The Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking is a new €3.7 billion Public-Private Partnership between the EU and the Bio-based Industries Consortium. Operating under Horizon 2020, it is driven by the Vision and Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) developed by the industry.

A major public and private effort

€3.7 billion investments in bio-based innovation  from 2014-2020;

• €975 million of EU funds (Horizon 2020)  and €2.7 billion of private investments

• Leveraging capital markets and additional private and public funds (e.g. synergies with EU Structural Funds).

Tackling society’s major challenges

A strong European bio-based industrial sector will significantly reduce Europe’s dependency on fossil-based products, help the EU meet climate change targets, and lead to greener and more environmentally friendly growth.

The key is to develop new biorefining technologies to sustainably transform renewable natural resources into bio-based products, materials and fuels. This nascent sector is expected to grow rapidly and create new markets and jobs, and is already attracting substantial investments in the US, China and Brazil. The EU has the industrial, research and renewable resources potential. It is now a matter of deploying it in a sustainable manner to compete in the global bioeconomy race.

Focus

• Feedstock: foster a sustainable biomass supply with increased productivity and building new supply chains
• Biorefineries: optimise efficient processing through R&D and demonstrate their efficiency and economic viability at large-scale demo/flagship biorefineries
• Markets, products and policies: develop markets for bio-based products and optimise policy frameworks

Benefits for Europe

• Develop the potential of waste as well as agriculture and forestry residues.
• Diversify and grow farmers’ incomes: up to 40% additional margins with existing residues.
• Replace at least 30% of oil-based chemicals and materials with bio-based and biodegradable ones by 2030.
• Create a competitive bio-based infrastructure in Europe, boosting job creation, 80% of which will be in rural and underdeveloped areas.
• Deliver bio-based products that are comparable and/or superior to fossil-based products in terms of price, performance, availability and environmental benefits.
• The new bio-based products resulting from the BBI will on average reduce CO2 emissions by at least 50% compared to their fossil alternatives.

See more at: http://www.bbi-europe.eu/about.