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HIGH PERFORMING AND SAFE SOLVENT DERIVED FROM CELLULOSIC FEEDSTOCKS

Project description

A promising biorenewable solvent moves toward mass production capability

Many chemicals are manufactured and stored in powder form, and taking advantage of them in reactions requires dissolving them in some sort of solution. Thus, solvents are critical to the chemical sector and to industries that rely on chemicals including the pharmaceutical sector. Dipolar aprotic solvents came into prominence in the 1960s with their ability to greatly enhance reactions, sometimes more than 100-fold, relative to common solvents like water and ethanol. However, many of these are facing increasing regulation due to their toxicity, and greener solutions are desperately needed. Cyrene is a biorenewable solvent whose production from cellulose also provides another valorisation pathway for the paper and pulp industries. EU funding of the ReSolute project is supporting the construction and operation of the first biorefinery dedicated to Cyrene mass production.

Objective

ReSolute Project aims to pave the way for the production, at full industrial scale, of novel, non-toxic and high performing solvent from wood biomass. The Chemical sector is today facing a number of challenges driving demand for higher performing and safer chemicals derived from biomass. In the meantime, in the face of declining demand for paper, the pulp and paper industry is actively exploring opportunities to diversify into new areas or business including bio-based chemicals. In response to these needs, Circa has developed, at demonstration scale, a proprietary process to produce a novel bio-paper sector. From LGO ca be derived a wide range of chemicals including solvents, specialty polymers, flavours & fragrances, pharmaceutical and agrochemical actives. Circa’s first commercial product – a novel solvent trademarked as Cyrene – has already been trialled by more than 400 compagnies and researchers across the world and, for a growing number of applications, outperforms traditional dipolar aprotic solvents such as NMP, DMF and DMAc, which are under intense regulatory pressure due to their toxicity. Building on Circa group’s unique experience gained over the last 10 years via its 4 pilots and its operating demonstration plant, one of ReSolute’s key objectives will be to build and successfully operate a first-of-its kind Flagship Cyrene plant. The biorefinery will be built in France on the Carling Saint-Avold platform site owned by Total. The Flagship plant is expected to be mainly fed with saw dust and have a nameplate capacity of 1,000 metric tonnes per year. To reach this ambitious target, ReSolute will bring together 11 key actors along the entire value chain and will look to valorize the main by-product (biochar) in the energy and activated carbon markets.

Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)

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Keywords

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Programme(s)

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Topic(s)

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Funding Scheme

Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.

IA - Innovation action

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Call for proposal

Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.

(opens in new window) H2020-BBI-JTI-2019

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Coordinator

BIOECONOMY FOR CHANGE
Net EU contribution

Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.

€ 289 448,21
Address
10 RUE PIERRE GILLES DE GENNES
02000 BARENTON BUGNY
France

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SME

The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.

Yes
Region
Hauts-de-France Picardie Aisne
Activity type
Other
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Total cost

The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.

€ 289 448,21

Participants (16)

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