In the EU-projects OPTIMSC and MultiHemp promising miscanthus and hemp germplasm was identified for crop production suitable for various end uses. In OPTIMISC also a large number of genotypes were screened for various stress tolerances (e.g. frost, drought, salinity) which are key traits for good performance under marginal conditions. However, both projects worked on small trial plots and identified utilization options only at lab scale. Miscanthus or hemp varieties that are specifically suitable for marginal lands are not yet available. A major bottleneck for development of such varieties is the lack of information on their large scale performance. Therefore the next step to develop these biomass crops for the growing bioeconomy is to demonstrate the feasibility of upscaling their production. Cultivars also need to meet the quality requirements of the specific end uses. Based on knowledge gained by the projects OPTIMISC and MultiHemp, the biomass composition of the germplasm is largely known and can be matched to the specific end uses. However, the upscaling of these value chains with tailored germplasm is not yet proven and represents a bottle neck for their wider application. The objective of this project is to demonstrate 1) the upscaling of crop production of miscanthus and hemp genotypes matched to end use and 2) their suitability for marginal, contaminated and unused land. Another aim of the project is to demonstrate the upscaling of the most promising biomass valorization chains with tailored genotypes. Various valorization options will be tested by associated partners (industry panel) and a subset will be demonstrated at (pre)commercial scale. The overall aim of the project is to have commercial cultivars, which are suitable for marginal, contaminated or unused land, available at the end of the project with proven feasibility for a set of end-uses. This includes their performance in the value chain, but also their environmental and economic profile.

The aim of MY-FI is to provide the textile industry with a new nonwoven fabrics made of mycelium fibres, with improved performances and reduced environmental impact in comparison with current commercially available fibres. Mycelium fibres are obtained by fungal fermentation, starting from the residues of the textile indusrty, using a mild process and can be used to produce sustainable and performing nonwoven fabrics. Mycelium fibres indeed can extend the field of use of nonwoven fabrics to demanding or luxury applications. In virtue of their properties and aesthetics, mycelium fibres can be adopted, for example, in automotive or footwear applications that currently use animal leather as preferred material. In MY-FI new biofabrication protocols will be optimized and upscaled together with wet processing and material finishing to provide a set of innovative solutions to help the textile industry in facing the challenges posed by the complex megatrends that are quickly chagning markets and customers' lifestyles globally. The mission of MY-FI is to develop a biobased textile, with advanced functionalities, sustainability and performance, achieving four high level goals: 1. empowering the textile industry to successfully face the challenges posed by the emerging global trends; 2. meet the consumer demand for new functional and sustainable textile products; 3. relief the environmental pressure related to the textile industry, developing a circular and biobased textile that does not generate microplastics. 4. engage the textile stakeholders and provide guidance to policymakers Mycelium fabrics indeed are fully biobased and sustainable, obtained from circular value chains, widely customizable, highly performing, and can be produced using advanced manufacturing process. Thanks to these properties they have the potential to meet the market demands for sustainable and performing materials, allowing designers and brands to create more functional products.

The building and construction sector is a key area that has significant impacts on the economy and environment. This sector contributes to the economy (about 9% of the EU’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP)), provides direct and indirect job opportunities (18 million direct jobs at the EU) and satisfies the people’s needs for buildings and facilities. Therefore, any effort concerning global climate change and cleaner production should include this industry as a major player. ATRIUM exploits the potential of combining natural fibres (leftovers of European crops, mainly hemp), second and third generation of bioplastics (bio-PE/PA/PU) and mycelium-based biotechnology to produce bio-composites intermediates that can be integrated in construction products (outdoor and indoor floorings, acoustic panels, green wall systems, and building block) to be easily used by professionals and amateurs in building and renovation actuations. In this way, ATRIUM will not only provide more safety and non-toxic construction solutions but also boost the creation of sustainable bio-based value chains and the integration of efficient biotechnology to develop the circular economy and bioeconomy sectors. To do this, ATRIUM will develop production pilot lines that integrate efficient and flexible technologies (co-extrusion, foaming, injection moulding, additive manufacturing and biofabrications) and engage the key actors for the design acceptance and certification of the new products. ATRIUM will also promote the public engagement dialogue to bring the EU closer to citizens and local urban and rural areas through appropriate communications, local initiatives and actions.

There is a need for a ground-breaking technology to boost crop yield (both grains and biomass) and its processing into materials of economic interests. Novel crops with enhanced photosynthesis and assimilation of green-house gasses, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3), and tailored straw suitable for industrial manufacturing will be the foundation of this radical change. We are an alliance of European plant breeding companies, straw processing companies and academic plant scientists aiming to use the major advances in photosynthetic knowledge to improve barley yield and to exploit the variability of barley straw quality and composition. We will capitalize on very promising strategies to improve the photosynthetic properties and ozone assimilation of barley: i) tuning leaf chlorophyll content and modifying canopy architecture; ii) increasing the kinetics of photosynthetic responses to changes in irradiance; iii), introducing photorespiration bypasses; iv) modulating stomatal opening, thus increasing the rate of CO2 fixation and O3 assimilation. Beside the higher yield, the resulting barley straw will be tailored to: i) increase straw protein content to make it suitable as an alternative feed production source; ii) control cellulose/lignin contents and lignin properties to develop construction panels and straw reinforced polymer composites. To do so, we aim to exploit barley natural- and induced-genetic variability as well as gene editing and transgenic engineering. Based on precedent, we expect that improving our targeted traits will result in increases in above ground total biomass production by 15-20% without modification of the harvest index, and there will be added benefits in sustainability via better resource-use efficiency of water and nitrogen. A public dialogue will be established to ensure stakeholder engagement and explore the acceptability of a range of technologies as potential routes to crop improvement and climate change mitigation.

It is undeniable that protein is an indispensable part of the human diet, but the way we produce and consume it today presents many challenges, in terms of both global consumption patterns and their social, environmental and economic impacts. Providing a growing global population with healthy diets from sustainable food systems is therefore an immediate challenge. SMART PROTEIN aims to industrially validate and demonstrate innovative, cost-effective and resource-efficient, EU-produced, nutritious plant (fava bean, lentil, chickpea, quinoa) and microbial biomass proteins from edible fungi by up-cycling side streams from pasta (pasta residues), bread (bread crust) and beer (spent yeast and malting rootlets) industries. The alternative SMART protein will be used for the production of ingredients and products for direct human consumption, through developing future-proofed protein supply chains with a positive impact on bio-economy, environment, biodiversity, human nutrition, food and nutrition security and consumer trust and acceptance. These priorities will be addressed through global partnerships forged with consortium members from Europe, North America, Israel, Thailand and New Zealand to develop and demonstrate a climate-smart, sustainable protein-food system for a healthy Europe. We will harness plant and microbial protein knowledge to significantly enhance the sustainability and resilience of a new European protein supply chain, improve professional skills and competencies, and support the creation of new jobs in the food sector and bioeconomy.