Spain - Andalusia
A high-level study of specific regional economic, environmental and technical parameters of the Represented Regions
Geographic description of the region
Located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, Andalusia is the most populated region in Spain with over 8.58 million inhabitants and a population density of 97 hab/km2. It accounts for the 18% of the country’s total population and 1.9% of EU27. The region covers an area of 87,597 km², making up 17% of the Spanish territory (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023). Andalusia has 8 provinces: Almería, Granada, Málaga, Jaén, Córdoba, Sevilla (capital), Cádiz and Huelva. There are 785 municipalities, from which 740 (94.3%) are rural. Slightly above half of the population (51.7%) lives in rural municipalities.
The climate in Andalusia is mainly mediterranean, although the geographical diversity offers a wide variety of climates, from subtropical on the coast to mountain climates in some inland areas, as well as subdesert climates in Almeria and tropical climates in the south of Granada and Malaga. This variety of climates affects the agricultural, livestock and forestry sectors.
Agriculture and forestry sectors in the region
Agricultural sector
In Andalusia, there are 267,717 agricultural exploitations which carry out their activity in the 4.78 million hectares of utilised agricultural area (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023), representing the 26% of Spanish and 2.3% of European community exploitations. This accounts for an average establishment size of 17.7 ha (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023), which is below the national average agricultural establishment size that is 24.5 ha (Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE), 2017). The Andalusian province with the largest utilised agricultural area per holding is Cádiz, with 42.9 ha, followed by Seville (33.9 ha), Huelva (31.8 ha) and Córdoba (24.4 ha), all of them above the Andalusian average of 17.7 ha. The evolution over the years of utilised agricultural area is shown in the following area, where an upward trend can be observed in recent years.
The standard total production average by exploitation in Andalusia is 41,984€ annually (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023), Huelva has the exploitations with a higher annual average of standard total production (123,108€) and Jaen with the lowest (17,412€). In terms of the active population in the sector, in Andalusia, only 16% of the agricultural exploitation owners have less than 45 and 36.5% has more than 65 years. These figures show an ageing in the agricultural population in Andalusia. Regarding the Andalusian business in the agricultural sector, is mainly made up of small companies (96%).
Furthermore, the distribution between permanent crops (woody) and annual crops (herbaceous) is similar, occupying 39.8% and 35.1% of the available area, respectively. In next figures are shown the ten main crops regarding to occupied area (ha) (Figure 74) and production quantity (t) (Figure 75). The olive oil mill is the most representative crop both in terms of surface area and production quantity (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
In addition, greenhouse crops are representative of the Andalusian agricultural activity. The total area covered by greenhouses is 40,305 ha (excluding Huelva) with 21,395 greenhouses exploitations (8% of the total exploitations), being 83% of these concentrated in Almeria (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Livestock sector
According to the 2020 Agricultural Survey, Andalusia has 16,534 exploitations which main activity is livestock farming (6.2% from the total agricultural exploitations) and represent the 10,7% of the livestock Spanish establishments (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023), the majority of these exploitations are dedicated to the production of sheep, goats and other herbivores.
Livestock production in Andalusia is divided into extensive systems, which focus on the use of local natural resources, and intensive systems, which are based on the controlled feeding of livestock with cultivated fodder. The type of management (extensive or intensive) for each exploitation is shown in Figure 76. Extensive production is highest in sheep, cattle meat, goats and swine, while intensive production is highest in equine and cattle milk production. As in the case of agriculture, the livestock sector in Andalusia is mainly made up of small companies.
Without taking poultry into account, the livestock species in Andalusia with the largest census in 2020 were pigs and sheep, with the livestock units generated by sheep being larger than those of pigs. The Andalusian livestock with the highest representation in the national livestock is goats, with 39.6%, while the lowest representation is cattle, with 8.4%.
Forestry sector
The forest area covers 34.3% of Andalusia total area (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023). According to SIOSE (Information System of Land Occupation of Spain in Andalusia) 2020, the forest area is 44,434 km2. The provinces with the largest public forest area are Granada (22.2%) and Jaen (21.3%); followed by Huelva (16.7%), Almería (15.2%) and Málaga (9.6%); and finally, Cádiz (5.8%), Seville (4.6%) and Córdoba (4.5%).
