Biomass is the “stuff of life” on this planet - it represents all plants, animals and humans as well as organic residues and wastes. IINAS research addresses
- bioenergy (for electricity, heat/cooling, and transport fuels) and biomaterials (fiber, plastics, textiles etc.) as well as integrated systems, i.e. so-called biorefineries (for more info see biomass projects)
- sustainable food systems
The aim is to integrate sustainability requirements into a common metric with overall criteria and indicators. Furthermore, resource-efficient strategies for all biomass need to be identified, taking into account land-use.
There is a lack of meaningful definition of what “bioeconomy” could mean from a sustainability point of view, and IINAS will work on that, building on activities of its associates and partners in Argentina, Brazil, the Netherlands, Sweden, Thailand, UK and the US. Furthermore,
IINAS is active in developing both voluntary and mandatory (legally binding) sustainability standards for biomass in general, and bioenergy and biomaterials.