Biorrefineries shown to be a key element of circular economy

BIOPLAT, the Spanish Biomass Technology Platform and SusChem-Spain, the Sustainable Chemistry Technology Platform presented yesterday the Spanish Biorefineries Manual that have jointly prepared. The presentation took place in the Spanish Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness. Ms. Carmen Vela, Secretary of the Spanish State for Research, Development and Innovation highlighted the importance of the bioenergy in the bioeconomy of Spain, as well as in the circular economy. In addition, the importance of biomass as a key element required to achieve the energy and environmental objectives present and futures was discussed.

Ms. Carmen Vela, Secretary of the Spanish State for Research, Development and Innovation, Cristina González (SUSCHEM-España) and Margarita de Gregorio (BIOPLAT)

The contents of the Spanish Biorefineries Manual were presented: from the description of the concept and kinds of biorefineries, the different types of biomass and their potential, their transformation and the description of the opportunities that represent. The political, socioeconomical and environmental context were described as well as a list of final recommendations and current initiatives in Spain.

The meeting included two parts were experts analised in first place the opportunity at national level of the biorefinieries and the strategic evolution in Spain, presenting several practical cases.

The availability of biomass resources, the necessity of reindustrialize and activation of rural areas in addition with the private initiatives in line with the circular economy strategy followed by the European Commission hold a favorable context for the promotion of biorefinieries as a key element to promote the bioeconomy strategy. This strategy is required in order to achieve a more sustainable and circular development model with a more efficient use of resources, representing as well an opportunity of business which promotes the socioeconomical development within an innovative productive model.

The Spanish Biorefineries Manual is available to free download in the following link.

The presentations of journey (in Spanish) can be downloaded here.