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EUREC is founding Member of EREC
New Improvements for Ligno-cellulosic Ethanol (NILE) PDF Print E-mail


NILE is an Integrated Project co-funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme

  Project details
Full title: New Improvements for Lignocellulosic Ethanol
Acronym: NILE
Contract number: 019882 (SES&) - (NILE)
Project duration: 1. October 2005- 30. September 2009
Project Website: www.nile-bioethanol.org

  
  Project objectives
 
New Improvements for Ligno-cellulosic Ethanol (NILE) is an Integrated Project carried out within the 6th Framework Program of the European Union. The project runs from October 2005 to September 2009 and has a total budget of 12.8 M€.

Its overall objective is to develop cost effective production of clean bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass (LCB), enabling its use as a transport biofuel. NILE will develop, investigate and evaluate new technologies for efficient conversion of lignocellulose to bioethanol. These technologies will be verified using a unique and fully integrated pilot plant providing reliable data for global socio-economic and environmental assessments and for the design of a future demonstration unit.

The activities of NILE aim at overcoming critical hurdles in process development. Key issues are:

  • decreasing the cost of enzymatic hydrolysis of lignocellulose to fermentable sugars using new engineered enzyme systems;
  • removing current intrinsic limitations in the conversion of fermentable sugars to ethanol by i) constructing inhibitor-tolerant pentose-fermenting industrial yeast strains, and ii) combining fermentation and saccharification;
  • validating the engineered enzyme systems and yeast strains in a fully integrated pilot plant using softwood and wheat straw as model feedstock. Validation includes all process steps and recycling of process streams;
  • analysing socio-economic and global environmental impacts of the production and use of bioethanol from LCB based on the new data obtained;
  • dissemination and training of target groups.

The project mobilises the critical mass of end-users and world-leading expertise necessary to improve the whole bioethanol from LCB chain. By its integrated structure, NILE supports the development of research activities in close connection with industrial processes, their validation, their technical and socio-economic assessments, their dissemination as well as training activities. This development ensures a real industrial and societal impact of the developed technology thus strengthening European competitiveness.


  
  EUREC's role in NILE
 
EUREC Agency is a leader of work package 6: dissemination and training 

The objective of this 4-year Integrated Project is to propose the best process for a cost effective production of clean bioethanol from lignocellulose to be used in combustion engines. NILE will design, and investigate new solutions for an efficient conversion of lignocellulose to bioethanol, make an integrative evaluation of the advances in a dedicated and unique pilot plant to obtain reliable data for technical, socio-economic and global environmental assessments for a future demonstration unit...

website: www.nile-bioethanol.org