Overview
he BECOOL (Brazil-EU Cooperation for Development of Advanced Lignocellulosic Biofuels) project aims to provide solutions for highly efficient and sustainable value chains encompassing the whole range of activities from biomass production and diversification to logistics, conversion pathways and exploitation.
The project addresses three sub-challenges:
• two alternatives gasification pathways to produce advanced biofuels, including aviation fuels;
• insights into pre-treatment and biochemical conversion of lignocellulosic feedstock (fermentation pathway)
• feedstock diversification through the integration of conventional and new lignocellulosic crops without reducing food crops land and through the cultivation of perennial lignocellulosic crops in marginal/idle lands.
The BECOOL project and its Brazilian counterpart BioVALUE benefit from the complementarities of expertise and experience in the EU and Brazil. On one hand, they can draw on Brazil's long experience in sugarcane bioethanol production, and on the other, they can profit from the EU's know-how in terms of biomass production logistics and advanced conversion technologies.
If successful, the project will develop innovative cropping systems, including annual and perennial lignocellulosic crops, that would increase lignocellulosic feedstock availability by at least 50% without reducing food crops land.