Europe’s ambitious sustainability and climate goals rely heavily on the transition from fossil – based to bio-based chemical building blocks.
Lignin as abundant natural resource has substantial potential to become the starting material to produce functionalized aromatic compounds. Today, only 1-2 % of the annual lignin production is used in chemical conversion. The critical challenge yet to be overcome is the heterogeneous and complex nature of isolated lignins, hampering their full exploitation. To address this challenge, COUNTLESS contributes directly to the increased use of sustainably sourced biomass, a reduction of GHG emissions through improvements in the pilot infrastructure (>50% reduction in GHG emissions and 85% using fully renewable supply) and the development of bio-based high-value products substituting current fossil-based compounds.