Among several challenges, Humanity is faced with two problems of planetary dimension and difficult to solve:

a) The production, distribution and use of environmentally sustainable energies;

b) The production and distribution of food in quantity and quality suitable for human consumption.

Biomass, understood as all matter of biological origin, plays a very important role in both challenges, namely in the areas of production, processing, distribution and use, be it energy products or food products.

It is therefore essential to find new sources of biological materials that can:

a) Originate low-cost renewable forms of energy, with reduced impact on the environment, which satisfy human energy needs and which boost employment;

b) Originate new food products that satisfy human nutritional needs and that enhance human health, at an acceptable cost to the consumer, with reduced impact on the environment and that promote employment.