The “Dehesa” is a unique ecosystem in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula, characterised by holm oaks and cork oaks, which produce acorns for livestock feed, so it is common for different animal species such as Iberian pigs, sheep, goats, cows and horses to graze there. In addition to livestock, the “Dehesas” are also used for forestry, hunting and agricultural activities. In Andalusia, the “Dehesa” is closely linked to the Andalusia´s identity and economy. In 2021, the Andalusian surface area of “Dehesas” amounted to 1.07 million hectares, of which 32.7% were located in the province of Córdoba, 21.4% in Huelva, 18.1% in Seville and 10% in Jaén. In terms of the number of farms, this amounted to 10,956, with the province of Cordoba accounting for 37.9% of these. The main forestry use of Andalusian “Dehesa” farms is cork, with an average production between 2006 and 2014 of 36,000 tonnes, 59% of national production and 18% of world production, which highlights the importance of this activity in the region.
In Andalusia, the cork oaks groves form part of the “Dehesa” landscape that is closely linked to the Andalusia´s identity and economy. Cork oaks have a close relationship with cork production, with a average annual cork production in Andalusia of 33,645 tonnes per year from almost 320,000 ha, which highlights the importance of this activity in the region.
Regarding livestock in “Dehesas”, the system of livestock is fundamentally extensive and is based on the simultaneous and combined production of different types of livestock, so that the resources are used more efficiently. The most common types of livestock on the “Dehesas” are pigs, sheep, cattle and goats. The distribution of pigs within Andalusia, the province of Huelva, which has 49% of the extensive pigs in the whole of the Community, followed by Cordoba and Seville, with 19%.
In general, the main forest formations are holm oak forest (23.5%), pine forest (14.8%) and cork oak groves (4.33%). In Andalusia, 74.4% of the forest land is private property, while the remaining 25.6% is public.
Table 1: Detailed information in Andalusia
Location | Forestry area |
Andalusia | 4,443,400 hectares |
Species | Holm oak forest, pine forest, cork oak groves |
Agroindustry
The agri-food sector in Andalusia is the most important industrial sector, with more than 6,000 companies belonging to over 2,900 industries. In fact, it is the region with the highest number of agri-food companies in Spain, with 18.4% of the total, according to the Ministry´s Annual Indicators Report: Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Environment, published in 2017. In 2020, the value of Andalusian agro-industrial production accounted for 12.4% of the value of national agro-industrial production.
The most important agroindustry in Andalusia are the oil and fat industries, with largest production of olive oil; the meat industry, the second most important in the Andalusian agri-food industry in terms of turnover; and the horticultural industry.
Economic Indicators
Andalusia positions itself as the third largest economy in Spain with a gross domestic product (GDP) of over 195 M€ (13.4% of the Spanish total). Nevertheless, the GDP per capita its only 22,670 €, 25% below the Spanish mean and the second lowest in the country (European Union, s.f.). In 2022, the Andalusian GDP registered a real growth of 5.2%. Although it is 1.7 points above the euro zone value, it is still 0.3 points below the Spanish one (5.5%) (Consejería de Economía, Hacienda y Fondos Europeos. Junta de Andalucía, 2023). Regarding its productive structure, in terms of gross value added (GVA), in 2023, the agriculture, forestry and fishing sector accounted for 12 M€ which represents 6.2% of the total.
Andalusia has an employment rate of 62.9% below the Spanish total (70.5%) and rural areas (69.3%) mean. Agricultural activity is the main source of employment in half of municipalities, 7.2% of the population works in activities related to agriculture (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023; European Union, s.f.). The employment generated by the bioeconomy amounts to more than 353,000 people (2020), of which 75% is attributed to agriculture, followed by the agro-industrial sector with 16%. The number of people employed by bioeconomy has increased by 7.1% in the last five years, reflected in the GVA of the bioeconomy, which was €13,040 million in 2020, and in the turnover attributed to the bioeconomy in 2020, which was €33,050 million, mainly attributed to the agro-industrial sector (47%) and agriculture (43%) (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Table 2: Economic indicators (European Union, s.f.).
