EU coughs up $140 million for biobased research projects

The European Commission has announced a new round of funding for biobased chemicals research and development in the European Union. In this round, the fifth of its kind since 2014, the EC is set to provide $140 million to partly fund selected biobased chemicals research projects. The initiative is part of a European effort to establish a biobased chemicals industry to replace fossil-fuel-based production. Companies and research organizations have until Sept. 6 to apply for funding. The money will be available for projects in the fields of feedstock, process technology, end products, and market uptake. Within these four fields the EC is targeting 21 topics, including functional molecules for biobased coatings that outperform existing products. The EC is on track to provide $1.2 billion in biobased chemicals project funding between 2014 and 2020. Industry will invest a further $3.3 billion.