2nd Project meeting
Thursday 11th March 2010
Hotel Royal York • Stationsweg 21 • 9671 AL • Winschoten • The Netherlands
Meeting AGENDA
09:00 - 09:20 / Welcome / HEMPFLAX, Mark Reinders09:20 – 09:40 / Project progress / CRES, Myrsini Christou
09:40 –11:00 / Non-food crops (WP1) / CRES, Myrsini Christou
BIOS - Alatsidis Hercules
INF, Przemyslaw Baraniecki
UNIBO, Andrea Monti
NCPRI, Gabriela Pintilie
11:00 – 11:20 / Coffee break
11:20 – 11:40 / Plant breeding (WP2) / -
11:40 – 13:40 / Bio-based products (WP3) / INF, Przemyslaw Baraniecki
ITERGE, Xavier Pages
KEFI, Valerio Zucchini
HEMPFLAX, Mark Reinders
CHIMAR, Hlectra Papadopoulou
NCPRI, Gabriela Pintilie
13:40 – 14:40 / Lunch break
14:40 – 15:00 / Costs and socio-economics (WP4) / ICEPT, Calliope Panoutsou
15:00 – 15:40 / Sustainability standards (WP5) / OECO, Uwe Fritsche
15:40 – 16:00 / Overall assessment (WP6) / FZJ, Uli Schurr
16:00 – 16:20 / Dissemination (WP7) / CRES, Myrsini Christou
Final conclusions
Questions - Discussions / All
16:30 / End of meeting
Visit to Hempflax premises
Participants list
Name / Organization / e-mailMyrsini Christou / CRES /
Efi Alexopoulou / CRES /
Przemyslaw Baraniecki / INF & MP /
Andrea Monti / UNIBO /
Garriela Pintilie / NCPRI /
Elena Draghici / NCPRI
Misu Moscovici / NCPRI
Theoni Margaritopoulou / AUA.bio
Reveka Stefanidou / BIOS AGROSYSTEMS /
Herculus Alatsidis / BIOS Agrosystems /
Xavier Pages / ITERG /
Valerio Zucchini / KEFI ITALIA /
Mark Reinders / HEMPFLAX /
Electra Papadopoulou / CHIMAR /
Uwe Fritsche / OeCO /
Ulrich Schurr / FZJ /
Myrsini Christou welcomed the partners
Project outline / M. ChristouMyrsini Christou (project coordinator) presented the outline of the project (work packages, timetable, and consortium). She informed the consortium that the starting date of the project is 1st of September 2009 and the project will last 30 months (1/9/09-29/02/2012).
Actions decided / When
1. / Management report CRES / February 2010
2. / Next meeting + Workshop ITERG / 7-8 October 2010
WP1 / Non-food crops / WP leader: CRES
CRES
According to the DoW and internal communication among the partners of this WP, the information being collected is the flowing:
- CRES:will report on oil crops (rapeseed, Ethiopian mustard, sunflower, cardoon), fibre crops (cotton, kapok, pinewood, fibre sorghum, giant reed, miscanthus, reed canary grass) and carbohydrate crops (sweet sorghum, Jerusalem artichoke)
- ITERG will report on oil crops (linseed/flax, calendula, crambe, jatropha, honesty)
- UNIBO will report on oil crops (cottonseed, caper spurge, castor, safflower, cuphea), fiber crops (agaves, e.g. sisal, curuua, banana, coconut) and carbohydrate crops (Maize, potatoes, cassava, and sugar beets)
- INF&MP will report on fibre crops (Flax, Hemp, Jute, Kenaf, Ramie, Nettle)
Finally, she presented the deliverables linked with this WP. She then spoke about the deliverables all due in month 13 and updated at the end of the project (month 30).
Two questions were posed from Xavier Pages:
- Area of cultivation for each crop and each specific market
- Area of cultivation of rapeseed for biodiesel production.
