NBioC and the Bioeconomy
Innovative use of biological resources
What is the bioeconomy?
In its Action Plan for 2018 on the Bioeconomy, the European Commission describes the bioeconomy as covering all sectors and systems that rely on biological resources – animals, plants, micro-organisms and derived biomass, including organic waste – as well as their functions and principles. It includes and interlinks: land and marine ecosystems and the services they provide; all primary production sectors that use and produce biological resources (agriculture, forestry, fisheries and aquaculture); and all economic and industrial sectors that use biological resources and processes to produce food, feed, bio-based products, energy and services.
Source: Bioeconomy: the European way to use our natural resources - Action plan 2018 (European Commission)
The Bioeconomy at NBioC
At NBioC, our focus is the tremendous potential for microorganisms to produce high-value products and biomass. In this context, NBioC will foster scaling up of fermentation processes, a crucial field of research, development and innovation (RDI), with state-of-the-art infrastructure from laboratory to pilot scales.
NBioC will support R&D on:
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sugar-based fermentation using low value biomass and nutrients from side streams as feedstock, and
- gas-based fermentation using C1 gas from natural gas and biogas sources (CO2, CH4), as a source of carbon for the production of biomass or biochemicals.
NBioC is a key-enabler for the emerging bioeconomic value-chain on bioprocessing and fermentation, ranging from basic research (TRL1) to pilot-scale demonstration (TRL6), hence supporting a fast-track to innovation. The infrastructures will enable the development, optimisation, scaling-up and piloting for the production of enzymes, protein and/or fatty acids rich biomass, and a wide array of platform chemicals. Such an open access pilot plant is the first of its kind in Norway and a necessary step to preparing for industrial scale processes.
