go to top scroll for more

Projects


Projects: Custom Search
Reference Number BB/S009779/1
Title Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet)
Status Started
Energy Categories Renewable Energy Sources (Bio-Energy) 100%;
Research Types Basic and strategic applied research 100%
Science and Technology Fields BIOLOGICAL AND AGRICULTURAL SCIENCES (Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science) 100%
UKERC Cross Cutting Characterisation Other (Energy technology information dissemination) 100%
Principal Investigator Prof S (Simon ) McQueen-Mason
No email address given
Biology
University of York
Award Type Research Grant
Funding Source BBSRC
Start Date 31 March 2019
End Date 30 March 2025
Duration 72 months
Total Grant Value £1,371,657
Total Project Value £1,371,657
Industrial Sectors
Region Yorkshire & Humberside
Programme
 
Investigators Principal Investigator Prof S (Simon ) McQueen-Mason , Biology, University of York (100.000%)
Web Site
Objectives Objectives not supplied
Abstract Today's industrial economy is built largely on the petrochemical industries that provide us with the fuels, chemicals and materials that we consume. The petrochemicals sector is worth around 50b to the UK economy each year, but is unsustainable due to the impacts of net carbon emissions on the environment. Global commitments to move to a carbon-neutral economy by the middle of the century mean that we need to find sustainable resources to replace petroleum. Non-food biomass, such as crop residues and food waste, can provide a renewable carbon-neutral resource that can provide the energy rich carbon chemistries needed for the provision of fuels, chemicals and materials. The Biomass Biorefinery Network (BBNet) will serve as a focal point to build and sustain a dynamic community of industrial and academic practitioners working together to develop new processes for the conversion of non-food biomass into sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials. BBNet will bring together scientists and businesses with interests in biorenewable products and provide small scale research funding to help initiate new collaborations and pump-prime new research areas. BBNet will encourage early-career scientists to get involved in the biorefinery sector through funding competitions and workshops. BBNet will serve as a focal point to drive forward the UK's bio-based sector and help make the UK the most attractive place for international companies to develop the technologies to underpin the new industrial sector. The network will commission reports that will provide information and intelligence on new areas of opportunity in the biorefinery sector. BBNet will serve as a voice for the business and academic sectors and engage closely with government policy makers to ensure they understand the potential benefits offered by carbon-neutral biorenewable products in both economic and environmental terms. We will commission a survey of relevant UK and international companies to see what factors would enable sector development and make the UK a more attractive place to develop their businesses in the biorenewables sector. The translation of scientific knowledge into commercial processes requires the ability to up-scale processes and demonstrate their techno-economic viability. The UK is developing a network of enabling capability through the BioPilots UK, which encompasses regional open-access biorefinery facilities in Wales, York, Teesside and Scotland. BBNet will work closely with Biopilots UK and develop funding competitions that allow industrially relevant innovative processes to be tested at scale to help build business opportunities.
Publications (none)
Final Report (none)
Added to Database 17/08/22