Biomass is a valuable, sustainable feedstock for the production of high added value chemicals and materials, and will play an important role in the transition of the European Process Industry to a Sustainable Process Industry. However, for the optimal utilization of these bio-resources the fractionation of the biomass on basis of functionalities is required. The innovative approach of BIO4PRODUCTS is to apply a short thermal treatment at elevated temperature enabling the fractionation of the bio-resource, but keeping the key chemical functionalities in separate, depolymerized fractions. Within the project the process will be demonstrated in a 3 t/d demo-plant. Subsequently, BIO4PRODUCTS will demonstrate the use of the resulting intermediate processing streams for the production of wood preservation products, furanic resins, phenolic resins and roofing material as cost-effective renewable alternatives for fossil resources in the conventional products (30-100% substitution). Each of the steps in the whole chain has at least been proven on bench-scale (TRL5) and should reach TRL 6-7 by execution of this project. The feedstock flexibility will be shown by demonstrating the complete chain for 4 different biomass resources representative for the majority of biomass resources available in Europe. Integral topics covered by the project are the techno-economic and environmental assessments as well as the development of business plans for subsequent commercialization of the individual product lines and the overall value chain. The BIO4PRODUCTS consortium consists of 2 large industries and 4 SME’s and 1 one non-profit organization covering the whole chain from biomass collection, primary and secondary conversion, and final use in end products. Additionally, specific expertise is included on environmental evaluation and the market introduction of sustainable products.

RoadToBio will deliver a roadmap that will specify the benefits for the chemical industry along the path towards a bioeconomy to meet the societal needs in 2030. The roadmap will contain the following two main components: (1) An analysis of the most promising opportunities (sweet spots) for the chemical industry to increase its bio-based portfolio, as well as the technological and commercial barriers and the hurdles in regulations and acceptance by society, governing bodies and the industry itself. (2) A strategy, action plan and engagement guide to overcome the existing and anticipated barriers and hurdles as mentioned above. Furthermore it will bring together different parts of chemical industry, society, and governing bodies, to start a dialogue and to create a platform where this action plan can unfold its full potential, in order to help meet the very ambitious targets of the BIC for 2030. The approach is based on three pillars, which are (a) analysis of status quo and potentials, (b) forward looking activities, (c) continuous feedback loops and interactions with stakeholders. The results will be wrapped up and phrased as a roadmap and an engagement guide describing the benefits and a way forward for the European Chemical Industry towards a more bio-based future. In order to derive a holistic roadmap that can lead the way, the analytical part of the project will consider feedstocks, technologies and markets as well as regulatory issues, societal needs, consumer questions and communication. The consortium partners bring in complementary expertise in relevant fields of the bioeconomy and chemical industry, covering in depth all aspects that need to be included in the roadmap. All partners have been or are still actively involved in successfully completed and ongoing FP7, H2020, and BBI projects on different aspects of the bioeconomy, as well as in several groups and committees working on political or standardization aspects of bio-based products.

The proposed STEELANOL project is based on producing bioethanol via an innovative gas fermentation process using exhaust gases emitted by the steel industry. The proposal addresses the specific topic “Demonstrating advanced biofuel technologies” (LCE-12– 2014), under the call for competitive low-carbon energy in Horizon2020. The BF/BOF gaseous emissions are an unavoidable residue from the steelmaking process and are currently used for electricity production or being flared. Nevertheless, they can be advantageously used to produce bioethanol, thereby reducing the usage of fossil fuel molecules and thus significantly reducing GHG emissions. The bio-ethanol production would have a GHG impact that is over 65% lower compared to oil derived fuels STEELANOL’s main objective is to demonstrate the cost-effective production of sustainable bioethanol, with the purpose of assessing the valorisation of this ethanol biofuel as a fuel derivative for the transport sector. A demonstration plant of approximately 64,000 tons/ethanol per year will be built; the first of its kind in Europe, and the largest facility built to date utilizing this technology globally. ArcelorMittal is the lead partner of this project and proposal. The gas fermentation technology will be supplied by LanzaTech, the engineering work will be performed by Primetals, and E4Tech will develop the Life Cycle Assessment of the produced fuels. Several key players in the transport sector, Boeing, Virgin Atlantic, Mitsui, have expressed their strong interest and support for the project.