Region/Country | Population (M hab) | GDP (M€) | GDP per capita (€) | GVA (M€) Agriculture, Forestry and Fishing | Employment rate (%) | Employment by sector (%) Agriculture, forestry, and fishing |
Andalusia, Spain | 8.58 | 195k | 22,670 | 11k | 62.9 | 7.2 |
Bioeconomy regulatory framework
At national level, Spain has a national Bioeconomy Strategy Horizon 2030, which was approved at the end of 2015 following a political agreement between the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness and the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Environment (Secretaría de Estado de Investigación, Desarrollo e Innovación. Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, 2015). The application fields are the agri-food, forestry, fishing, aquaculture and exploitation of marine resources, chemical industry, bioenergy, and water. This strategy develops its activity in annual action plans. The first of these created the “Spanish Bioeconomy Observatory for Bioeconomy” which plays an important role as an instrument of support and cooperation for the fulfilment of the national strategy. Two Andalusian representatives integrate this observatory (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
At regional level, there are only four autonomous communities which have a specific strategy or plan related to bioeconomy, and Andalusia is one of them. The “Andalusian Circular Bioeconomy Strategy” was approved in 2018 with 2030 as the time horizon. It is important to highlight that in this way, the Regional Government (Junta de Andalucía) promotes the development and expansion of an economic model based on renewable biological resources and their transformation into products and services. The strategic aims are to: i) increase the biomass availability for its valorisation through innovative treatments, ii) raise the number of bioindustries and biorefineries, iii) boost markets and consumption of bioproducts and bioenergy (Junta de Andalucía, 2018). The action plan for the achievement of these objectives is organized in 4 strategic lines. The strategic line 1 is focused on the sustainable generation and availability of biomass resources. Specifically, the measure 1.2 is oriented towards improving the biomass availability and sustainable practices in the sectors which generates biomass resources associated to the bioeconomy. Furthermore, the strategic line 2 addresses the distribution and logistics from generation points to the bioindustries that use them as raw material. The line 3 aims to foster and support bio-based industries that improve the use of biomass resources, especially, the biorefineries. Finally, line 4 goal is to promote and support the value chains development of bioproducts and bioenergy, as well as to consolidate already existing markets (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
Furthermore, in March 2023, the Circular Economy Law was approved in Andalusia, whose main objective is to promote a new model of environmental protection based on the circular economy. This law seeks to contribute to sustainable economic growth, the generation of employment, the preservation of natural resources and the promotion of responsible consumption in Andalusia.
Biomass resource availability
Agricultural biomass
In 2023, it is estimated that 7.5 M tonnes of agricultural biomass were generated in Andalusia. In the Figure 79 it can be seen the distribution of biomass resources generated by crop type and by province. As it can be observed, the largest number of resources corresponds to olive groves, with more than 2.6 million tonnes, representing 35% of the total. It is followed in importance by greenhouse crops, which represents 19% of the total (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
The biomass resources that are utilised amounts to 6,471,984 tonnes annually (value calculated for 2019). From this total, almost 35% corresponds to olive groves, 26% to cereals and 21% to greenhouse horticultural crops. The destination of this resources classified if in non and horticultural crops are shown in Figure 80 and Figure 81, respectively. For the non-horticultural crops, the main destination is the incorporation on the soil or the distribution in the plot (74%), regardless of whether they have been chopped before or not. In protected horticultural crops, almost 70% are delivered to waste treatment plants (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023). It means that 1,017,911 tonnes of agricultural biomass are still not being valorised.
Overall, the rate of use of agricultural biomass resources rises to 89.2% with all provinces exceeding 80%, with Malaga and Granada being those with the lowest use of resources (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Livestock biomass
It is estimated that livestock activity generates annually 5.54 million tonnes of biomass annually, with porcine production dominating in all provinces with 63% of the total, in the second place is bovine production. As for the use of resources from livestock activity in the region, the figure reaches 4.82M tonnes per year, reaching a utilization rate of 90.5%. Almost all of these resources (4.8 M tonnes) are directly recovered, while the remaining 18,000 tonnes are processed in biogas or composting plants. Figure 82 shows the amount of biomass generated according to production, and the amount according to each province, with Almeria producing the most, followed by Seville.
Agro-industrial biomass
The data reported is considering the following agro-industries, which are the most relevant in Andalusia regarding biomass production: wineries and breweries, olive related agro-industries (olive mills, olive pomace oil extraction plants and canning factories), rice mills, vegetables processing, industrial tomato processing, slaughterhouses. The total of generated biomass from the analysed agro- industries amount to 5.1 M tonnes annually in 2020. Of the total resources, 3,258,675 tonnes are utilized, representing a utilization rate of 66.6% (Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca, Agua y Desarrollo Rural. Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Forestry biomass
Forestry biomass comes from the need to carry out silvicultural treatments for the maintenance and improvement of forests and woodlands through felling, pruning, clearing of scrub, etc. These generate woody biomass (firewood, branches and bushes) that must be removed from the forest, since they are a serious risk factor for the spread of pests and forest fires.
