MacroFuels aims to produce advanced biofuels from seaweed or macro-algae. The targeted biofuels are ethanol, butanol, furanics and biogas. The project will achieve a breakthrough in biofuel production from macroalgae by: • Increasing the biomass supply by developing a rotating crop scheme for cultivation of seaweed, using native, highly productive brown, red and green seaweeds. Combined with the use of advanced textile substrates these breakthroughs will result in a year round biomass yield of 25 kg seaweeds (wet weight) per m2 per year harvested at 1000m2/hr; • Improving the pre-treatment and storage of seaweed and to yield fermentable and convertible sugars at economically relevant concentrations (10-30%); • Increasing the bio-ethanol production to economically viable concentrations of > 4%/l and; • Increasing the bio-butanol yield to 15 g./l by developing novel fermenting organisms which metabolize all sugars at 90% efficiency for ethanol and butanol; • Increasing the biogas yield to convert 90% of the available carbon in the residues by adapting the organisms to seaweed; • Developing the thermochemical conversion of sugars to fuels from the mg. scale to the kg. scale; • Performing an integral techno-economic, sustainability and risk assessment of the entire seaweed to biofuel chain. MacroFuels will develop technology for the production of fuels which are suitable as liquid fuels or precursor thereof for the heavy transport sector as well as potentially for the aviation sector. The technology will be taken from TRL3 to TRL 4/5. MacroFuels will expand the biomass available for the production of advanced biofuels. Seaweed does not need fresh water, arable land or fertilizers to grow, which provides environmental benefits, and in addition has a high carbon dioxide reduction potential as well as reduces the demand for natural resources on land. The technology offers many novel opportunities for employment along the entire value chain.

EnXylaScope will discover novel enzymes for debranching xylan, a highly abundant polymer in plants. Productions systems for these enzymes will be optimised and the enzymes will be applied to produce a debranched (water-insoluble) form of xylan that has properties which make it suitable as ingredients in a scope of consumer products. The debranched xylan will be further modified, using available enzymes, to confer functionalities that expand the range of potential consumer products. In total 3 types of enzymatically modified xylan will be made and will be application tested for 6 consumer products. These product span 3 sectors (cosmetics, personal care, nutraceuticals). Advanced techniques will be used for the discovery, production, and formulation of these enzymes and the project is designed so that maximal research outputs are achieved in the period and that the post-project timeframe for launching these products on the market is significantly reduced.

NUTRIFEEDS is dedicated to developing regenerative animal feed solutions by transforming underutilised local plants and agri-food by-products into high-protein feed through cutting-edge, cross-disciplinary methods. Aligning with the EU's Farm2Fork strategy, the project aims to reduce the reliance on imported feeds, enhance agricultural circularity, and minimize waste. The initiative involves detailed analysis of raw materials, including net energy, followed by their enhancement through Black Soldier Fly larvae and targeted fermentation to improve nutrient content and reduce anti-nutritional factors. Experimental validation will contribute to enhanced diet formulation. The project explores the impacts on welfare, health, immune responses, microbiome, and behaviour of both monogastric animals and ruminants. Through collaborations with farms, experimental feeds from insect upcycling and fermentation will be refined. NUTRIFEEDS also seeks to build on existing silvopasture systems and engages farmers in co-creating local policies. It also integrates AI for insightful data analysis and development of software aiding farmers with efficient monitoring and feeding systems, allowing hence for the creation of feed formulations that enhance both animal health and welfare while sustaining productivity. Thus, the project emphasizes animal welfare, aims to reduce the environmental impact of feed production, and involves stakeholders in the development and dissemination of its solutions. Methods of preserving energy, such as drying powered by solar energy, will help to create extra revenue streams from the sale of feed. A proposed European Centre for Regenerative Animal Nutrition will facilitate dissemination and promote uptake of these innovations and will implement online courses based on NUTRIFEEDS findings. NUTRIFEEDS will factor in environmental, social and economic sustainability and will create guidelines to reinforce Europe's position as a leader in global innovation.

MACRO CASCADE will prove the concept of the cascading marine macroalgal biorefinery i.e. a production platform that covers the whole technological chain for processing sustainable cultivated macro-algae biomass – also known as seaweed - to highly processed value added products. The macro-algae biorefinery will be capable of processing multiple feedstocks, by deploying a range of mechanical, physicochemical and enzymatic pre-processing and fractionation techniques combined with chemical, enzymatic or microbial conversion refinery techniques for generation of a diversity of added-value products for industries within food, feed, cosmetics, pharmaceutical and fine chemicals. Algae based products for food, feed, cosmetics, pharmaceutical will be tested and documented for their bio-activities and health properties. The participation of two major industries and five SMEs demonstrate a significant commercial interest in the outcome MACRO CASCADE. The MACRO CASCADE approach contributes to the “zero waste society” as the left-over residuals from the biorefinery process can be used for fertilizers and bio-energy.

As the world population is continuously increasing, the supply of food with equal accessibility has become a major issue and future challenge. Microbes are unexploited tool to increase food productivity and quality. The objective of SIMBA project is to harness complex soil and marine microbial communities (microbiomes) for the sustainable production of food. SIMBA will focus on two interconnected food chains, i.e. crop production, aquaculture. SIMBA will first launch an in silico phase in order to analyze the further pre-existing microbiome databases and earlier studies, to identify the best microbiome layout capable of supporting food chain quality and productivity. Microbiome-tailored interventions will be specifically developed including soil, plant, fish, aquaculture and food/feed processing towards optimal layout as defined in the modelling step, as follows: i) Identified optimal microbiome consortia will be designed and tested in lab, pot and field trials to improve plant productivity and health; ii) Marine microbiomes will be applied to facilitate sustainable aqua and agriculture; iii) Optimal microbe/microbe consortia will be used to convert raw-materials and residuals to high quality food, feed or finally to energy. In a final intervention step, these interactions will be monitored and tested in field, aqua-culturing, fish feeding and human studies, measuring the impact on microbiome consortia, interactions in association with factors evaluating their efficacy in terms of improving food security, productivity, quality, safety, sustainability, nutritional and health aspects. "Near to market” microbiome applications for sustainable food systems will be provided thanks to the interdisciplinary and cross-sectional nature of the proposal and the active role of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).