RUNFASTER4EU (Flagship demonstRation of Bio-based valUe chaiNs For vAloriSaTion of sustAinable oil cropS for marketable applications) is funded by the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking. It will demonstrate that oil crops for use in biobased products can be grown on marginal land. 

Marginal land is defined basically as land where it is not worth the cost to the farmer to try growing anything: the cost would outweigh the potential profits. The goal is to avoid Indirect Land Use Change, or ILUC, i.e. taking land away from food and feed production to grow crops intended for biofuels instead. The project will achieve this by using land which was not being used anyway because it is polluted, lacking in nutrients or simply difficult to get to. Making use of something deemed to be waste is definitely in line with circular principles!

The project will devise a new value chain which is sustainable and can be rolled out elsewhere at industrial scale. 

Every scrap of the crops grown on this land will be used in a cascading system. Firstly, they will produce vegetable oil, and then the remaining biomass will be used in cosmetics, bioplastics, bio-stimulants, bioherbicides, dielectric fluids, feed ingredients and NIPU (Non-Isocyanate Polyurethanes) as a substrate for vertical gardens.

The project will enhance biobased value chains, prioritising soil health and carbon sequestration. Two biorefineries in Italy (Porto Torres and Crescentino) will use the oil and biomass as feedstocks for high-value biobased products. Large-scale crop cultivation trials will also be carried out in Greece, Spain, Serbia and Romania, trialling the processes with input from local farmers.