INF&MP
Przemyslaw Baranieckipresented the work carried out by INFMP institute according to the schedule mentioned above (see presentation).
Comments on the fibre crops were posed by Mark Reinders/Hempflax: Hemp yield is not affected by pests, whereas flax is more demanding in pesticides etc., making thus hemp cultivation more sustainable. They will exchange reports
Mark Reinders/Hempflax also asked whether LCA analysis data are being collected. Myrsini Christou/CRESreplied that this will be discussed with Uwe Fritsche/OECOandErwin Smidt/BOKU as far as the kind of data they will require.
Valerio Zucchini commented on kenaf quality for paper production. He stated that kenaf is absorbent and that contradicts the paper best quality, which has to be dry. Only the fibers when extracted separately are good for paper, but that is costly. The whole plant, the whole stem is difficult to be used. However, it can be used for bioplastics.
As regards nettle, he commented that the crop was a source for spinnable fibres at difficult times (2nd world war). But now it is questionable if it is really worthy to use it, as it is not introducing something new in the fibre production. Moreover, it has very small seeds, difficult to sow and it is only in the 2nd-3rd year that the field gets complete. It likes N, is used as an indicator of N in the fields, so it is no sustainable. It needs 300 kg/ha compared to hemp with 130 kg/ha. It is not really commercially grown in Europe, but could beused for pharmaceuticals.
UNIBO
Andrea Monti presented the work carried out by UNIBO (see presentation). He argued the need for working on some fibre species included in the original list of Task 1.2 (e.g. Sisal and Cononut), because according to the literature surveyed they are clearly not suitable for the European conditions. He proposed to replace them with other more appropriate crops for European conditions. Alternative crops:
- For sisal (Agaves sisalana): Agave aktites and A. atrovirens var. mirabilis.
- For banana (Musa ssp): Musa acuminate
- For coconut (Cocus nucifera): Chamaerops humulis and Phoenix theophrasti.
NCPRI / Other speciality crops
Gabriela Pintilie made an extensive search on a huge number of aromatic crops grown in each MemberStateand decided to focus on 14 for EU27 countries.All this information is ready to be delivered. She stated however, that due to the great diversity of the medicinal and aromatic plants it was difficult to analyze and synthesize the multitude of data and to choose the most important plants. She also noticed a lack of public available data for some countries.
A question was raised here on how to deal with so many crops and countries.
General conclusions
Reports are expected to be finilised according to schedule.
Actions decided – Partners responsible / When
WP3 / Bio-based products / WP leader: INF
Przemyslaw Baraniecki presented the questionnaire they prepared in order to collect data from industrial stakeholders.
Questions were raised by Uli Shurr/FZJ onhow to deal with aromatics and how flexible the market will be. He argued that there is a differentiation of the markets regarding the source of their raw material;it could be available by contracting the farmers (like fibres or aromatics) or in the open market (like the oils). Also the size of the market affects the results (i.e. aromatics are smaller size companies). Therefore the questionnaire should be modified accordingly.
Task 3.1 / Oils / Task leader: ITERG
Xavier Pagesshortly presented ITERG relevant activities (see presentation). He stressed out the need for homogenisation of data. The information collected so far addresses primary production (Plant breeding, crop production; growing areas, yields.., post harvest management), processing and refining oil (oil recovery, oil refining and modification, feed evaluation, co and by-products valorisation) and industrial valorisation (Biofuels, other industrial valorisations).
He presented quality characteristics of the residual forms - after main product processing and stated that, for instance, post harvesting of calendula results in poor quality of oil which needs to be refined, which then has other problems. The oil is of good quality for raising, paints but not for biofuels due to unsaturated oils.
Uwe Fritsche/OECO then commented that all kinds of oils can be used for biofuels (good quality oils for 1st generation biofuels, all kind of oils, even of bad quality for 2nd generation biofuels through hydrogenation). B100 is used in tiny markets. The main market is blends (B5-B7) so no need for good quality oils. Physical-chemical properties define the prices. It will be a good incentive for oil refineries to use low quality oils.
