Carlos Martín lab

Our research is directed to upgrading currently underutilized bioresources following a biorefinery philosophy. Biorefineries can produce fuels, materials, platform chemicals and high-added value products that are today produced by petroleum refineries. However, instead of using fossil resources as conventional refineries do, biorefineries use renewable raw materials, including waste streams from agriculture, forestry and industrial processes.

We are convinced on the impact of biorefineries on the development of a circular bioeconomy, and we aim at developing methods that would facilitate sustainable biomass processing. In line with that, we do basic research on lignocellulose pretreatment by hydrothermal processing and using green solvents, and we investigate biomass deconstruction with enzymes. Furthermore, we process biomass streams by microbial fermentation for producing biofuels and biopolymers.

The group is engaged in the Biopolymers and Biochemical Conversion Technologies platform of Bio4Energy strategic research environment. We have strong collaboration links with Swedish institutions such as the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), RISE Processum and Luleå University of Technology (LTU), and also with Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, the Bolivian Universidad Mayor de San Andrés (UMSA), among other universities outside Sweden.

Our projects are supported by the Swedish Research Agency, Swedish Research Council, Kempe Foundations,  Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) and by Bio4Energy Strategic Funds.