BeonNAT Project aims to increase knowledge in obtaining different bioproducts from woody species, trees and shrubs, currently underused. The project assesses the key aspects in the value chain including a selection of the and includes a selection of the most adequate species for different European countries (WP1). BeonNAT is based on the following concepts: mixed cultivation of selected woody species in marginal lands using the coppice management method (WP2) and to obtain of a cascade of products within the biorefinery conception (WP3-WP7). The cultivation tests will be executed in different locations: Germany, Romania and Spain; and the biorefinery processes will be studied in research laboratories located in Portugal, Germany, Italy and Spain. The BeonNAT project emphasizes: 1) the need to achieve a higher level of knowledge about bioindustry oriented mixed crops and 2) their sustainable management with the aim of generating the appropriate raw materials to produce the target bioproducts. In BeonNAT 8 bioproducts will be produced including essential oils, extracts, woodpaper, particleboard, bioplastics, biochar, active carbon and absorbents. The whole value chains sustainability is analyzed in WP8 including economic, environmental and social impacts related to the future BeonNAT Biorefineries as well as the effects on biodiversity and market key aspects. Additionally, the project has an ambitious strategy for communication, dissemination and exploitation of results already designed in WP9. The consortium consists of 8 Research Technology Organizations, 5 Small and Medium Enterprises, 2 Large Enterprises and 1 Association.

The EMBEDED project aims to demonstrate alternative business models in 36 months by transforming waste from Europe traditional agrifood industries into biochar and construction boards, with a long-term carbon sink effect and short resilient value chains. The validation of the km.0 application of biochar on primary producer plantations and the regional market characterization will be conducted. Valorisation streams aim to combine marginal revenues from mainstream residues (olive pomace, olive stones, grape mark) with overlooked or underutilised ones (cork bark left on field, press-cake from fresh grass, grape stems), with five demonstration pilots planned in Portugal, Ireland, Spain, and Czech Republic. Four of the pilots will have pyrolysis for the manufacture of biochar, using a modular method that fits pre- and post-conditioning phases into a single-maned portable unit. In two of the pilots, extractive methods aimed at bio-active chemicals will be evaluated to determine the added benefit of a cascade valorisation. Using a modular but stationary pilot, the Board production plant will capitalize on the cork outputs geographical. The consortium comprises 14 participants, comprising 5 SMEs and 1 LE that includes 2 technological developers and many influential figures in the agri-food industry of each designated region. In order to implement technology replications and technical transfer using the multi-actor strategy, the EMBEDED project will use 15% of the requested grant (750 k€) as financial support.

MAST3RBoost will bring to the stage of maturation a new generation of ultraporous materials (Activated carbons, ACs, and MOFs) with a 30% increase of the working capacity of H2 at 100 bar (reaching 10 wt% and 44 gH2/lPS), by turning the lab-scale synthesis protocols into industrial-like manufacturing process. Densified prototypes of ACs and MOFs will be produced beyond 10 kg for the first time using pre-industrial facilities already in place. The process will be actively guided by unsupervised Machine Learning, while the foundations for an in-depth supervised learning in the sector of H2 storage will be established with harmonized procedures. Recycled raw materials for the manufacturing of the ultraporous materials will be actively pursued, both from waste agroforestry biomass and from solid urban waste (PET and Al-lined bricks). In parallel, new lightweight Al and Mg-based metal alloys will be adapted to Additive Manufacturing, via the WAAM technology. Databases for mechanical properties relevant to pressure vessel design will be improved, covering gaps for testing under compressed H2. WAAM and engineering capacities (COMSOL numerical calculation) will allow to produce an innovative type I vessel demonstrator including balance of plant and with a dedicated shape to better fit on-board. A unique combination of maximum pressure (up to 100 bar) and carefully selected temperature swing will allow producing a system storage density as high as 33 gH2/lsys. The system will be manufactured to embed 1 kg of H2, becoming a worldwide benchmark for the adsorbed storage at low compression with a highly competitive projected cost of 1,780 ? for the automotive sector. This demonstrator will embody an actual and techno-economically feasible solution for transportations sectors that require storage capacities beyond 60 kg H2 such as trucks, trains and planes. LCA and risk & safety assessment will be performed with high-quality data and shared with stakeholders of the sector.

One of the most important challenges of the 21st century is to meet the world's demand for sustainably produced biomass for both food and the growing bio-products sector. Increased use of fresh water for agriculture and loss of farmland due to salinity are related concerns. Salicornia europaea (S. europaea) is grown commercially in the EU for its fresh tips, which are edible as salad (marsh samphire). It is a halophyte plant and can grow on saline lands without requiring freshwater for irrigation. When grown as a vegetable only the fresh tips are used while the woody part of the plant is considered a residue. Today, European farmers are using part of the fibrous residue for soil amendment and drying the fibers to produce herbal salt. However, the amount of residue to food product is large (approximately 80%) and the salt content of the residue is a problem when used for soil amendment, as it returns the salt to the soil. There is a great wish from Salicornia farmers to increase the value of this fraction in line with the principles of circular economy. The woody residue part of Salicornia has been investigated as a source of pharma- and nutraceutical products due to its high content of phytochemicals e.g. hydroxycinnamic acids (HCA). To help increase Salicornia farming there is a wish to valorize these residues via biochemicals and bioenergy production. The project will also examine the combination of aquaculture and Salicornia farming creating synergies such as formulation and test of phyto-chemicals rich functional fish feed and formulation and test of protein and lipids rich fish feed. The outcomes of this study will enable Salicornia farmers and aquaponics farms to utilize all fractions of the produced biomass and produce value added HCAs, functional fish feed, and bioenergy. This will create new circular industries with co-production of food, pharma, and bioenergy from this new sustainable type of crop with very little or no production of waste streams.