UNRAVEL Workshop: Novel lignocellulosic biorefinery for mixed and complex biomass to support new value chains in a European bioeconomy

In 2016, the Paris Agreement entered into force as the legally binding international treaty on climate change. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2° Celsius, compared to preindustrial levels. To achieve this long-term temperature goal, countries aim to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible to achieve a climate neutral world by midcentury. One of the pillars of the European Union to reach treaty targets foresees more sustainable products and production processes that minimise the use of fossil resources. A major challenge for the transition towards a low-carbon bio-based economy is the development of new value chains for innovative added-value products based on sustainable and industrially viable biomass.
Lignocellulosic biomass is an abundant and renewable resource from plants mainly composed of polysaccharides, such as cellulose and hemicelluloses, and an aromatic polymer – lignin – and represents an important category of feedstocks suitable for biorefinery processing. It has a high potential as an alternative to fossil resources to produce second-generation biofuels, bio-based chemicals and materials. Especially biomass residues that originate from forestry or agriculture could be sustainable feedstocks for higher value products that could help to avoid competition over hardwood with a generally high demand.
Recent studies indicate that the feedstock availability in the EU can be sufficient to provide a significant part of the carbon needed for material use such as polymers. However, competition exists over certain lignocellulosic feedstocks from various sectors, with bioenergy currently being one of the most abundant applications. Future scenarios will therefore have to consider biomass availabilities and assure higher feedstock flexibilities of biorefinery processes to ensure their economic feasibility at industrial scales. Furthermore, environmental and biodiversity aspects will play important roles in the future success of lignocellulosic value chains. This side-event of the 30th EUBCE comprises presentations and a panel discussion and is organised by the BBI JU UNRAVEL project. It will give the audience insight in:

• Breakthroughs on the way to high value applications from complex and mixed lignocellulosic biomass, combining a new biomass upgrading concept with organosolv fractionation and a continuous lignin precipitation technology
• Environmental and socio-economic aspects of lignocellulosic value chains, future prospects, challenges and remaining barriers
• The challenges and opportunities that in the future may arise from utilising the same type of second generation feedstocks for different sectors, among those energy and bio-based materials, growing feedstock demands, the risk of competition and the role of climate change and biodiversity strategies and programs

Organisers