Theme 2: Biomass logistics

The low specific weight, high water content, and dispersed generation of biomass across agricultural and forest lands, along with poor transportation infrastructure, limited storage capacities, and fragmented logistic networks hinder the efficient collection and transport of biomass to processing plants. This reduces the economic viability of biowaste utilization, especially for small-scale farmers, foresters, and rural agri-businesses, preventing the scaling-up of bio-based products and bioenergy.

Solutions should partially or totally solve one or more of the following issues:

• Overcome biomass collection challenges due to fragmented landholdings.
• Facilitate farmers’ access to communal and local pre-processing and processing facilities and markets.
• Better integrate all actors in the biomass valorisation value chains, from biomass producers and collectors to processors and distributors.
• Specifically, overcome the fragmentation of the solid and liquid biofuel supply chains.

We are looking for ideas, concepts or prototypes at different stages of development, close-to-market or market-ready solutions, to address –but not limited to– the following:

• Affordable and accessible biomass transportation solutions.
• Small scale biomass pre-processing solutions.
• Digital and community-centred coordination solutions – encompassing centralized digital platforms, scalable logistics systems, and community-driven models (e.g. biowaste brokerage, machinery sharing) to improve cooperation, efficiency, and accessibility across the biomass and biofuels value chains.
• Closed-loop systems integrating biowaste transformation with energy, farming or manufacturing projects.