BIOCON: the biomass conversion platform (BIOCON)

In order to become more sustainable, the chemical industry must first get rid of its dependence on fossil raw materials such as oil and natural gas. This can be done, for example, by using biomass from green waste streams (wood waste, plant residues, etc.), a source that not only avoids net CO2 emissions, but above all does not pose a threat to food production.

But before this biomass can be used as an alternative chemical feedstock, a thorough conversion is required first. In the BioCon project, a research platform is being set up to refine woody biomass into chemical raw materials. The focus will be on lignin, the biological component that gives trees and plants their strength. Within BioCon, chemists will investigate how the lignin can be optimally isolated from the biomass, purified and stabilized.

With this project we want to demonstrate that the extraction of lignin from green waste streams such as plant residues and waste wood and its conversion into basic chemical raw materials is not only circular, but also technologically and economically feasible.