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In the “Building On Mycelium” project, Avans University of Applied Sciences, HZ University of Applied Science and partners are investigating how locally available organic waste streams can be used to produce mycelium biocomposites, with properties that make them suitable for the construction sector. In this project the emphasis will be on (studying) the manufacture of furniture or interior panels.
The greatest challenge of this century is to turn our economy into an ecologically sustainable system. This can be done by significantly reducing the consumption of energy and raw materials. 40% of total European energy consumption and about 45% of CO2 emissions are related to the construction and use of buildings (EC, 2015), of which almost half embodies energy in materials. The construction sector is also responsible for 40% of raw material consumption worldwide.
Mycelium as a solution
A solution with a lot of potential is based on mycelium. Mycelium is the “root network” of mushrooms, which acts as a natural glue to bind biomass. Various organic residual flows such as straw, sawdust or other agricultural waste can be used as a nutrient medium. These mycelium composites were only invented ten years ago, but because of their durability and unique properties, there is already a lot of interest in the industry.
The production of these composites has a relatively low energy consumption, because mycelium grows at low temperatures (25-30 ° C). For example, the production of mycelium “foam” uses almost ten times less energy than the production of polystyrene foam (styrofoam). Other advantages are that mycelial biocomposites are completely natural, non-toxic, biological materials that can be grown locally and composted after use (Jones et al., 2018).
Consortium
Avans has already carried out several initial studies that indicate promising possibilities for the development of mycelium composites based on local residual flows of biomass. The “Building on Mycelium” project now brings many more partners together, including processors of agricultural materials, designers, material producers and end users. The connecting factor is that all companies regard mycelium composites as a promising material and in this way can make high-quality use of their residual flows or use the materials for their company.
The leading question for the partners is to provide data on the material properties of these mycelial biocomposites to determine whether the composites are suitable for use in their applications. Therefore, in the project “Building on Mycelium” we will study the use of local agricultural residues in mycelium composites, test the different material properties, perform an initial evaluation of a design and analyze the economic and environmental aspects.
Avans University of Applied Sciences and the industrial partners will collaborate on this project with the microbiology department of Utrecht University and SME Mogu Srl (Italy), who are among the leading experts in the field of mycelial materials. Hogeschool Zeeland will supplement the consortium with knowledge about processing techniques.
“Building on Mycelium is co-financed by the SIA, part of the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO). “
This project is finished. You can find the results in the Whitepaper below:
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Lokaal opwekken, lokaal gebruiken
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Deze gaan we nog vaak terugzien
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Recycling Water Bottles into Circular Sports Products
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FermiChem
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Protein of Columbus
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BIO-CAPPP
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Energy Education
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BIO-CAPPP
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GESCHIKT: energy transition on business parks
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Rapid Renewable Materials: the next step in sustainable construction.
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Mycelium on Board
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From orange waste to a green future
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Blueprint of fungal genomes
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BioGov.net
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Water-resistant mycelium composites
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Sustainable Particle Board
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Circular Emergency Shelters
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FACET
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Totally Nuts: Circular Biobased Thermosets from Cashew Nutshells
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Biodegradation Coatings Stahl
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Green Hub: Information hub value chains green residual flows
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Acceleration of nature-inclusive area development
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Reflow
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Biobased Insulation – Lifespan Determination (BILD)
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Setting up and performing biodiesel trials in a coaster ship
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Mythic
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PyroCHEM: Waste2Chem Innovation Cluster
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Membrane Technologies
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Flestic
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Direct extrusion of PHA-rich biomass
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Production of bioplastics from residual streams (WoW! Capitalisation)
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Powering Agrifood
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Smart Circular Bridge
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Fungal Colourants
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Learning Network Biobuilders
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Orange in the Sea
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Amino Acids!
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Building on Mycelium
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Follow-up S4G
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Colour Application Centre
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Making disposables disposable
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Making shipping more sustainable (Russia – Benelux)
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Zircular Seaweed food
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Extraction of pectins from onion skins
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Growing Leather
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Learning Community Renewable fuels
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PHA accumulation capacity of Sewage Treatment Plant
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NACO – Zero Waste Collective Oosterhout
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Bio Iso (RAAK MKB)
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Design with RRM (rapidly renewable materials)
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Resin biodegradation
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Biobased gadgets
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Biobased foam
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Biobased flocculants for water purification
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Viberscrete – biobased concrete
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Innovation Traineeships
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Building light
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BioADD
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CurCol
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Learning community
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Professors’ platform Biobased Economy
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Porter’s lodge Delfland
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Smart Circular Bridge
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Biobased, circular Christmas bauble with packaging
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Mycelium boards
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Coloring Mycelium
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Back to the Materials of the Future
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National Biobased Database
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Structural Health in Biobased Constructions
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Beauti-Fully Biobased Fibers
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Coffee Silverskin Biomass Utilization
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Sustainable solid biofuels
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Biobonding: Improved biocomposites
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ZCORE (from Seaweed to COating Resin applications)
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Cashing cashew
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Material research for 3D printing
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Seaweed Sterols
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Onion deserves more
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Circling in construction
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Biomass flows in the province of South Holland
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Circular Bio-based Construction Industry (CBCI)
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Biodegradability of biopolymer and biopolymer composites
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BBM+
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Opportunities for composting in Brazil
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Stadsjutters Breda
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Innovation tables
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Tomatozyme
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MAA’s from algae
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Sensor wise Biobased
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Pyrolysis Experimental Garden South
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Grassification
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REFAWOOD
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Valuable ONION
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Biobased Network
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Living Lab Biobased Brazil
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Biopolymer Application Center
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Borderless Biobased Education
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Living Colors
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Mycelium
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BioCOLOUR
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BioCannDo
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Blue Chain
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WOW!
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Green Growth
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Biobased Challenge
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Biobased bridge
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Pure Nature: 100% Biobased
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National Biobased Knowledge Network
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