in their pre-treatment processes (BALI (Borregaard), AVAP (API Europe), mild-acid pre-treatment (BPF), ZAMBEZI (Avantium)) and optimizing the process conditions for quality and yield. Analytical methods for the characterization of the feedstocks have been aligned between partners and compositional data has been collected for the feedstocks.
With the resulting hydrolysates, most application partners have started testing in their processes and have obtained first results on suitability of use, yields and product quality impact. Already now, without having tested all combinations in all processes, it has become clear that there are interesting opportunities to use the hydrolysates \'as-such\' in some of the processes or as \'drop-in\' replacement for 1st generation sugars. For other combinations the opportunities to further purify and upgrade the hydrolysates is under investigation.

For the technical and economic evaluation and comparison of the various value chains (combinations of feedstock, pre-treatment and application) simulation models have been prepared in anticipation of the data resulting from the ongoing testing in the pre-treatment and application processes. The models include mass balances, productivity and LCA analysis options. Appropriate methodologies and cost databases have been developed for the high-level and bottom-up CAPEX estimations for the techno-economic evaluation. The outcome of the simulation and techno-economic models will be the basis for the selection of promising value chain(s).
In the market study by Nova-Institut on the willingness to pay a Green-Premium two surveys were done and reported in articles published on the BIOFOREVER website. The first indication from the surveys is that there is willingness to pay a premium price for sustainable products based on renewable feedstock such as the lignocellulosic feedstocks under investigation in BIOFOREVER. This will be further investigated in the next period with an in-depth consumer study and a workshop/conference on this topic.
For the future step towards the implementation of the BIOFOREVER results in a commercial scale plant, an overview of stakeholders and associated communication plan was prepared by Bio Refinery Development (BRD). A list of potential sites for a biorefinery was established based on interest expressed by local parties. So far two letters of intent (LoI) have been signed between interested parties and BRD that can be used in a follow-up consortium when that is established.
Several other communications on the BIOFOREVER project can be found on the website and partners participated on behalf of BIOFOREVER in several conferences or seminars.

Final results

In the upcoming period the tests on the different value chains will be finalized and the results will be evaluated with the techno-economic models that have been prepared. This will be underpinned with a design of the biorefinery and a LCA-study. With (a) selected value chain(s) a scale-up step will be done, demonstrating the potential on larger scale and closer to the final industrial scale in a biorefinery.
With the (outlook on the) results, more parties potentially interested in forming a consortium for building a biorefinery will be approached. In case of sufficient interest, more LoI\'s might be signed on the participation in such a consortium.
Further communication initiatives (journal, conference visits, workshops) will be considered to bring the BIOFOREVER results under the attention of potential future partners.