Questionnaires should be sent to WP5 and WP6 for them to be informed on the info collected and also for them to include more questions that would facilitate their work.
Task 3.2 / Fibers / Task leader: KEFI
VallerioZucchini gave a short presentation of kenaf cultivation in Italy (from sowing to harvesting), the main products that can be derived from kenaf (insulation mats, composites, etc.) as well as the processing of kenaf in KEFI premises.
He stated that in Italy kenaf was grown 60 years ago. The seed density meets the end use requirements, but kenaf costs are high and the raw material is not enough. The plant process capacity is at 2t/h.Kenaf can be grown in rotation after wheat and not after maize.
Uwe Fritsche/OECO commented the substitution of products. The competitors have to be non-sustainable materials; they compete with other products of lower quality, so that it should be taken into account when kenaf is substituting wood which is “sustainable”.
Marc Reinders presented the main activities of HEMPFLAX. He stressed out why it is difficult to cultivate more hemp: a) drugs problem, b) people is unfamiliar with the possibilities of hemp, c) costs and prices, d) lack of close collaboration with customers/end users of natural fibres e) other quality requirements needed for natural fibres. They are producing mats for Mercedes.
He asks for flexibility in the quality required and policies applied to match the market needs, adding that a typical factory is running for 10 months/year.
Task 3.3 / Resins / Task leader: CHIMAR
Electra Papadopoulou presented the main activities of CHIMAR, which among others is focused on thermosetting resins derived from natural products or by-products, like tannin, lignin, cellulose, spent pulping liquor from paper production, biomass pyrolysis oil (bio-oil) and its fractions, extraction/liquefaction products of agricultural and forestry residues, liquefied wood, liquefied olive stones, by-products from sugar production),starch, proteins (soy), as well as on their achievements at the laboratory, pilot and industrial scale.
She also presented the wood based panels with bio-resins and their advantages compared to petrochemicals. Many resins are be used in wood based panels.
Task 3.4 / Pharmaceutical and other specialty crops / Task leader: NCPRI
Gabriela Pintilie presented the work that will be carried out in Task 3.2 for the other speciality products. Selection criteria for these products will be current uses and future projections. Model case-studies for local cropsshould be done for plants of local interest.
Matrix of plant selection: Local/European production, size of the market, type of market
A general comment was to concentrate on crops grown or able to be grown in Europe and then (2nd filter the market needs) identify candidate crops and terms under which they could be grown in Europe in the future (involvement of WP2).
Imports of feedstocks: a question to be inserted in the questionnaire prepared by INF&MP.
General conclusions
Reports are expected to be finilised according to schedule.
Actions decided – Partners responsible / When
WP4 / Cost and socio-economics / WPleader: Imperial
Myrsini Christou shortly presented the objectives and tasks of WP4 (see presentation), on behalf of Calliope Panoutsouwho was not able to attend the meeting. In the frame of D4.1 due in month 9, a data review is on the way addressing crops chains, main products, co-products and other parameters. As for D4.2 due in month 12, data input and processing on crop establishment, harvest, storage, transport, conversion to main products will follow.
The structure of the model is expected to be completed in May 2010, and then the template will be sent to partners for cost data collection by June 2010.The literature data review will be completed in August 2010.
Actions decided / When
WP5 / Sustainability standards / WP leader: Oeko
Task 5.2 / Identification of challenges and conflict areas for non-food crop production systems / Task leader: OeKO Institute)
Uwe Fritsche resented OeCO Institute. According to OECO, there are “Critical” environmental issues, likeindirect land use change (LUC) and its potential impacts on GHG balances and biodiversity. He stressed out that all crops, including non-food crops (used for energy or industrial materials) grown on arable land could lead to indirect land use change (ILUC), while in terms of biodiversity that is possible positive (depending on the scale of production.