The use of biomass depends to a large extent on the costs associated with the procedures for obtaining, extracting, and transporting biomass to the centres of consumption. It is therefore essential to have good knowledge of the economics parameters of biomass use viability.
In 2018 it was estimated that the forest biomass waste generated annually, which is potentially exploitable, is around 320,960 tonnes. From this total, 92% corresponds to wood and the remaining 8% to scrub (Junta de Andalucía, 2018). The calorific value of forestry biomass in Andalusia is between 4.13-5.1 kcal/kg (Agencia Andaluza de la Energía., 2020).
Management and logistics of biomass resources
Biomass resources must be extracted, pre-treated and transported to processing plants for use, so management and logistics must ensure that they are available in processing plants at the time and under the required conditions. One of the main problems affecting the successful use of biomass is the difficulty and high costs involved in the logistics of its supply. The impact on the cost and profitability of the installation depends on the type of processing industry and the bioproduct. For example, in the case of biodiesel or bioethanol production, the impact of this factor is greater than in the case of pellet production, a product with higher added value (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
Another example is lignocellulosic biomass, both of agricultural and forestry origin, which has low density and high humidity. These two characteristics have a direct impact on their transport, requiring densification, homogenization and drying processes necessary before their production into logistics circuits (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
An important issue to take into account is strongly linked to the cultivation calendars of each vegetable production. Seasonality must be considered when designing logistics circuits. In addition to this, it is necessary to analyse the distribution in the Andalusian territory (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
In the first meeting of the Andalusian FAN, the members commented the problems of storing agricultural biomass, for example the particular case of olive oil mills, with logistics problems due to seasonal biomass generation, and regarding the forest biomass, the risk of fire, the need for large storage spaces, or the problem of humidity in biomass.
Bio-products target market
The Andalusian Circular Bioeconomy Strategy, identify the following as main target markets for bio-products: bioenergy and biofuels, chemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, agriculture and aquaculture, food and beverage industry, cosmetic industry, construction, and plastic industry (Junta de Andalucía, 2018). This section focuses on the first target market, as it is the main consolidated market due to an already established demand for the use of certain bioproducts such as compost or organic amendments.
Bioenergy and biofuels sector
Currently, in Andalusia, the most developed and mature sector for bio-products is the bioenergy and biofuels industry. In the last years, the region has witnessed a continuous expansion of this sector, foresting a dynamic business ecosystem based on the use of biomass for thermal and electrical purposes, as well as the production of biofuels (Junta de Andalucía, 2018). In this way, Andalusia has positioned itself as a leader in the biomass energy generation sector in Spain, thanks to the significant potential offered by the cultivation of olive groves and their processing industries. The companies involved in this sector are very diverse. In 2020, it was estimated that there were 1240 companies working in the biomass sector in Andalusia, most of which are micro, small or medium-sized enterprises (Agencia Andaluza de la Energía., 2020). Below are some stocks from the bioenergy and biofuels sectors.
- Biomass electricity generation
The installed capacity of biomass in Andalusia represents 33.7% of the total. There are 17 biomass power plants and biomass cogeneration plants with an installed capacity of 274 MW (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Table 3: Biomass electricity generation installed capacity (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Plant name | Power (MW) | Biomass | Province | Year of commissioning | Type |
Albaida Recursos Naturales 1 | 1.7 | Greenhouse biomass | Almería | 2004 (closed) | Generation |
Agroenergética Baena | 25 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2002 | Cogeneration with biomass |
Bioenergética Egabrense | 8 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2006 | Generation |
Severaes | 0.1 | Olive pruning | Córdoba | 2009 | Generation |
Bioenergía Santamaría | 14.3 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2006 | Generation |
Agroenergética de Palenciana | 5.37 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2007 | Cogeneration with biomass |
El Tejar Autogeneración | 5.65 | Orujillo | Córdoba | 1999 | Cogeneration with biomass |
Vetejar | 12.9 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2000 | Generation |
Biomasa Puente Genil | 9.82 | Orujillo, chip | Córdoba | 2006 | Generation |
Ence I | 40.95 | Chip | Huelva | 2009 | Generation |
ENCE Biomasa | 50 | Chip | Huelva | 2012 | Generation |
Ence Huelva II | 46 | Wood biomass | Huelva | 2019 | Generation |
Bioenergética de Linares | 15 | Orujillo, chip | Jaén | 2009 | Generation |
La Loma | 16 | Orujillo, chip | Jaén | 2002 | Generation |
Aldebarán Energía del Gualdalquivir | 6 | Olive pruning | Jaén | 2010 | Generation |
Fuente de Piedra | 8.04 | Orujillo, chip | Málaga | 2004 | Generation |
Extrago | 9.15 | Orujillo, chip | Málaga | 2003 | Generation |
Total | 273.98 |
- Biogas generation
There are 21 biogas plants in operation with an installed capacity of 33.45 MW. Most of them use urban sewage sludge or municipal solid waste, only one uses slurry, which has an installed capacity of 0.3 MW (Agencia Andaluza de la Energía., 2020).
