International Cooperation with Brazil on advanced lignocellulosic biofuels
The coordinated call aims at exploiting synergies between Brazil and Europe in terms of scientific expertise and resources in topics related to advanced biofuels by implementing coordinated projects.
One of the following sub-challenges should be addressed by the proposals:
- Gasification of bagasse to syngas and advanced liquid fuel production, including biofuels for aviation.
- Applied research to biomass production logistics and applied research for feedstock diversification for advanced biofuels.
- Development of new fermentation and separation technologies for advanced liquid biofuels and applied research to increase the energy efficiency of advanced biofuel processes.
Scope
Proposals shall aim at moving technologies from TRL 3-4 to TRL 4-5 (please see part G of the General Annexes).
Biofuels produced from starch, sugar and oil fractions of food/feed crops are excluded.
Joint work can - where relevant - build upon the Brazilian sugarcane ethanol model, and should benefit from the Brazilian and European experience in biofuels.
Proposals should address, where appropriate synergies between new and existing technologies, regional approaches and other socio-economic and environmental aspects. A life-cycle analysis shall be performed.
The exploitation of results, including IPR, should be appropriately addressed in the proposal.
The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of between EUR 3-5 million would allow the specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts. Furthermore, a balanced effort between Europe and Brazil regarding the two coordinated projects is expected..
Aligned Brazilian and European projects shall have the same start date, the same duration – up to 5 years, same targets, and must demonstrate clearly how the coordination among them will bring added scientific value. To ensure a project implementation that reflects a genuine EU-Brazil cooperation, priority in evaluation will be given to proposals involving properly coordinated research activities between Europe and Brazil in the research plan of the two coordinated projects. Independent projects, which are not aligned, will be considered ineligible. Proposals will include detailed explanations about tasks and effort of the coordinated proposal as a whole and cross-references to the other part of the proposal.
Proposals will be only selected on the condition that the corresponding coordinated project is also selected for funding.
Demonstration of co-funding for the research from industry sector is desirable on both sides.
The Brazilian funding organisation for this topic is São Paulo Research Foundation (Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo, FAPESP).
Expected Impact
A significant progress in the specific sub-challenges mentioned above should be obtained by benefiting from the complementarities of expertise and experience in EU and Brazil. Moreover, the cooperation between key researchers, institutions and industries that are active in biofuel research in EU and Brazil should be strengthened.