He presented the steps he will follow in order to run the sustainability standards (WP5). He also mentioned that he is planning to have a meeting in Vienna in April with BOKU to organize the integration of their inputs.
To carry out his work, OECO will use outcome of German BMU/UBA project (end of 2009) on sustainability standards to create a draft list for biomaterials. More research beyond EU (carried out by GBEP, RSB, UNEP), include developing countries views.
The input required from WP1, WP3 partners involve:
- Yields
- What is your competitor
- Special land requirements
- Any specific issue that shows opportunities “highly productive lands, oxygenated oils.
- Intercropping options.
Actions decided / When
Task 5.2 / Finalise input requested from WP1 and WP3 partners
OECO / By the next meeting in autumn 2010
WP6 / Overall assessment / WPleader: Uli Schurr
Uli Shurr shortly presented the objectives and tasks of WP6 (see presentation). He made a review on the projects that have to be linked to exchange information and input, in order to fulfil the requirements of the WP and tasks:
- BECOTEPS projects involving technology Platforms.
- Star-ColibriBuilding, and
- EU Activities on Lead-markets: IT, building and bio based products. “Lead market bio-based products.
- Chain (network specific),
- product-specific
- region specific
Actions decided / When
WP7 / Dissemination and Support Actions / WP leader: CRES
Myrsini Christou presented the disseminations activities of the project (see presentation).
The project website is set: with information on the project objectives, the consortium, national events and possible links. There is also a members’ area, accessed only by the members of the consortium.
Crops2Industry project was asked by the Commission to join the Twinning opportunities between EU and Canada in May 2009. The EU-Canada twinning started already in Montréal (February 2008) with a two days meeting. The second workshop for the EU-Canada twinning took take place in Pisa on 16th and 17th of June 2009 and the 3rd one will be in Canada in summer 2010. In the frame of the EU-Canada Twinning, 3 Canadian experts were invited as speakers in the 2nd project workshop in Winschoten on 12 March 2010, the day after this project meeting.
Apart from Pisa meeting, Crops2Industry project was presented in a workshop of the project 4FCROPS (Madrid, 24/3/09, in the 17th European Biomass Conference in Hamburg (29/6-3/7/09) as poster, while another poster is going to be presented in the 18th European Biomass Conference in Lyon (3-7/5/10).
In addition, an abstract on the project was submitted by AUA in the biotechnology section of XVII Congress of the Federation of European Societies of Plant Biology (FESPB), that will be held in Valencia, 4-9 July 2010.
Myrsini Christouthen presented the thematic workshops that were carried out in the course of the project. The first workshop was held in Poznan the 18th of November 2009, being organized by INF&MP and CRES, in conjunction with the third workshop of the project 4FCROPS (
The second was held in Winschoten in the Netherlands organised by Hempflax and CRES on the 12th March 2010.
For the third workshop it was proposed to hold it in France, in Bordeaux, 7-8 October, as proposed by Xavier Pages/ITERG. It will be organised by ITERGE and CRES. The fourth could be held in Thessaloniki in February/March 2011, organised by CHIMAR and CRES and the final one in Bologna at the end of the project.
Myrsini Christou advised all partners to attend the workshop, although it is dedicated only to fiber crops and the relevant industrial uses and may be not relevant to all partner’s expertise, because it will be a good chance to evaluate the progress and get ideas for the following workshops.
Actions decided / When
1. / Third workshop in France and third project meeting
ITERG and CRES / September/October 2010
2. / Fourth workshop in Greece (Thessaloniki) and third project meeting
CHIMAR and CRES / February/March 2011
WP8 / Coordination and management / WP leader: CRES
Ms Christou (project coordinator) presented the management structure of the project and reminded the deliverables and delivery dates to the partners.
Actions decided / Who and when
1. / Management report / February 2010 (m6)
Crops2Industry - 2nd project meeting
Winschoten, 11/3/09