Programme

Human societies face enormous challenges, the most urgent being the sustainability of human activities through their impact on the environment, particularly global warming caused by fossil fuel greenhouse gas emissions. Europe is at the forefront of initiatives aimed at addressing environmental challenges. In December 2020, the EU committed to increasing its climate ambition in line with the Paris Agreement (COP 21). A binding target was approved for a net domestic reduction of at least 55% in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 compared to 1990: this initiative is called Fit For 55 and is part of the European Green Deal strategy to achieve climate neutrality by 2050.

Fully involved in European initiatives, France enacts specific laws and strategies, including the Multiannual Energy Program (PPE) and the National Low-Carbon Strategy (SNBC), which are part of the ecological transition and the gradual decarbonization of all sectors of activity.

The transition from a petrochemical economy to bio-based products and services is considered a major focus of this global transition and must overcome many challenges to transfer scientific research results in this field to the socio-economic world. Examples of these challenges include:

• The use of land for food versus biomolecules, bio-based materials, and energy;
• Intensifying biomass production versus preserving ecosystems and resource availability;
• Exporting biomass to meet global demand versus the need for local soil carbon storage;
• Energy and water-intensive recycling schemes (particularly in urban areas) versus unused waste streams;
• The uncertainties related to periodically available biomass versus quantified fossil fuel quantities, which are also questioned by climate change and fossil fuel reserves;
• Responding to existing market and consumer demands versus new and yet unknown bio-based markets.

In this context, the Bioproductions program aims to support fundamental research, but also characterized by a low level of technological maturity, with the objective of developing innovations that promote the development of an effective, relevant, and competitive French industrial base in the fields of bio-based products and sustainable fuels.

To meet the challenges of transitioning to an economy centered on bio-based products and services, the Bioproductions program will support research in five key areas:

• A better understanding of the structures and properties of biomass;
• Advances in understanding and engineering biological systems;
• The design and prototyping of efficient biomass conversion processes, combining different technologies, including classical chemistry and biotechnology, to build effective processes;
• The development of advanced research tools, including digital technologies, to support research;
• The study and evaluation of the transition to a bioeconomy and the design of tools and methodologies that enable the development of responsible research and innovation.