The expression “biobased industry” is used to refer to producing material goods from biomass; the focus is on utilizing non-fossil, biogenic carbon as material and on using biomass efficiently, i.e. as completely and sustainably as possible. Biomass is the only renewable raw material containing carbon, and offers many ways of making foodstuffs, animal feed, fertilizers, a variety of chemicals and materials, plus sources of energy. Biobased industry is extremely versatile, and can cope with biomass from agriculture and forestry, with organic residues and with new raw materials such as algae.

Biogenic raw materials are capable of replacing petrochemical raw materials in many sectors of industry, and will make it possible to develop pioneering new products. One particularly cutting-edge approach to converting biomass efficiently is that of the biorefinery; here biomass can be exploited to the full in integrated processes coupling material and energy flows, and can be turned into a wide range of marketable products.

In Austria there are a large number of technologically and economically successful enterprises both in classical sectors of biobased industry (such as timber processing, the paper industry or food processing) and in new segments (such as producing biofuels or microalgae). Roughly 6 % of the total value created in Austria is attributable to biobased industry. In all the fields involved there is a demand for research, technology and innovation (RTI) that will make it possible to utilize biogenic raw materials efficiently and sustainably and to make biobased industry and biobased products even more competitive. Potential for development is thought to reside in cross-linking the various stakeholders and forming interfaces between individual industries and technologies.

The Federal Ministry for Transport, Innovation and Technology (bmvit) provides significant impulses by way of the RTI initiative “Production of the Future”, a framework within which pioneering projects for biobased industry are supported. Once a year the stakeholder forum “ Biobased Industry” is held. There successful research projects from the RTI initiative are presented. In 2014, at the instigation of bmvit, an RTI roadmap was drawn up for biobased industry in Austria, which identifies future opportunities and development paths.

Below relevant strategies, and pioneering Austrian research and demonstration projects implemented as part of the RTI initiative “Production of the Future”, are presented.