Biorefining in a Circular Economy

Background and Objective

The aim of the IEA Bioenergy Task42 "Biorefining in a closed cycle economy" is to facilitate the commercialisation and market introduction of environmentally friendly, socially acceptable and cost-efficient systems and technologies for biorefineries and to advise political and industrial decision-makers accordingly. Task42 offers an international platform for cooperation and information exchange between industry, SMEs, NGOs, research institutions and universities in the fields of biorefinery research, development, demonstration and policy analysis. The tasks include developing networks, disseminating information, providing scientific technology analyses and advising political decision-makers. Knowledge gaps and obstacles to their use are to be eliminated in order to promote the successful implementation of sustainable biorefinery systems on the market.

Approach

Biorefining is the optimal strategy for a large-scale sustainable use of biomass in the bioeconomy. That will lead to a cost-effective co-production of food and feed ingredients, biobased products and bioenergy in combination with optimal socio-economic and environmental impacts (e.g. reduced greenhouse gas emissions, efficient use of resources).
The aim is to facilitate relevant knowledge and co-learning. In Task 42, the knowledge from the participating countries will be collected on different biorefinery processes and presented to the stakeholders of the value chain and the interested public in the form of reports, webinars and international stakeholder workshops.