Selective, sustainable production routes towards bio-based alternatives to fossil-based chemical building blocks

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking

Programme Description

The Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU) is a €2 billion partnership between the European Union and the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) that funds projects advancing competitive circular bio-based industries in Europe.

CBE JU is operating under the rules of Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme, for the 2021-2031 period. The partnership is building on the success of its predecessor, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), while addressing the current challenges facing the industry.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-JU-CBE-2023-IA-06

Call

Selective, sustainable production routes towards bio-based alternatives to fossil-based chemical building blocks

Summary

The production of a wider portfolio of bio-based platform chemicals is presently at low maturity, and CAPEX (and OPEX) investments are still needed to scale up production.

The bio-based platform chemicals portfolio remains relatively limited, with an approximate of 90% of the global bio-based production capacity accounted by a limited amount of platform chemicals. It is essential to progress further with the market penetration of bio-based chemicals, with a holistic consideration of sustainability across the value chain.

Detailed Call Description

Proposals under this topic should:

Demonstrate novel or improved production routes that are resource and energy efficient towards bio-based platform chemicals which have a large market potential. Such novel improved production routes can encompass different enabling technologies.
Address and assess feedstock sustainability and imports dependency to produce bio-based platform chemicals from EU-sourced feedstock, including the valorisation of circular biomass sources (e.g., agricultural and agro-industrial waste and residual streams, municipal waste, etc) .
Propose and deduce reaction mechanisms and pathways to produce the studied bio-based platform chemicals; enabling reaction kinetics elucidation and mechanistic understanding. This should be provided also in the context of further advancing process scale-up;
Include a task to integrate assessment based on the safe-and-sustainable-by-design (SSbD) framework, developed by the European Commission, for assessing the safety and sustainability of chemicals and materials. Under this context, projects are expected to contribute with and develop recommendations that can advance further the application of the SSbD framework.
Demonstrate the applicability and added-value of the bio-based chemical building blocks compared to the fossil-based ones, while considering the target end uses in bio-based products.
Develop and propose a strategic roadmap for closing the competitiveness between well-established fossil-based routes and the proposed novel or improved bio-based routes.

Call Total Budget

€15 000 000

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

70%

Expected EU Contribution: €7 500 000

Thematic Categories

Agriculture - Farming - Forestry
Environment and Climate Change
Other Services
Other Thematic Category
Research, Technological Development and Innovation
Rural development

Eligibility for Participation

Central Government
Chambers
Consumer Organisations
Farmers Unions
Farmers, Agriculturalists
International Organisations
Large Enterprises
NGOs
Non Profit Organisations
Other Beneficiaries
Parliamentary Bodies
Private Bodies
Producer Associations
Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
Semi-governmental organisations
Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

For additional specific conditions, which are described in section 2.2.3 in the CBE JU Annual Work Programme 2023.

Proposals must implement the multi-actor approach and demonstrate the involvement of all concerned key actors in the bio-based systems, such as feedstock suppliers, researchers and technology providers bio-based processing industries, end-users and consumers (in case of B2C value chains).

Call Opening Date

26/04/2023

Call Closing Date

20/09/2023

EU Contact Point

Contact Info:

https://www.cbe.europa.eu/contact

Email: info@cbe.europa.eu