BIOREF - Collaborative Laboratory (CoLAB) for the Biorefineries - is a private, non-profit, association that will deploy highly qualified knowledge and innovation to the market, identifying industrial needs in biorefining technologies and promoting the bioeconomy and bioenergy.

CoLAB BIOREF is composed of 20 associates: 10 academic entities and 10 companies (large companies and SMEs), all deeply interested in investing on advanced biorefinering technologies. Our staff (21 highly qualified human resources) is currently divided into five R&I teams working on our four sites: Matosinhos (headquarters), Portalegre, Lisboa, and Aveiro.

MISSION

CoLAB BIOREF’s core research & innovation (R&I) practices target the development of a variety of technological activities considered essential to promote the deployment of advanced biorefineries, to improve the competitiveness of the biorefinery sector, and to contribute to a low carbon economy.

These activities aim at generating new value chains, job creation and boosting the bioeconomy through an integrated biorefinery approach thus supporting our founding private members and any other European public or private entities that contract us as a high-tech service provider.

STRATEGY

We aim to promote a market-oriented Research and Innovation Agenda using advanced technologies with a lower carbon footprint and different types of renewable biomass as a raw material for new processes and new products - in a multiproduct and multipurpose approach - considered essential for accelerating the deployment of advanced biorefineries.

The strategic plan is composed by three main domains: (1) Bioenergy, (2) Renewable gases, and (3) Sustainable bioeconomy. Through our clients, these domains will shape our position as a reference institution for Biorefineries. Besides the activities inherent to the R&I Agenda, we are also willing to participate in international consortia and networks as well as to provide services of “Excellence” both nationally and abroad, mainly of technical consultancy, but also in the field of life cycle analysis, technical and economic assessments of biorefineries and applied R&I subsidiarily.

All activities will be carried out in a strong collaboration with our associates but oriented to the national and international industrial biomass sector by creating new and enforcing the existing links with stakeholders to identify the challenges and needs for the deployment of sustainable biorefineries.