In the NEWPOWER project, in which we are participating together with the University of Vigo and 11 other partners, we will obtain biomaterials from agricultural and forestry waste that can be used in the food, pharmaceutical, biotechnological and organic farming industries.
Lignin test in the CETIM laboratory.
The abandonment of rural areas and the accumulation of agricultural and forestry waste are some of the causes of fires in Europe. This situation is aggravated by severe heat waves and lack of rainfall, which are consequences of climate change. According to the report on forest fires in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa by the European Commission‘s Joint Research Centre, 2022 was the second worst year (after 2017) on record since data collection began in 2000 by the European Forest Fire Information System, with 900,000 hectares of land burned in the European Union.
To tackle this common problem in southern Europe, NEWPOWER has created a network of collaboration between public and private organisations in the SUDOE area to achieve sustainable management of agricultural and forestry waste, which is accumulating more and more due to the abandonment of rural areas and is the cause of a large number of fires.
The main objective of NEWPOWER is to develop new biorefinery pilot platforms to obtain innovative and high added value products, always considering advanced and environmentally friendly methodologies. The innovative character of NEWPOWER is based on the use of agricultural and forestry waste in an integral way, reusing it instead of eliminating it, obtaining renewable energies and new products with high added value that can be used in the food, pharmaceutical, biotechnological and ecological agriculture industries.
To this end, CETIM is participating in the initiative together with the universities of Vigo, Minho, Lleida, Zaragoza, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança, Institut National Polytechnique de Toulouse, INRAE-Toulouse Biotechnology Institute, Ingredalia, BLC3 Evolution, Revalorem and we will have the support of Ence, Tagusvalley, Forest Bioengineering Solutions, Bodega Lombre, Argal Alimentación, TMAD, Instituto Nacional de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, Sogibois and Alliance Forets Bois.
Specifically, at CETIM we will work on the revaluation of the lignocellulosic streams obtained in the biorefinery processes proposed in the project, to obtain new biomaterials with applications in the food packaging sector. In this way, we will obtain lignocellulosic micro and nanoparticles, which we will subject to chemical modification processes to provide them with the antimicrobial and hydrophobicity properties of interest for their application as packaging coatings.
Although NEWPOWER is at an early stage, the innovative initiative seeks to go beyond existing practices in the agroforestry sector, allowing for increased knowledge transfer to companies, creating new solutions, as well as promoting sustainability, responsible consumption, healthy habits and diets and waste reduction, in order to achieve the well-being of society as a whole.