5 May 2019 – In Brazil, a cooperation agreement was signed last week by the 20 participants of the Brazilian consortium created for the implementation of the research project called BioValue – Valorization of decentralized biomass production chains for the production of advanced biofuels: development and evaluation of thermochemical routes integrated to biomass production and biochemical routes. BioValue is a cooperative research project approved in a public call launched in partnership between Brazil and the European Union in the area of Advanced Biofuels, under the Horizon 2020 program.
The Brazilian consortium brings together four companies – Petrobras, Fibria, Klabin and Embraer – and eleven research institutions from the Brazilian states of Pernambuco (UFPE), Minas Gerais (UFV, UFU and UNIFEI), Rio de Janeiro (UFRJ and INT), Rio Grande do Sul (UFSM) and São Paulo (Unicamp, IPT, FEI and CTBE/CNPEM). Project funding is being shared by the four companies and four state foundations for research support – FACEPE, FAPEMIG, FAPERGS and FAPESP.
The coordination of the BioValue project is in charge of Dr. Antonio Bonomi, from CTBE/CNPEM (Brazilian Bioethanol Science and Technology Laboratory/Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials), based in the city of Campinas. On the European side, a consortium comprising fourteen research institutions from seven European countries develops a parallel research project called BECOOL (Brazil-EU Cooperation for Development of Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuels), in close connection with the BioValue project. The joint implementation of the Brazilian and European projects will enable both sides to benefit from the synergies and complementarities of razilian and European know-how and experiences related to the production/conversion of biomass and the production of advanced biofuels.
The BioValue project aims to explore different configurations of value chains for the production of biofuels derived from lignocellulosic materials, by thermochemical and biochemical routes, with a special focus on aviation biofuels. Possible synergies between biomass production, raw material diversification and logistic arrangements will be studied for the Brazilian case, both in cane- and forest-based biorefineries. The objectives of the BioValue project, aligned with those of the BECOOL project, are:
- development of new agricultural systems for the production of advanced biofuels, exploiting the diversification of both energy crops and lignocellulosic waste used as feedstock;
- establishment of high-performance processes with enhanced logistics and biomass conversion, through integration of biochemical and thermochemical routes;
- integrated assessment of the technical, economic, environmental and social sustainability of the advanced biofuel value chains to be studied.
The comparison of different biofuel production routes to be performed in the BioValue project will provide important inputs to the definition of national strategies for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions in the Brazilian transport sector, especially in the aviation sector. The kick off meeting of the BioValue project is scheduled for June 12-13 in Campinas, with online participation of colleagues from the BECOOL consortium. Until that date, the European and Brazilian coordinators of the WPs will adjust the activities of the projects, in order to realign the scheduling of joint deliverables.
