The objective is to use grassland biomass as the basis for future building materials with the aim to 1) increase photosynthetically efficient and sustainably sourced biogenic materials in the built environment, 2) increase the CO2 sequestering potential from the available land area in Denmark and 3) develop higher-value building materials with thermal and acoustic properties based on developed grass composite characteristics. The hypothesis is that grass-based materials can reduce carbon emissions by substituting conventional, energy-intensive materials and boost carbon storage by creating higher value long-lived building elements in the built environment.
This is done by studies that 1) investigate and quantify the carbon capture potential in different agromanagement systems of perennial and temporary grassland for green biorefineries and develop new processing methods for combining protein extraction with fiber production (WP1). 2) Investigate and develop new lignin-based adhesives for grass-based fibres, herein developing new processing methods for chemically modifying cellulosic grass fibres for composites (WP2). 3) Investigate and develop new analysis, design and fabrication methods for grass-lignin building composites with specified structural, thermal and acoustic properties (WP3). 4) Investigate the budget- and socio-economic perspectives of using grass-based building materials to replace current building materials, from farmer to consumer (WP4).
The project expect to output multiple environmental, societal and economic benefits, by 1) adding additional value to the emerging GBR business, with higher-value PCF side streams, 2) create a large carbon storage in the built environment, 3) new jobs in the agricultural and construction sector, 4) reduction in carbon emissions from energy-intensive materials industry, 5) create a setup for a profitable production of CO2 friendly building materials.
