Lignin, one of nature’s most abundant polymers, holds immense promise as a cornerstone for the biobased future of the chemical industry. At a time when reducing environmental impact and transitioning to circularity are critical, lignin emerges as a versatile and underutilized resource with transformative potential. Our dedicated webpage serves as a hub for all things lignin, bringing together knowledge and innovation in this exciting field.
Catalisti has been instrumental in accelerating lignin-based innovations by supporting collaborative projects that unite industry leaders, researchers, and policymakers. Through these initiatives, Catalisti has driven impactful breakthroughs, from scaling up pilot installations to advancing lignin’s application potential. This collaborative approach has solidified Flanders’ position as a leader in renewable carbon innovation.
In the search for alternatives to fossil raw materials, researchers at KU Leuven are using plant residues to develop bio-based chemicals. They opened a pilot facility “Biocon” late last year to prepare the technology for industrial use. We spoke with Biocon manager Sander Van den Bosch to find out how the industrial scale-up can come about.
VITO is unlocking potential of lignin with the pilot installation LignoValue that converts isolated lignin into aromatic building blocks. The new Pillar II pilot plant is now preparing the lignin by dissolving it in a solvent suitable for further processing via catalytic depolymerisation. We had a conversation with researcher Kelly Servaes who is in charge of the project.
The transition to a bio-based, carbon-neutral chemical industry is a significant goal in the broader mission to address climate change. As highlighted in a recent study by Wouter Arts and Ilié Storms from KU Leuven, wood could be a promising renewable carbon source to replace fossil fuels in producing chemicals in Europe.
The consortium behind the CropExplore for Farmers project convened at KU Leuven’s TRANSfarm. The event marked an important milestone in the project, with the announcement of a new tool developed for farmers and bioeconomy companies. Additionally, Biocon shared their latest achievement in hemp processing.
A Nova-Institute study entitled ‘Renewable Carbon is Key to a Sustainable and Future-Oriented Chemical Industry’ from 2018 developed a scenario for the chemical industry based on renewable carbon. Here are some key takeaways.
With the support of the Catalisti project BIORESAL, VITO has launched a tool that helps companies select the right downstream processing strategy for lignin and depolymerised lignin oils.
Biorizon Innovation and upscaling of Renewable Aromatics Technology: for the next three years 10 partners will be working on the production and scale-up of aromatic chemicals from biomass in the interregional BIO-HArT project.
A critical review by the COMOC and INCAT group on recent advances on the utilization of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) and related heterogeneous catalysts in a lignocellulosic-feedstock biorefinery scheme was published on the cover of Green Chemistry.
Mapping the potential of more than 200 arable crops within the Flemish bioeconomy with deder, yacon and hemp as demonstration cases.
The BIORESAL project aims to research to produce biobased LPF resins by replacing phenol with (modified) oligomeric lignin fractions.
The DELICARE project maximally exploits the potential of hydrolysis lignin (HL) as a sustainable source of reactive bio-aromatic compounds.
