Biorefine Conference ‘The role of biorefineries in European agriculture’
During the two days of the Conference, attendees were guided though an inspiring journey over the six main Biorefine domains related to the sustainable resource management in the framework of circular economy systems. 26 speakers representing different EU-funded projects and organisations showcased the latest development of their current research innovations to make the transition to the circular economy works in practice. Different metholodogies and processes, existing gaps at research level, legal barriers and possible solutions were discussed over the two days, showing an increasing interest for circular economy in different value chains.
The Conference was opened by Prof. Erik Meers from Ghent University as Coordinator of the Biorefine Cluster Europe, who presented the current activities and the future activities of the network.
The event was structured in the six main sessions:
- Value chain assessment of waste-to-bioenergy and bioproducts solutions,
- Turning agricultural waste into biomaterials,
- Turning agricultural waste into biochemicals,
- Sustainable agriculture in Europe through nutrient recovery and recycling,
- Biogas Biorefineries: Towards more resilient EU-wide energy systems for the future,
- Resource-oriented solutions for water recovery and reuse,
where attendees had the chance to listen to innovative solutions, technological developments, supply chain optimisation and preliminary results from projects.
This knowledge exchange was complemented by a poster session, which favored the engagement with participants and provided an insight on the most relevant initiatives promoting innovative solutions for a greener economy in Europe.
The Conference ended with the Best Poster Award won by Alexandra Nastouli from AgRefine presenting “Growth study of E.coli GMO strain incapable of catabolising lacticacid in mixtures of organic acids and simple sugars”.
All the abstracts are available here.
The successful Biorefine Conference was the first of an annual event to support the transition to the circular economy in Europe!
