News

In December 2017, the Flemish Agency for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (VLAIO) approved the cSBO project SPICY, which stands for “Sugar-based chemicals and Polymers through Innovative Chemocatalysis and engineered Yeast”. With a subsidy of over 2.5 million euro from the budget for cluster projects, a consortium consisting of KULeuven, UGent, UHasselt, VITO, VIB and Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant will work on the development of a technology platform for the valorisation of sugar.

Have you brought, or are you looking to bring a bio-based, biorefinery or biotechnology innovation process towards commercialisation? We need your input to improve equipment and service provision in this important area!   Pilots4U is seeking your help in participating in a short survey designed to gather information about the type of equipment and services […]

Loudly encouraged by 700 attendees, Flemish Minister for Innovation Philippe Muyters, Ghent’s Alderman for Innovation Christophe Peeters and CEO Wim Soetaert rode a cycling race to start up a
new investment at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant. East Flemish Deputy Martine Verhoeve fired the starting gun and Agnes Lindemans of the European Commission assured fairplay during this festive cycling race.

CO2PERATE, a project focusing on the discovery of new technologies to transform waste CO2 into formic acid has been approved. The CO2PERATE project (2.6 million euro) is funded by the Agentschap Innoveren en Ondernemen (VLAIO), and supported by Catalisti, the spearhead cluster for chemistry and plastics. The discovery of efficient technologies that enable the use of CO2 as a starting material for chemical synthesis is one of the biggest scientific challenges of our time.

Feeling inefficient as a start-up or SME on the way to turn your bio business barriers into successful innovation? Feeling still confused when it comes to Business Plan Development, Market Research, Life Cycle Assessment, Social Acceptance and Feedstock analysis? We picked three high-level experts for a one-hour webinar to give you a first understanding of […]

The DAFIA project, a Horizon 2020 project that aims to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) and residual material from fish processing into useful products, is approaching its one-year anniversary. To mark the occasion, the third meeting of the DAFIA consortium will be held in Copenhagen …

In this project focusing on the production of cosmetic ingredients from renewable resources, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant provided valuable input for the business plan.

On September 11th and 12th the official kick-off was held for the Afterlife project in Bari, Italy. Scientists at companies and research institutes will be cooperating for the next four years to find an integrated solution for the recovery and conversion of relevant fractions from wastewater.

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant coordinates the BioBase4SME project offering bio-innovation support for entrepreneurs thoughout North-West Europe. The BioBase4SME project organised a first successful Innovation Biocamp, twenty participants from seventeen selected North-West European start-ups and young SMEs gathered in Yorkshire (UK) from 23-28th July 2017.

Workshop on New Solutions for Biobased Painting, organised through the Interreg NWE project BioBase4SME Boosting growth for biobased SMEs and Start-ups in North-West Europe DOWNLOAD the full PRESS RELEASE here DOWNLOAD the Workshop PROGRAM here On Tuesday 31 January 2017, the workshop entitled ‘New Solutions for Biobased Painting’ will take place at the UniLaSalle campus in […]

Brussels, Belgium, January 16, 2017– The European Union (EU) has awarded the international NanoPack consortium €7.7 million to develop and demonstrate a solution for extending food shelf life by using novel antimicrobial surfaces. CLICK HERE to DOWNLOAD the full text of the PRESS RELEASE The three-year project is aimed at demonstrating, validating and testing food-packaging […]

Vlaanderen profileert zich als topregio voor bio-economie op EFIB-congres Glasgow Brussel, 14 oktober 2016 – Zowat tien procent van de productie van de Vlaamse industrie is vandaag bio-gebaseerd. Het komt er nu op aan de hoge specialisatiegraad van de industriële biotechnologie in Vlaanderen verder te ontwikkelen en zo het economisch potentieel ten volle te benutten. […]

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant and BioBase4SME will be represented at and involved in EFIB 2016 in several ways: PLENARY TALK: BioBase4SME Project Manager Dr. Lieve Hoflack will give a plenary talk @ EFIB 2016 entitled: ‘Progress in innovative plants that have received support from BioBase4SME’ Timing: Day 1 – Track C ‘Innovation’ – 3.45pm More […]

    Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant proudly announces the launch of the BIO-HArT project. Within this INTERREG Flanders – Netherlands project, Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant will further develop its expertise and pilot infrastructure with regard to lignin and carbohydrate extraction from locally available biomasses. Prototypes will be further converted by the partners and/or […]

Over 500 people have gathered today at the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant to celebrate the 5th anniversary of this pilot facility for biobased processes and products. During the celebration, Minister Philippe Muyters, Flemish Minister for Work, Economy and Innovation has inaugurated two new 15.000 Liter bioreactors. These new bioreactors form a significant extension of the innovation and demonstration infrastructure of the Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant.

Edinburgh-based Celtic Renewables has become the first in the world to produce biofuel capable of powering cars from residues of the whisky industry. It now plans to build a production facility in central Scotland after manufacturing the first samples of bio-butanol from the by-products of whisky fermentation.

Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant (BBEPP), a leading pilot plant for bio-based products and processes located in the port of Ghent, has been recognised by the French Government as a research facility. French companies making use of the services of Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant can consequently obtain a tax credit of up to 30% on the invoice. The outsourced work must, however, come within the scope of Research and Development activities, or be linked to Innovation. Bio Base NWE previously announced that it would award innovation coupons up to €30,000 to innovative companies wishing to carry out tests at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant. Cooperation with BBEPP is consequently now becoming of great interest to French companies, particularly French SMEs.

Xylophane has recently entered a cooperation with Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant in Belgium with the aim of scaling up its xylan production to ton scale.

In November a test process was conducted during which Xylophane’s xylan production process was verified at Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant’s pilot site. The next step is to procure complementary process equipment and to adapt the available systems in preparation for ton-scale xylan production campaigns. The plan is to implement the first ton-scale production campaign in 2015.