FAIR EUR 18304 EN: Green Chemical and Polymer Chain - Catalogue of Contracts

Contacts
Summary Information



To find similar Items, click on a keyword below:
Publications : Agricultural Residues : Biocomposites/Boards : Biopolymers/Gums : Bulk Chemicals : Composts/Fertilisers : Detergents : Essential Oil : FAIR Area 1.2 - Green Chemicals and Polymers Chain : Fibre : Fine Chemicals : Fish Oil/Fat : Flavours/Fragrances : Integrated Crop Protection & Biological Control : Packaging : Paints/Coatings/Plastics : Paper/Pulp : Pharmaceuticals/Cosmetics : Protein/Amino Acid : Starch : Straw : Sugar : Textiles/Fabrics/Geomembranes : Vegetable Oil/Fat

Foreword

Introduction

The FAIR specific programme was adopted on 26 April 1994 as part of the Community's Fourth Framework Programme. It concerns research and technological development in agriculture, horticulture, forestry, fishery, aquaculture, and related food and non-food industries and is jointly managed by three Commission services, DG Vl-F11-3: Agricultural Research, DG Xll-E-2: Agro-Industrial Research, and DG XIV-C-2: Fisheries Research. The programme was implemented through shared cost research and technological development, demonstration, and CRAFT type projects, concerted action networks, and research training grants. Six calls for proposals were published as illustrated in Table 1. The time between the close of a call for proposals and the expert evaluation was less than a month, followed by an average of three months before the Commission decision on the selected projects, and a further three to four months before actual project commencement.

Table 1. Timetable of FAIR Calls

	FAIR I	FAIR II	FAIR III	FAIR IV	FAIR V	FAIR VI
Published in Official Journal	15-12-94	15-6-95	15-12-95	15-6-96	17-12-96	15-10-97
Deadline	15-3-95	15-9-95	15-3-96	20-9-96	20-3-97	16-1-98
Expert evaluation	24-4-95 - 12-5- 95	16-10-95 - 27-10- 95	15-4-96 -10-5- 96	14-10-96 - 25-10- 96	14-4-97 -2-5- 97	10-2-98 -20-3- 98
PC* opinion	7-7-95	26-1-96	23-7-96	22-1-97	23-7-97	27-5-98
Commission Approval and start of contract negotiations	7-95	2-96	7-96	2-97	8-97	6-98
Projects begin	11-95	6-96	12-96	6-97	12-97	12-98

* PC refers to the FAIR programme committee, which is made up of delegates from the Member States and Associated States, and who are requested to give an opinion on the shortlist

As shown in Table 2, of the 3328 proposals received and evaluated across the whole programme, 604 were selected for funding giving an overall selection success rate of 18%.

Table 2. FAIR overall proposal selection

	FAIR I	FAIR II	FAIR III-IV	FAIR V	FAIR Vl	Total
Proposals received	937	233	1058	631	469	3328
Proposals selected	113	52	196	132	111	604
Rate of selection (%)	12.1	22.3	18.5	20.9	23.7	18.1

This publication contains the details of all selected and funded projects concerning the non-food uses of agricultural raw materials specific to area 1.2 (green chemicals and polymers), area 2 (scale up technologies) and area 4.3 (agricultural diversififcation) of the FAIR programme. The research areas covered include the production and processing of plant raw materials such as, fibres, carbohydrates and oils from new and traditional agricultural crops, and the development of optimised, "cleaner" processing methodologies and products with higher added value. In this context the aim was to establish closer links between the input and processing industries especially in matching the production of biological raw materials to the needs and requirements of the end- users and consumers. The programme also placed considerable emphasis on the development of new markets for the products and processes coming from renewable biological raw materials.

The integrated chain concept

To illustrate the scope and objectives of renewable biomaterials in the programme Figure 1 shows the complete production and processing chain from the farm to the factory and how they link with market needs.

Figure 1. The integrated chain concept

Research, which promoted the integration of this chain was the key objective in FAIR. This approach necessitates a new type of relationship with the agricultural primary producer based upon market led industrial products from renewable biomaterials. Different types of research projects were funded within the five boxes above with some projects dealing with the whole chain approach from the agronomy of growing the raw material towards making a final product. Two good examples of this include project 396 "Hemp for Europe - manufacturing and production systems" and project 3713 "Calendua an agronomic raw material for industrial applications". Most projects however dealt with process and product based research but contained a sufficient knowledge and linkage to the primary producer within the project. The box above marked "PRODUCT CHAINS" describes how the projects are grouped within this catalogue according to the type of final industrial product range. The linking of these projects in chains allows for a better interaction between the projects, and this was compounded by a series of chain based workshops held in Brussels in November 1998. The net result of these workshops was a closer linking between a number of projects to overcome shared technical hurdles.

