Avan­ti­um awar­ded fund­ing to pro­duce lignin for the devel­op­ment of bio-based asphalt

Avan­ti­um is a fore­run­ner in devel­op­ing and com­mer­cial­ising innov­at­ive tech­no­lo­gies for the pro­duc­tion of plant-based chem­ic­als and mater­i­als. One such innov­a­tion is Dawn Tech­no­logy™ that con­verts non­food plant-based feed­stock into indus­tri­al sug­ars and lignin. In 2018, Avan­ti­um opened a pilot biore­finery for Dawn Tech­no­logy™ oper­at­ing in the Neth­er­lands. Lignin is a main con­stitu­ent of woody bio­mass and is well suited for energy gen­er­a­tion. It is also suit­able for many high­er value applic­a­tions includ­ing asphalt for road con­struc­tion. Asphalt is con­ven­tion­ally made using bitu­men derived from crude oil. Zanna McFer­son, Man­aging Dir­ect­or of Avan­ti­um Renew­able Chemistries, said: ​“Plant-based lignin is a highly effect­ive nat­ur­al bind­er and can be an excel­lent replace­ment of fossil-based bitu­men in asphalt. Our involve­ment in CHAP­LIN XL allows us to demon­strate that our plant-based lignin works effect­ively at scale allow­ing for a sig­ni­fic­ant reduc­tion in the car­bon foot­print of road con­struc­tion”. The CHAP­LIN XL pro­ject will test the lignin-based asphalt at large scale by pav­ing four test roads in the Neth­er­lands dur­ing 2020. These include a sec­tion of road at Gronin­gen Sea­ports in the north of the Neth­er­lands. ​‘Dawn Drive’ as it is referred to by Avan­ti­um will be con­struc­ted by Roelofs Groep and is made from lignin pro­duced by Avantium’s Dawn pilot biore­finery in the area. Source: Avan­ti­um, Press Release, 23.04.2020