- Thermal use
Andalusia is positioned as the first region in Spain in terms of biomass consumption to generate thermal energy. The Andalusian region has a very significant tradition of industrial use, mainly associated with the olive oil industry, which has been able to take advantage of the residues from the extraction of the oil. Consequently, the consumption of thermal biomass varies greatly from one year for the next depending on the olive growing season and, therefore on the activity of the extractive and processing industry (Junta de Andalucía, 2023). At the end of 2023, Andalusia had more than 28.300 facilities for the thermal use of biomass, representing an installed capacity of 1,836 MW. The Table 4 shows the consumption by year:
Table 4: Biomass and biogas thermal consumption (kteo/year). Anual evolution (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 |
Andalusia (ktep) | 875.1 | 518.2 | 685.8 | 665.0 | 567.4 | 716.2 | 488.9 | 711.7 | 688.7 |
- Pellets manufacturing
Andalusia has 13 pellet manufacturing plants that use raw material waste from forest industries, with a total production capacity of 59,52 kteo (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Table 5: Production of pellets from biomass resources (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Name | Province | Production capacity (kteo/year) |
Alcolea Biomass Center | Córdoba | 10.80 |
Reciclados Lucena | Córdoba | 7.20 |
Sunwood Biomasa Energía | Jaén | 6.00 |
Sunwood Biomasa Energía (Surpellet) | Jaén | 4.00 |
Maderas Doñana | Huelva | 4.00 |
Tubocas S.L. | Granada | 2.69 |
Maderas Campos | Jaén | 2.00 |
Futurpelet | Jaén | 1.00 |
Biomasa Córdoba | Córdoba | 10.80 |
Biomasa Tristante | Granada | 3.60 |
Planta Euroil Biomasa | Jaén | 5.40 |
Envafres | Huelva | 0.45 |
Pelet BioGenil | Córdoba | 1.58 |
Total | 59.52 |
- Olive bone and chip production for thermal use
In 2019, Andalusia had 19 operational plants for the preparation of olive stones and 3 in the preparation of chips for use in thermal applications (Agencia Andaluza de la Energía., 2020).
- Biofuels
Andalusia has 10 biofuel plants in operation. Of this total, 6 are for biodiesel, 2 ETBE and 2 HVO. The installed production capacity is 1,273.7 kteo annually (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Table 6: Biofuels production installed capacity (Junta de Andalucía, 2023).
Plant | Province | Biofuel | Production capacity (kteo/year) |
Biodiesel carboneras | Almería | Biodiesel | 186.9 |
Cepsa bioenergía san roque | Cádiz | Biodiesel | 180 |
Cepsa san roque | Cádiz | ETBE | 22.11 |
Compañía española de petróleos (CEPSA) | Cádiz | HVO | 36.9 |
Biooils | Huelva | Biodiesel | 450 |
Cepsa la rábida | Huelva | ETBE | 9.89 |
Linares biodiésel technology | Jaén | Biodiesel | 90 |
Compañía española de petróleos (CEPSA) | Huelva | HVO | 36.9 |
Biotrading | Sevilla | Biodiesel | 45 |
Biosur (gunvos) | Huelva | Biodiesel | 216 |
Total | 1273.7 |
By way of conclusion, the Andalusian Circular Bioeconomy Strategy identifies two main elements that promote the development of bioproduct markets in the region. This is the consolidated market for bioenergy and biofuels and an established demand for the use of certain bioproducts such as compost or organic amendments. In addition, its experience in the sustainable chemistry sector and its active participation in the “Bioindustries Consortium”, places Andalusia in a favourable position for the development of markets related to the bioeconomy (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
On the other hand, the strategy identifies some weaknesses regarding the development of bioproduct markets. First, the limited knowledge of the alternative uses of different raw material and their introduction into alternative value chains. Second, the lack of detailed analysis of the potential application of by-products and biomass resources and companies potentially interested in them. Regarding the business sector, it is detected that there is a deficient culture of innovation to face technological adaptation to new products and manufacturing processes as well as the low number of medium and big companies in the sector.
R&D system associated with biomass valorization
In turnover terms, Andalusia is the third Spanish region that invest more in research and development in absolute terms and position itself as the 5th with respect to the regional GDP (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
Andalusia has several public institutions researching on bioeconomy. Some of these are “Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville” (IRNAS) which depends of “International Council of Scientific Research” (CSIC), “Andalusian Research and Training Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Organic Production” (IFAPA) and 8 out of 10 Andalusian universities (Junta de Andalucía, 2018). In Table 7 are shown the Andalusian research groups working on bioeconomy projects.
Table 7: Andalusian investigation groups working on bioeconomy. Adapted from (Junta de Andalucía, 2018) and results from ATRESBIO project.
Group’s main research areas | Institution |
Integrated studies of soil-water-plant relationships and the use of organic residues as fertilizers or amendments. | Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville, IRNAS (CSIC) |
Chemical characterization and valorisation of non-food plant biomass. | |
Technical, energetic, and economic feasibility studies of biorefinery systems based on the valorisation of residual biomass from agri-food processes. | Institute of Fat (CSIC) |
Conservation and sustainable use of soil, water, and biodiversity in agricultural systems. | Andalusian Research and Training Agricultural, Fisheries, Food and Organic Production (IFAPA) |
Nano chemistry and valorisation of biomass and wastes. | University of Córdoba |
Chemical Engineering. Analysis of lignocellulosic raw materials. Separation and valorisation processes. | |
Biofuels and Energy Saving Systems. | |
Hydrogen bioproduction in algae. | |
Viticulture and Oenology. Characterization and utilization of by-products of the wine industry. | |
Valorisation of biomass into chemical products and energy through heterogeneous (photo)catalysis. | |
Valorisation of agro-food by-products or wastes as components of rechargeable batteries. | |
Bioproducts and Process Engineering. | |
Ecology, evolution and conservation of Mediterranean vegetation. Biofuels and environment. | University of Jaén |
Electrical research and technology. Works on the optimal location of power stations based on harnessing agricultural and forestry residues. | |
Chemical and environmental engineering. Biorefineries. valorisation of forest biomass, agricultural and urban waste and agro-food lignocellulosic raw materials. | |
Bioprocesses. Use of by-products and wastes from the olive industry. | |
Applied biological chemistry: new pharmaceuticals and bioremediation. | University of Granada |
Chemical and biochemical process technology. | |
Environmental, Biochemical and Food Analytical Control. Obtaining functional ingredients through new environmentally friendly technologies. | |
Natural products: Chemical biotransformation. | |
Bioactive ingredients. | |
Pilot or industrial scale application of adsorption processes for the purification of liquid industrial effluents, using biosorbents prepared from agro-industrial by-products or wastes. | |
Renewable resource technologies and environnemental pollution. | University of Huelva |
Technologies for biomass and organic materials. | |
New inorganic materials. Development and optimization of biomass waste valorisation processes to produce biofuels and higher value-added products.. | University of Málaga |
Ecophysiology of aquatic systems | |
Use of lignocellulosic wastes as raw material for carbonaceous materials production by thermochemical processes. Development of catalyst of biomass origin. | |
Biofuel production. | University of Sevilla |
Surface chemistry and catalysis. | |
Environmental and process engineering. | |
Production of Compounds of Industrial Interest by Microalgae and Plants. | |
Extraction of cellulose from different species of macroalgae using clean technology. | University Pablo de Olavide |
Biological and enzymatic reactors. | University of Cádiz |
Food Engineering and Technology. | |
Isolation, Structural Determination and Synthesis of Natural Products. | |
Instrumentation and Environmental Sciences. | |
Plant production in Mediterranean Cropping Systems. Circular Economy In Agriculture. | University of Almeria |
Biodegradation and reuse of agricultural wastes. | |
Research Applied to the Aquaculture and Seafood Sector. | CTAqua |
In addition to this, Andalusia has six “International Campus of Excellence” (CEI) in which the ten public university have participation in different modalities. Three of them, are working on investigation and transfer of knowledge in areas related to bioeconomy.
