Bioproducts R&D Programme

Agriculture for Chemical and Energy (AGRICE), a scientific interest group made up of public and private sector members, supports research on new uses for renewable plant-based products other than foodstuffs. The scope of AGRICEs activity covers primarily the industrial conversion of crop production to chemical (lubricants, surfactants, solvents), energy products (liquid and solid biofuels) and materials (agrimaterials, biopolymers). AGRICEs brief is to stimulate applied technological research. The consortium first tackled work aimed at substituting plant-based products derived from fossils resources. This strategy has been progressively widened to take into account the inherent characteristics of plant-based products. AGRICEs action spans the study of agronomic improvements, project economics, markets and energy and environmental assessments.