BIOFORIN

Thermochemical processes for the valorization of forest resources.

BIOFORIN is a strategic project to promote the regional bioeconomy and climate resilience through the boost of research and the development of new applications of added value in the market.

BIOFORIN brings together the entire value chain, from forest owners to end users, to generate a sustainable forest management model oriented towards industrial use.

The initiative promotes a boost in the use of forest biomass, in the first instance for thermal use, generating at the same time an opportunity for a sustainable and resilient management of forest masses, and creating the possibility of generating new bioproducts and innovative applications, in order to create a new industrialized regional bioeconomy.

The abandonment of the use of Mediterranean forests in recent decades, together with the impacts of climate change (drought, forest pests and fires), generate a high vulnerability of many of these forests and threaten the provision of ecosystem services of great value for the population of the areas close to Barcelona which, in turn, is exposed to a greater risk of high-intensity fires.

Moreover, it is important to sensitize the population of this region in order to spread to society the need to move towards a forest bioeconomy that generates well-being for the population and links it to its territory.

Eurecat participates in the BIOFORIN project through its Water, Air and Soil (WAS) Unit, focused on studying the energy yield and the gases produced from the direct combustion of forest biomass, as well as the valorization of the products of thermochemical processes for air, soil and water treatment.

On the other hand, the Waste, Energy and Environmental Impact Unit (WEEI) analyzes the technical feasibility of anaerobic digestion and thermochemical processes (pyrolysis, gasification…) for the valorization of forest biomass.

Apart from Eurecat, the BIOFORIN consortium, led by the Bioenergy Catalonia Cluster, is made up of five organizations that involve a multidisciplinary team from the managers of forest areas (Montnegre-Corredor Forest Owners Association and the Catalan Federation of Forest Associations, BOSCAT) to the final waste managers (Consortium for Waste Management in Vallès Oriental and the Consortium for Municipal Solid Waste Treatment of Maresme).