BioBase4SME partners form 'BioBase4SME Network' for further collaboration

4 September 2019

Following the successful completion of the BioBase4SME project, the partner organisations have now formed the ‘BioBase4SME Network’. This network will create strong, inter-regional connections between European organisations to provide effective knowledge exchange and innovation support for biobased entrepreneurs. It will also improve cross-regional support for the biobased economy in terms of the innovation and investment climate, legal frameworks and public approval.

The ‘BioBase4SME Network’ consists of Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (Belgium), CLIB - Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie e.V. (Germany), Flanders Biobased Valley (Belgium), REWIN (Netherlands), Materia Nova (Belgium), NNFCC (UK), tcbb RESOURCE (Ireland), Association des Chambres d'Agriculture de l'Arc Atlantique (France) and BioVale Ltd (UK).

Stay tuned to our Twitter channel @BioBase4SME and website for the latest network news. Follow tcbb RESOURCE on Twitter @BioeconomyIRL

SMEs can save 50% on the cost of testing and scale-up with BioBase4SME Innovation Coupons

The BioBase4SME Innovation Coupon has closed to applications. However, you may still wish to contact us at e-mail address contact@tcbbresource.ie if you have a current or future innovation, demonstration or piloting proposal. Thank you.

SMEs can save 50% on the cost of testing, scale-up and demonstration of bio-based innovations through BioBase4SME Innovation Coupons, worth up to €100,000.00. Get in touch with BioBase4SME in Ireland at contact@tcbbresource.ie for details.

In 2016, the BioBase4SME project consolidated a suite of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis kits in the one centralised host facility in Ireland -all under the one roof. With this comes the potential to also integrate the anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis processes. The BioBase4SME investment in the pre-pilot facility offers facilities for innovators to start the development process (from TRL3/4 up to TRL5/6), thus increasing the impact of Irish innovation.

What tests can now be performed in Ireland?
With the consolidated suites of anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis kits come the opportunities to carry out the following tests:

• anaerobic digestion and pyrolysis tests
  
• testing new processes in relevant real-life conditions
  
• feedstock analysis
  
• Biomethane Potential Tests (BMP tests), testing and scale-up for nutrient recovery 
  
• testing of suitability of sludges for pyrolysis
  
• testing of suitability for those side streams that cannot be land-spread and that are not suitable for anaerobic digestion
  

These testing facilities are open to SMEs from all of the North-West Europe regions.

BioBase4SME Workshop aims to encourage SMEs to apply for Bio-Innovation Coupons for Environmental Assessements and Life Cycle Analysis (LCA)

Press Release, Monday 19 June 2017

The BioBase4SME project (co-financed by Interreg NWE), offering bio-innovation support for SMEs, announces its LCA Workshop hosted by the Brussels Greentech Cluster (Brussels, Belgium) on Wednesday June 28^th, 2017.

The theme of the afternoon is Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of biobased products or processes. Delegates will learn why it’s important to conduct an LCA of their products or processes even when these are biobased (e.g. natural products, biotech process, bioplastics). Companies that performed LCA in the past will show the benefits they obtained using such methodology. Furthermore, the workshop will be a good opportunity to learn about the services MATERIA NOVA offers and how they can be accessed by SMEs or start-ups via the BioBase4SME Innovation Coupons (worth €8,000 – €25,000). The afternoon closes with a networking cocktail helping participants to make contact and exchange with entrepreneurs. Participation is free but registration is mandatory.

Established in 2001, Materia Nova (Material research and development centre) is operating as an autonomous non-profit organisation and aims at bridging the gap between fundamental research and industrial developments. The centre employs 85 multidisciplinary, highly qualified researchers, most of them with a PhD, as well as engineers specialised in biotechnology, life cycle assessment, (bio)polymer engineering, biomaterials (synthesis-compounding-biodegradation) and surface treatments.

The YCLA department focuses on performing environmental assessment through the complete product life cycle (Life Cycle Assessment or LCA) and is involved in most of the Materia Nova R&D projects. From an early stage, they help researchers and engineers to make sound economic and environmental choices during product/process developments. The team has access to the expertise of all Materia Nova departments, true added value when assessing products and processes or finding alternatives for clients! The team has performed numerous assessments working on Regional and European collaborative projects as well as in bilateral modus with companies of which some will be presenting during the workshop.

The workshop will also provide information on the BioBase4SME innovation coupon scheme and other support mechanisms the project offers to SMEs and start-ups innovating in the biobased economy. The LCA service of Materia Nova is one of the many services that can be accessed by SMEs and start-ups via this coupon system.

For more information on the workshop and registration: http://www.nweurope.eu/projects/project-search/bio-innovation-support-for-entrepreneurs-throughout-nwe-regions/events/  or contact Guillaume Wegria, tel: +32 (0)484 139 007, guillaume.wegria@materianova.be.

 

The BioBase4SME network, representing leading bio-based economy experts, support SMEs and start-ups across North-West Europe on how to develop new ideas into marketable products. The BioBase4SME expert network organises workshops on specific topics, diverse training events and an innovation bio-camp. Furthermore, SMEs and start-ups can apply for bio-innovation coupons with a value up to €100.000 when looking for technical (process development, scale-up…) and non-technical support (LCA, application testing, market research, business plan coaching, social acceptance…). For more information on the project: www.nweurope.eu/BioBase4SME.

 

KEYWORDS * Biobased Products, Green Chemistry, Circular Economy, environmental impacts of products, processes or services,  eco-labelling, techno-economic analysis,  decision support tool, environmental quality, comparative study, third party certification/labelling, greenwash, Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, return on investment (ROI) • SimaPro, GREET , GaBi

New project BioBase4SME to boost growth for biobased SMEs and Start-ups in North-West Europe: 

tcbb RESOURCE to provide scale-up and test-bed services to bio-based SMEs and start-ups

Press Release, Monday 26 September 2016

The European Commission has launched through its INTERREG NWE Programme a three-year project “BioBase4SME” to further support the development of the biobased economy in North West Europe (NWE). The €5.83 million project will help start-ups and Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to overcome technological and non-technological barriers on their path to turn biobased research into commercial innovation. BioBase4SME offers training, innovation biocamps, workshops and innovation coupons worth up to €100,000. The BioBase4SME partnership includes eight organisations from six different countries. 

The biobased economy creates a big opportunity for Europe. Locally produced biobased feedstocks rather than imported fossil resources are used to produce materials, chemicals and energy, creating a new knowledge and technology intensive economy with high employment potential and with reduced environmental impact. The European bioeconomy showed a turnover of €2.1 trillion and employed 18.3 million employees in 2013 and has a huge growth potential.  

The BioBase4SME network, representing leading biobased economy experts, will advise SMEs from across North-West Europe on how to develop new ideas into marketable products. The project will offer training, innovation biocamps, workshops and innovation coupons worth up to €100,000. These coupons can be used for technological assistance such as scale-up to pilot scale, Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA), techno-economic evaluation, market research, feedstock analysis, social acceptance, and business planning support or a combination thereof.  

Dr. Lieve Hoflack, Manager of the BioBase4SME project, says: “We expect to bring at least 20 promising innovations closer to the market, resulting in new investments and job creation, and provide training to about 200 entrepreneurs active in the biobased economy, thus boosting their innovation capacity. Other main outputs are a strong, interregional network to guide entrepreneurs towards successful innovation and improved regional support for the biobased economy in terms of innovation and investment climate, regulatory framework and public approval.” 

BioBase4SME is a follow-up of the highly successful Bio Base NWE project (www.BioBaseNWE.org). This three-year (2013-2015) project mentored 755 companies in total and granted 30 innovation coupons worth €10-30,000 for technological assistance to SMEs and start-ups. The work done within the innovation coupon scheme created a substantial leverage effect: up to €71million of investments and the creation of 320 new jobs in the biobased economy in the coming years.

BioBase4SME intends to do even better!

 

For more information regarding training, biocamps, workshops and innovation coupons, please visit http://www.nweurope.eu/BioBase4SME or contact the Bio-Innovation Agent in your region (for Ireland see below).

 

Notes to editors:

1. The BioBase4SME partners are:

For Belgium 

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP), Ghent, Belgium, http://www.bbeu.org/pilotplant/  

Ghent Bio-Economy Valley, Ghent, Belgium, http://www.gbev.org/en

Materia Nova, Mons, Belgium, http://www.materianova.be/  

For France

Association of the Chambers of Agriculture of the Atlantic Arc (AC3A), Nantes, France, http://www.ac3a.fr/AC3A_en.php  

For Germany

CLIB2021 Cluster Industrielle Biotechnologie, Düsseldorf, Germany, http://www.clib2021.de/en  

For Ireland

tcbb RESOURCE, Premier Green Energy Pilot Plant Hosting Centre, Cabragh Business Park, Thurles, Ireland, http://www.tcbbresource.ie/

• Bio-Innovation Agent for Ireland: Mr. Pádraic Ó hUiginn, Tel +353 87 90 53 806, pohuiginn@tcbb.ie

For The Netherlands

REWIN Projecten, Breda, The Netherlands, http://www.rewin.nl/  

For the UK

The National Non-Food Crop Centre, York, UK, http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/

2. INTERREG North-West Europe Programme

BioBase4SME is 60% funded by the INTERREG NWE Programme. The Interreg North-West Europe Programme fosters transnational cooperation to make the North Western Europe a key economic player and an attractive place to work and live, with high levels of innovation, sustainability and cohesion. http://www.nweurope.eu/