The Public-Private Initiative of Bio-Industries (BBI JU) is a public-private partnership of 3,700 million euros between the EU and the consortium of bio-industries. Operating within the framework of Horizon 2020, this EU body is driven by the Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) developed by the industry.
WHAT IS THE OBJECTIVE OF THE BBI-JU?
The general objective is to implement a program of research and innovation activities in Europe that will evaluate the availability of renewable biological resources that can be used for the production of biological materials and, on that basis, support the establishment of sustainable biological value chains. These activities should be carried out through stakeholder collaboration across all value chains based on biodiversity, including the primary production and processing industries, consumer brands, SMEs, research centers and technology and universities.
The specific objectives of the initiative BBI_JU are:
Contribute to the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1291/2013 establishing Horizon 2020 as the new Framework Program for Research and Innovation.
Contribute to a more resource efficient and sustainable economy with low carbon emissions and increase economic growth and employment, particularly in rural areas, by developing sustainable and competitive biological industries in Europe by:
The demonstration of technologies that allow the creation of new chemical building blocks, new materials and new consumer products from European biomass.
Development of business models that integrate economic actors along the entire value chain from the supply of biomass to biorefinery plants to consumers of biological materials, chemicals and fuels, including through the creation of new intersectoral interconnections and the support of intersectorial clusters.
Establish biorefinery plants that implement technologies and business models for biological materials, chemicals and fuels and demonstrate cost and performance improvements at competitive levels with fossil-based alternatives
WHAT OPPORTUNITIES DO YOU OFFER?
The aforementioned objective must be achieved through the support of research and innovation activities, using resources from the public and private sectors. To this end, the BBI-JU annually prepares a work plan (see link in section More information) followed by an open call («Open Call») for the presentation of proposals to support research, demonstration and deployment activities.
WHAT IS THE SCOPE OF OPEN CALL?
In the 2018 work program, the call adopts four strategic orientations:
Promote the supply of sustainable biomass raw material to feed existing and new value chains.
Optimize the efficient processing of integrated biorefineries through research, development and innovation.
Develop innovative biological products for market applications identified
Create and accelerate market acceptance of biologically based products and applications
All proposals must ensure that the biomass supply chain is sustainable, that it does not offer competition to the food chain, and that it does not cause indirect land use change (ILUC) or imbalances in soil and water health.
WHAT KIND OF BUSINESS ARE YOU GOING DIRECTED?
Any company (SME and large company), with interest in the sector and in any of the strategic orientations that want to access European funds through participation in collaborative projects.
It is a program of industrial vocation, since the industry is the one that identifies the needs and challenges & provides financial support, for which the presented proposals must be built under this principle.
MINIMUM POINT OF DEPARTURE and TYPES OF EXPECTED PROJECTS
The projects submitted depending on the topic (topic) to which they are submitted should start with the following degrees of technological development (TRL) and the expected results will be in accordance with the minimum starting points:
Type of action RIA (Research and Innovation Actions): must start from a formulated technological concept (TRL4-5). Projects of up to 4 years are expected to be aimed at acquiring new knowledge, exploring the viability of a new technology, product, process or service, etc. in a part of the value chain. The expected result is technology validated at the laboratory / prototype level on a small scale.
Type of action IA (Innovation Actions): they must be based on technology validated in the laboratory (TRL4). Pilot plants, demonstration (IA-DEMO TRL 6-7) and plants operating at the pre-commercial level (FALGSHIPS TRL8) are financed. Projects of 1 to 5 years are expected to cover the entire value chain. The expected result is plants operating at a pre-commercial level
Action type CSA (Coordination and Support Actions) with no associated technological development degree. Projects of 1 to 3 years are expected to face horizontal challenges, accompanying measures for the promotion of products and creation of markets, business models, networks of contacts, etc.
The projects must fit into any of the themes (topics) for each of the priorities mentioned above. Each theme presents a specific challenge that must be addressed, as well as the scope that is expected of the actions that are put in place within the framework of the projects. The complete list of topics can be found in the 2018 Work Program for BBI-JU (see link below in the More information section).
CONDITIONS OF FINANCING
There are no maximum funding ceilings per project, this must be adjusted and realistic and must be consistent with the activities and objectives planned.
The financing depends on the type of action of each one of the themes:
Type of action RIA (Research and Innovation Actions): 100% of direct costs are subsidized to all partners plus 25% fixed rate of indirect costs. Large companies do not receive financing.
Type of action IA (Innovation Actions): 70% of direct costs to companies and 100% to R & D & I institutions and non-profit entities are subsidized. All of them are added a fixed rate of indirect costs of 25% applied on all direct costs except subcontracts.
Type of action CSA (Coordination and Support Actions): 100% of direct costs are subsidized to all partners plus 25% fixed rate of indirect costs. Large companies do not receive financing.
ECONOMIC ENDOWMENT OF THE CALL
In 2018, the call has an indicative budget of 115 million euros for a total of 21 topics (topics): 11 RIAs, 3 CSA, 5 IA-DEMO and 2 IA-FLAG
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF CANDIDATES
The deadline for submitting proposals to this call is expected to open on April 11 and end on September 6, 2018 at 5:00 p.m. The presentation is made through the Participant Portal of the European Commission.
The evaluation process will run from October to November and the results will be communicated to the participants in December of this same year.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROGRAM, THE CALL AND THE THEMES
Portal BIO-BASED INDUSTRIES: https://www.bbi-europe.eu/
Annual program and budget BBI-JU: https://www.bbieurope.eu/sites/default/files/awp2018.pdf
Call for proposals: https://www.bbi-europe.eu/participate/call-proposals-2018
Guide for participants: https://www.bbi-europe.eu/sites/default/files/bbi_ju_gfa_2017.pdf
FAQS: https://www.bbi-europe.eu/sites/default/files/bbi-ju_faq-call_2017.pdf
Info Day 2018 (April 17, Brussels): https://www.bbi-europe.eu/events/bbi-ju-info-day-2018