Adaptable industrial processes allowing the use of renewables as flexible feedstock for chemical and energy applications

Specific challenge:Use of biomass, residues and waste gases as feedstock/raw materials in industry to produce green chemical building blocks and energy is expected to increase significantly in the coming years. This will play a vital role in the establishment of a more sustainable and low carbon industry. However, the increased use of biomass, residues and waste gases as feedstock/raw materials in industry poses a number of challenges that need to be addressed, such as seasonal and fragmented availability, short harvesting windows, environmental challenges, variable availability and/or quality of supply, and presumed competition with animal or human food supply. In addition, it is important to develop highly efficient equipment using novel techniques and evaluate the use of biomass and residues as feedstock for co-firing in industrial processes to detect potential operational problems. Changing markets and making new links in the value chains will be an added challenge in the future production syste