Table 8: CEI description working on bioeconomy related fields (Junta de Andalucía, 2018).
Description | CEI |
Integrated by universities of Almería, Cádiz, Huelva and Jaén and led by University of Córdoba. It has more than 200 investigations teams with special interest in agri-food sector and bioeconomy. | ceiA3 |
Integrated by universities of Seville and Malaga. It is specialized in 6 areas, in which includes biotechnology and energy and environment. | Andalucía TECH |
It is coordinated by the University Pablo de Olavide from Seville. Its investigation areas are environment, biodiversity, and climate change. | CAMBIO |
It includes both teaching and research in marine subjects included in the sciences, engineering and humanities, channelling solutions to the challenges of society that arise in the marine field. | CEI-MAR |
Based on the fields of Bio-Health, Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Earth System and Heritage and Culture. | BioTIC |
Its aim is to highlight the cultural and heritage wealth of Ansalusia. | CEI Patrimonio |
Furthermore, Andalusia has different technology centres that develop activities related to bioeconomy. These are: ADESVA, TECNOVA, CICAP, CTAQUA, CIDAF, CITOLIVA and CITGARUM.
Support and financing policies
Regarding initiatives and projects of interest related to the bioeconomy, it is worth highlighting the innovation projects developed in the bioeconomy, both those financed within the line of aid to national and regional operational groups. Furthermore, the bioeconomy is addressed in different support lines of the national “Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan” (Ministerio de Agricultura, Pesca y Alimentación., n.d.).
At national level, some OG stand out, the Spanish Bioeconomy Strategy, mentioned above, some calls from the Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge, or the financing calls from the Centre for Industrial Technological Development (CDTI). Finally, at the regional level: some regional OGs, financing from the “Junta de Andalucía”, or financing from CTA stand out.
In addition, in the Smart Specialisation Strategy for the Sustainability of Andalusia, “S4Andalucía 2021-2027”, the Catalogue of Opportunity Areas and the Battery of Demonstrator Projects is available, specifically: E2, Agrotechnology.
- S1: Green and blue economy: Linked to the agricultural, forestry, livestock and fisheries sectors, as well as the bioeconomy, the following areas have been identified:
- S1.O1: Organic, integrated and differentiated quality production.
- S1.O1.F1: Local food, local value chain.
- S1.O1.F2: Farm-to-table strategy.
- S1.O1.F3: Organic production in the Mediterranean diet.
- S1.O2: Bioeconomy in agricultural, livestock and fisheries systems. Through this opportunity area, the aim is to create the conditions for an increase in the added value produced throughout the food system, including new bio-products, such as insect farming as pesticides or as an alternative for waste management.
- S1.O2.F1: Bioproducts and biotechnology for the bioeconomy, green economy, blue economy and biomass.
- S1.O2.F2: Bioeconomy and food genetics.
- S1.O3: New models of waste management in the agri-food system. The aim is to encourage waste recovery processes in the system by moving towards greater circularity through the recycling, replacement, reuse and recovery of waste through new procedures or improved processes.
- S1.O3.F1: Reduce food waste in all links of the value chain, especially in households.
- S1.O3.F2: Promoting innovative and sustainable packaging solutions.
- S2: Agri-food industry – functional food
- S1.O1: Organic, integrated and differentiated quality production.
The following are key funding programmes identified in the agri-food sector at the national level.
Table 9: Funding programmes identified in the agri-food sector at national level.
Programme | Funding organization | Type | Web |
Food technology grants & procurements | European Institute of Innovation and Technology | Mixed (grant + loan); Recruitment | |
Europe Foodtech Acceleration Fund I SCSp | EATable adventures | Investment fund | |
Tech transfer Agrifood (TTAF | Tech transfer Agrifood (TTAF | Investment fund | |
Swanlaab Ag-FoodTech FCR | Swanlaab Ag-FoodTech FCR | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
Creas | Creas | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
clave capital | clave capital | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
BeAble Capital | BeAble Capital | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
Faraday venture Partners | Faraday venture Partners | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
Ship 2B | Ship 2B | Business Angels & Venture Capital | |
SPAIN FOODTECH | European Institute of Innovation and Technology | Acceleration and Incubation | |
StartBEC | MAPA and AINIA | Technological accompaniment | |
Austral Venture Gestión | Austral Venture Gestión | Venture Capital | |
Banco Santander | Banco Santander | Private Investment | |
CDTI | CDTI | Public Investment |
Operational groups characterization
According to the EPI-AGRI project database from EU CAP network in Europe, 2,892 OGs funded between 2015 and 2023, with Spain having the most operational groups with 638 in the period mentioned (EU CAP NETWORK, n.d.).
