Implementing a Mediterranean biorefinery to boost forest management through the production of added value products.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

Forests cover 35% of Europes total land area. The area covered by Mediterranean forests area is increasing but, mainly due to the lack of economic profitability and rural depopulation, there is a lack of management and an increase in forest fires caused by accumulated biomass. Spain accounts for 21% (18 Mha) of the total Mediterranean forest area and has one of the highest growing stocks. In Catalonia, the forest area covers up to 43% (1.34 Mha) of its territory. The mountainous areas typical of Mediterranean forests, characterised by high slopes and abundant shrubland understory, makes management more difficult, and less profitable due to lowproductivity. In addition, there are recent pressures of climate change (higher temperatures, altered rainfall patterns, heat waves) that lead to direct impacts, such as higher tree mortality, and indirect impacts, such as more pest outbreaks. Post-fire regenerated forests also represent a particular economic and environmental management problem, due to their large extension (over 50 000 ha) and unprofitable composition of very small trees and very dense forest areas. The challenge is therefore to add value to the forest value chain to boost the management of Mediterranean forests, based on the principles of the bioeconomy and circular economy.

OBJECTIVES

The main objective of the LIFE BIOREFFORMED project is to improve sustainable Mediterranean-forest management by upgrading an existing biorefinery, using torrefaction and pyrolysis processes to produce renewable chemicals and fuels from forest biomass. Forest stands will be selected to be representative of the most important problems facing Mediterranean forests. These include post-fire regenerated forests of Aleppo pine, cork oak forests, and post-disturbance/decayed forests whose products have little value in the current forestry market. Several byproducts will be obtained from the biorefinery: antioxidants, heat energy from wood, and fertilisers from different combination of forest biomass types.

The project promotes a local biorefinery concept capable of processing biomass for different end-uses. This approach will strongly contribute to the development of the bioeconomy, and accelerate progress towards a circular and low-carbon economy, in line with EU Bioeconomy and Circular Economy strategies. It will also contribute to enhancing sustainable Mediterranean forest management, to reduce dependence on non-renewable resources, to mitigate climate change, and to create jobs and maintain the EUs competitiveness.

RESULTS

Expected results:

Up to 1 000 tonnes of forest biomass used to produce bioenergy, 25 tonnes to produce biochar and 50 tonnes to produce bio-oil (with a total content of antioxidants of 70 g gallic acid eq. per kg);

Implementation of 45 ha of pilot forest stands (including Aleppo pine, cork oak, shrubland and mixed species, total 1 350 biomass tonnes) in different areas for demonstration and transfer of innovative forestry techniques, with eligible species and biomass (e.g. bark) for the biorefinery;

Improvement of the economic feasibility of post-fire forests of Aleppo pine and cork oak combined with cork production and shrub understory management. Increase of the economic feasibility with the market price of the antioxidants to boost forest management;

Improvement of forest health and productivity (increase of tree growth rate and the relative water content of foliage) of the managed forest stands, reducing its vulnerability to climate change and improving forest ecosystem services (e.g. water regulation, carbon sink capacity).