Around 9% of all FAIR proposals were submitted to the renewable biomaterials sector across the relevant areas of the programme. From these proposals 80 projects were selected in total over the six calls comprising around 620 participants. These include 63 RTD projects, 2 demonstration projects, 8 concerted action networks, along with 7 CRAFT type co- operative research projects. The total budget for the running projects is around 127 million ECU, with an EC contribution around 78 million ECU. Table 3 is a comprehensive table that gives the breakdown of the types of projects funded over the different product chains, the finance by product chain. It also included the number of participants, and the industrial participation per product chain for the RTD shared cost projects only.

Table 3. Product chain analysis for the RTD shared cost projects

Product Chain	RTD	DEMO	CA	TN	CR	EU MECU	TC (MECU)	Particips.*	Indus. (%) *
Bulk Chemicals	10	1	3		1	9,41	17.78	71	51
Non-Wood Fibre Composites	9				3	11.15	20.33	60	40
Bioplastics, Polymers and Packaging	14		2			16.15	26.69	93	48
Cosmetics and Personal Care Products	5	1			1	8.15	11.59	28	36
Food Ingredients	13			2	1	14.58	22.39	51	37
Drugs and Vaccines	5					5.04	7.61	23	22
Biological Control Products	7				1	9.34	14.95	42	36
Dissemination of results			1			0.4	0.4	1	-
Total	63	2	6	2	7	74.22	121.74		42

RTD: Research and technological development. DEMO: Demonstration. CA:Concerted Actions. TN: Thematic Networks. CR: Craft type SME projects. * Data for shared cost RTD projects only.

Table 3 indicates that 369 participants took part in the 63 RTD shared cost projects and 159 of these came from industrial or commercial enterprises. This level of 42 % industrial participation reflects the high level of commercial interest in this area and is the highest for any scientific sector within Life Sciences in the fourth framework programme. It is made up of many SMEs and some of the leading European chemical industries. Furthermore, the country distribution indicates a high level of participation in Germany, The Netherlands, and France, and this is characterised by the presence of leading research institutes with strong industrial links in these countries dedicated to research in this sector.

Figures 2 and 3 show the specific distribution of budget and type of participant for the RTD shared cost projects across the product chains.

Figure 2. Distribution of the budget and EC contribution for the 63 RTD shared cost projects across the product chains.

co-operative research actions and similar activities, differ somewhat from the core activity of shared cost projects in terms of participants, budgets and payments. Since particular conditions associated with networks (for instance one network has over 50 participants), demonstration (high overall budget and lower percentage contribution) and co-operative research (high proportion of industrial SMEs) would distort the overall picture of the core activity, these are omitted from the analysis of figures 2 and 3. Focus is thus based solely on the shared cost research projects.

Figure 3. Distribution of the type of participant for the 63 RTd shared cost projects across the product chains

Analysis of figures 2 and 3 shows a healthy distribution of funding across all the product chains, but with higher levels of funding for the bulk chemical and bioplastic chains. Both of these chains also exhibit higher levels of industrial participation. Many of the universities and research institutes have strong links to industry but also to the farming sector. Nevertheless the active involvement of farming communities in the projects was quite weak, though they are included in the extended audience for some of the demonstration projects.

In conclusion this book is intended as a guide to the current progress in the creation of a European renewable biomaterial market. The research objectives and results decribed within illustrates a novel approach to the application of new processing technologies and biotechnology to the molecular components of nature. This allows us to produce industrial materials such as plastics, chemicals, and fuels in a sustainable manner, which are of benefit to the environment, and of potential benefit to the farming community. Even though there are still formidable hurdles to overcome of both a technical and non-technical nature, when seen in the context of massive global population increases, the non- sustainable exploitation of our natural resources, and the exhaustive supply and price sensitivity of petroleum, the research described here clearly demonstrates the long-term potential of biological raw materials to provide an alternative and sustainable source of industrial products.

The vast range of raw materials and products investigated in this programme is illustrated in the comprehensive keyword index found at the back of the book. Similarly, the administrative details given on the participants are as complete and correct as possible at the time of going to press. Many of the projects selected from the first call will finish in 1999 while those from the later calls will finish in 2002. Results have been included where available and final results from the projects will be disseminated on the NF-2000 website and through CORDIS over the coming years.