Of this total, 62 OGs belong to Andalusia. It is important to mention that this database only includes projects whose main source of funding is Rural Development programmes 2014-2020. In an effort to complement this information and thus have a more representative picture of the region, 21 OGs were added to this database, most of them extracted from the resolution of the 2022 call of the Regional Government of Andalusia, whose funding source is included within the Rural Development programme 2021-2027. For the analysis, it was assumed that the 2022 call projects started in 2023. Therefore, the analysis presented is for a total of 83 OGs in Andalusia.
From the 83 OGs analysed, 25 focused their work on the development of BBTs. The Figure 84 below shows the total number of operational groups that were launched in each year and how many of them focused on development of BBTs.
The Figure 85 below shows the total budget of OGs projects over the analysis period. It can be seen that it follows a similar trend to the total number of projects funded. The average budget per project is 88,352€, the maximum and minimum funded is 654,402€ and 95,234€, respectively. For BBT projects the average budget was slightly above from the total being 308,985 €.
The Figure 86 shows the distribution of OG projects by different sectors (agriculture, agro-industry, livestock, forestry, and algae). In green is presented the total number of OGs for each sector, and in brown the ones that develop a BBT. Most OGs focused on agriculture sector (64%) followed by agro- industry (16%) and livestock (12%). Only 6% of the OG worked on forestry related projects. The BBTs related projects have a similar trend.
Bio-based Technologies (BBT) developed by OGs
This section presents in more detail some technological aspects regarding the BBTs developed by OGs mentioned in the above section. It is important to note that, since some OG are relatively new, there is still not much information available in their websites or they do not have a web yet.
First of all, the type of biomass used is analysed. For this analysis, the 25 OGs working in BBTs development were considered. Six of the projects (24%) used biomass related to olive cultivation or industry, in the second position the projects that use forestry biomass, tomato, and algae each of them with 2 projects. Finally, the rest is distributed over different types of biomasses.
Moreover, it is analysed the bio-products obtain from the processing of the biomasses considering the 25 BBTs identified. 32% of the technologies (8) generates as bioproduct compost, bio stimulants or biofertilizers, followed by feed for animals with 3 projects. It is important to note that although some OGs uses the same biomass it generates two different bio-products.
In terms of technological maturity, information is only available for 17 projects and most of the technologies developed correspond to TRL 5, validated in relevant environment.
Finally, the type of processing methods (physical, chemical, and biological) was analysed. Only 14 BBTs were considered for this analysis, and as can be seen in the Figure 90, most of the technologies developed used biological processing methods.
As expressed in the present report, Spain is the largest country in the European Union in terms of the number of OGs. From the total number of OGs analysed, almost 1/3 (33% of them) is or will dedicate its work to the development of BBTs, therefore demonstrating a strong commitment of stakeholders in supporting bioeconomy in the region. In addition, Andalusia is one of the few regions in Spain with a developed Bioeconomy Strategy as well as the Circular Bioeconomy Law, so the regulatory context is also favourable.
In terms of available funding and R&D system associated with biomass valorisation, we have highlighted the different programmes available at different levels (European, national, and regional), both public and private.
Regarding the search for information, there is no up-to-date and easily accessible database on the OGs in the region. Furthermore, the information from the forestry sector in comparison to the agricultural sector is very limited in terms of the amount of biomass available, as well as the number of forest-based OGs. In the analysis carried out in the OGs, it can be observed that in the years 2020-2022 there was a decrease in the number of OGs as well as in the budget, perhaps influenced by the global pandemic, but an upward trend can be observed after this year. In addition, it has been particularly difficult to find economic information on the development of BBTs in the OGs.
Therefore, considering the geographical, regulatory and technical point of view, and looking at the amount of biomass as well as knowledge available in the region, we can conclude that Andalusia have a green light in terms of BBTs implementation.
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