European funding for bioenergy projects

Horizon 2020 : European funding for bioenergy projects

Horizon 2020 is open to everyone, with a simpler structure than previous programmes, reducing red tape and decision timescales so that participants can focus on what is really important. This approach helps new projects to get off the ground quickly and achieve results faster. The Commission is keen to increase participation from industry in a drive to maximise the impact of the funded projects.

Horizon 2020 offers an opportunity for UK organisations to receive funding to collaborate with European partners to undertake innovative energy research and demonstration projects or projects addressing market barriers to energy technology implementation. Proposals must usually involve a minimum of three organisations from three different Member States or Associated Countries. UK organisations can participate in a number of ways; lead (coordinate) a project, be a participant in a consortium or provide the demonstration facilities for a technology.

The 2015 Horizon 2020 Energy Calls for Proposals include the following topics related to bioenergy:

Topic areas	Funding per project	Deadline
Demonstration of advanced biofuel technologies at large industrial scale	5 to 20M€	5^th May 2015
Activities that address market uptake barriers for existing and emerging sustainable bioenergy	1 to 2M€	5^th May 2015

An example of a Commission funded project in the bioenergy field with UK involvement is COMETHA. This collaborative project started in 2014 and has been allocated 17.9M€ of funding by the 7^th Framework Programme, the predecessor to the Horizon 2020 Programme. The overall goal of COMETHA Project is the construction and operation of an integrated precommercial industrial facility for the production of 80,000 t/year of second generation bioethanol starting from lignocellulosic biomass. The plant in Italy will be the first of its kind at pre-commercial scale and will validate the innovative Biochemtex PROESA technology. Imperial College London will assess the environmental performance of the plant and will identify key insights that can inform decision makers about the scale-up and role of lignocellulosic ethanol technology across Europe. More details on the project can be found at http://www.cometha.eu/cms/

If the Horizon 2020 funding opportunity is of interest to you please contact the EU Energy Focus team for more details. The team provides the UK National Contact Point service for Horizon 2020 Energy and is funded by the Department of Energy & Climate Change. The service is free and confidential. It includes: