Un nuevo consorcio de investigación creará cadenas de valor a partir de residuos biomásicos en Sudáfrica

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Tipo de entrada: NOTICIA BREVE.

Una iniciativa creada recientemente en Sudáfrica, el Consorcio de Investigación en Biorrefinería (“Biorefinery Research Consortium”, BRC), desarrollará nuevas oportunidades para el aprovechamiento de residuos procedentes de las industrias forestal, maderera y de la pulpa y el papel (véase nota de prensa de la Agencia de Noticias del Gobierno Sudafricano, 20/09/2018). El consorcio es una alianza entre el Consejo para la Investigación Científica e Industrial (“Council for Scientific and Industrial Research”, CSIR), la Universidad Tecnológica de Tshwane, la Universidad de Witwatersrand y Sekolong Sa Dimelana (una bioempresa rural).

El BRC usará la “Biorefinery Industry Development Facility” (BIDF) que apoya a la innovación en varias industrias (incluyendo la forestal, del agroprocesado y otras industrias basadas en el aprovechamiento de biomasa) en el campus del CSIR en Durban (véase “The South African El Gobierno de Sudáfrica presenta una instalación para el desarrollo de la industria del biorrefino en Durban”). El consorcio ha sido concebido para poner énfasis en la cadena de valor completa y dará un acceso amplio a la experiencia técnica y la infraestructura de demostración de biorrefino de BIDF.

Figura 1. Bruce Sithole, Director del Departamento de Productos Forestales del CSIR, en la inauguración del BIDF en marzo de 2018 (extraído de “Mining forestry waste streams”, SA Forestry online)

La BIFD ha desarrollado un proceso novedoso para producir nanocristales de celulosa directamente de serrín. Los nanocristales de celulosa producidos en BIDF serán usados por otros miembros del consorcio para el desarrollo de varios productos basados en nanocelulosa, como composites de alto rendimiento para los sectores del envasado y la construcción o biopolímeros para aplicaciones de filtración y biomédicas.

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