Most energy system studies of the UK indicate a strong role for bioenergy in the coming decades, especially if the UK is to meet its climate change mitigation ambitions. However, there is a need to understand how bioenergy systems can be implement without negative sustainability-related implacts. There is therefore a need for multi-scale systems analyses to support the understanding of these inter-related issues and to support decision-making around land use, interactions with food production and acceleration of bioenergy technologies, while ensuring that a range of sustainability measures are quantified and that minimum standards can be guaranteed. This project will build on bioenergy system models (Imperial College, RRes, Soton) partners) and combine it with other models, including the UK-TIMES model (UCL), ecosystem and resource models (Soton, Manchester) and international trade models (UCL). This toolkit will be used to identify robust and promising options for the UK, including land use, resources and technologies. This overall modelling framework would be able to determine which value chains can best contribute to a technologically efficient, low cost and low carbon UK energy system. Configuring the model to avoid the use of side constraints to limit the amount of land available for bioenergy and bio-based materials/chemicals will lead to a better understanding of how biomass production can be intercalated into existing UK energy and agricultural infrastructures. This framework will be used to explore the bioenergy value chains and technology developments most relevant to the UK under different scenarios (e.g. high/low food security, high/low biomass imports etc.). The coupling to wider UK energy models as well as global resource models/data will ensure coherence in the overall systems and scenarios developed and to ensure clarity in the role of bioenergy in the wider UK energy system. Resource and technology models and information on future improvements as well as requirements for adoption and diffusion will be incorporated into the model. Sample value chains developed will also be assessed for their wider ecosystem impacts within the UK, particularly in terms of the change in expected key ecosystem services overall arising from changes in land use against a reference scenario. The implications of technological improvements in system critical technologies such as 2G biofuels, bio-SNG gas and the provision of renewable heat will also be considered. The linking of value chain and system models will help to examine the opportunities and indirect impacts of increased biomass use for energy and chemicals and critically evaluate mitigation strategies for GHG emissions and resource depletion, and will feed into a wider policy analysis activity that will examine the dynamics of changing system infrastructure at intermediate time periods between now and 2050. The key outcomes will include: - Understanding the potential and risks of different biomass technologies, and the interfaces between competing requirements for land use - Understanding cost reductions, lifecycle environmental profiles and system implications of bioenergy and biorenewables - Identifying and modelling the impact of greater system integration -integrated energy, food, by-product systems, and cascading use of biomass - Understanding what it would take to achieve a significant (e.g. 10%) contribution from biomass in the UK - and identify the pre-requisites/critical path for mobilisation (resources, policies, institutions and timescales). - Developing scenarios describing what policies, infrastructure, institutions etc. would be needed and where - Lifecycle, techno- and socio-economic and environmental/ecosystem, evaluation of the value chains associated with a material level of bioenergy in the UK

The most recent IPCC report paints a stark picture of our changing climate and the urgency of action to reduce emissions in every sector of the economy. While light-duty road transport can decarbonize through electrification, aviation will continue to require energy dense liquid fuels for the foreseeable future. If we are to decarbonize aviation, it must be through low-carbon fuels that can be made from abundant, sustainable sources that do not increase pressure on land or food. The Fuel via Low Carbon Integrated Technology from Ethanol (FLITE) consortium (LanzaTech, SkyNRG, E4tech, RSB, and Fraunhofer) proposes to expand the supply of low carbon jet fuel in Europe by designing, building, and demonstrating an innovative ethanol-based Alcohol-to-Jet (ATJ) technology in an ATJ Advanced Production Unit (ATJ-APU). The ATJ-APU will produce jet blendstocks from non-food/non-feed ethanol with over 70% GHG reductions relative to conventional jet. The Project will demonstrate >1000 hours of operations and production of >30,000 metric tonnes of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, and supports the European Advanced Biofuel Flightpath objectives of getting SAFs to the market faster and using 2 million tonnes of aviation biofuels by 2020. Ethanol is the ideal SAF feedstock as it can be produced from diverse and abundant resources, including residues from agriculture, forestry, and industry – and even from municipal waste. More low carbon ethanol technologies are being developed in Europe and elsewhere, while at the same time greater electric vehicle penetration reduces ethanol demand. Ethanol-based SAF offers an opportunity to divert sustainable carbon from road transport – which can be electrified – to aviation, which cannot. This strategy will expand the ethanol market and meet aviation’s low carbon fuel needs. The diversity of ethanol sources offers the potential to produce cost-competitive SAF, accelerating uptake by commercial airlines and paving the way for implementation.