The consortium, in which Galicia, León and northern Portugal universities and technology centres participate, will develop a biorefinery for the eco-sustainable valorisation of residual biomass from the wine sector of these regions.

 

CETIM will investigate the obtaining of biopolymers and will analyze the technical, environmental and economic feasibility of the developed solutions.

 

The expected results are the production of biofuels and biocomposites through fermentation processes.

 

Culleredo, May 8, 2019. CETIM Technological Centre continues advancing in its strategy to encourage the circular economy through research and innovation in recycling processes and methodologies to obtain high value-added products from by-products and waste. In mid-March, the BIOVINO project was approved, with a cross-border consortium involving five other technology centers and universities in Spain and Portugal to implement the circular economy in the wine sector, one of the most important in the Iberian Peninsula.

 

BIOVINO’s general objective is to lay the theoretical and technical foundations for the implementation of a biorefinery platform in which to perform the eco-sustainable valorisation of residual biomass from the wine sector of Galicia, Castilla y León, and North and Centre of Portugal. Currently, this fraction remains underutilized or is not used to give it a second life and maximize its potential. In the case of BIOVINO, the expected results are the extraction and purification of compounds present in the viticultural and vitivinicultural residual biomass, the obtaining of eco-sustainable fermentation methods, the treatment of wastewater and solid waste, and a study on the applications and the potential market for the biocomposites generated in the project at a global, national and regional level.

 

BIOVINO partners are the Agricultural Technology Institute of Castilla y León – ITACYL (main beneficiary); the University of León, CETIM (Spain); and Universidade do Minho, Universidade de Aveiro, Associação BLC3 – Campus de Tecnologia e Inovação (Portugal).

 

 

CETIM’s role
Specifically, CETIM will carry out research and optimization of the improved low-cost process for obtaining polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), as well as the evaluation of different types of microorganisms that produce PHB.

 

It will also be responsible for the identification and evaluation of the different potential applications for the biocomposites and processes developed in the project, life cycle analysis (LCA) and cost cycle analysis (CCA).

 

CETIM Technological Centre, through its environmental research line in Circular Economy and Biorefinery, considers BIOVINO a priority since it consolidates and strengthens its R&D commitment focused on the bioeconomy.

 

This project is also a great opportunity to establish synergies and fruitful collaborations with cross-border partners, reinforcing the competitive positioning of the Bioeconomy and Circular Economy in the Iberian Peninsula.

 

BIOVINO has a duration of 4 years (January 2018 to December 2021) and is funded by the Interreg VA Spain-Portugal cooperation program POCTEP.