SusChem Blog

SusChem fully engaged with Water EIP Consultation

2012-01-16T09:38:00.004+01:00

SusChem is heavily engaged in the on-going consultation on the proposed European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water. A number of dedicated stakeholder consultations have been organised with the aim of ensuring a bottom-up approach to gain solid feedback and understanding of the needs and interests of all parties. SusChem has been prominent in contributing to this process.

"SusChem and the chemistry community are determined to show leadership in this area and make a significant contribution to solving water issues by working with partners to pursue large-scale projects which can demonstrate real value for society," commented Antonia Morales Perez, Innovation Manager at Cefic, who is coordinating SusChem’s input to the consultation process.

Consultation timetable
An initial Member State consultation meeting happened on 6 July 2011 and this was followed by a first Stakeholder consultation on 20 October 2011. For this meeting a draft consultation document was prepared by the European Commission for comment.

A co-operative Workshop with European Technology Platforms, including SusChem, took place on 15 December 2011 and a second Stakeholder consultation is scheduled for 1 February.

SusChem input
In the preparation of the proposed EIP on Water and to aid discussion at the 20 October meeting SusChem contributed written comments on the draft proposal.

At the 15 December ETP meeting SusChem made a formal presentation on the opportunities, challenges and issues for the proposed EIP from a chemical industry/ chemistry viewpoint.

The consultation procedure will deliver a communication for the EIP in the first half of 2012. If the EIP Water communication is endorsed by the Council and the European Parliament, the EIP on Water aims to be operational in early 2013.

For more information on the proposed Water EIP visit the dedicated webpages on the European Commission DG Environment website, or contact Antonia Morales Perez at Cefic.

Water EIP gets Website

2012-01-16T09:05:00.004+01:00

The candidate European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water has just launched its own dedicated webpages on the European Commission's DG Environment website. The site describes the innovation initiative and allows interested parties to view and contribute to the on-going consultation process.

The candidate EIP on Water was initiated by DG Environment, in close cooperation with DG Research and Innovation, other Commission DG's and stakeholders such as SusChem, to develop a proposal to take forward under the Europe 2020 Flagship Initiative for an Innovation Union.

An EIP is designed to unite all relevant European actors and resources around common targets to speed up breakthrough innovations to solve specific societal challenges where there is also a large market potential for EU business.

The strategic objective of the proposed EIP on Water is to position Europe as a world leader in water technology and services by boosting innovation, promoting the creation of new market opportunities and by contributing to achieving the sustainable and efficient use of water, while at the same time using innovation to develop adequate and state of the art European water policy.

Three point strategy
The strategic objective has three main thrusts:

To develop innovative solutions for the many water quality and quantity challenges Europe (and the world) is facing. These water related challenges serve as the driver for interaction between policy and innovation.
To boost innovation, creating a global leadership position for European water technology and services, in line with the objectives of the Europe 2020 strategy.
To mobilise all relevant actors at EU, national and regional levels, remove any regulatory and market barriers, promote the integration of various policy and finance instruments and increase the demand for innovation, across all sectors and users of water.

The heart of the EIP will be a number of Innovation Sites. In the current proposal, that is subject to consultation, the Innovation Sites will be organised around three work packages. These are:

Urban water management
Rural water management
Industrial water management

In addition a number of horizontal themes will be addressed and, initially, up to 30 Innovation Sites are foreseen. Each innovation site will be a large-scale, solution-focussed project.

For more information on the Water EIP visit the DG Environment website or contact Cefic Innovation Manager Antonia Morales Perez who is coordinating SusChem input.

SusChem: 2011 Achievements, 2012 Actions

2012-01-11T09:10:00.003+01:00

2011 was an extremely active year for SusChem. The technology platform was at the centre of the chemical community’s work to lead innovation and boost competitiveness in Europe. The efforts of SusChem stakeholders during the International Year of Chemistry have set a sound basis for continuing success during 2012. SusChem News talked to recently appointed chairman of the SusChem board Dr. Klaus Sommer (right) about his highlights of 2011 and what SusChem needs to do in 2012.

SusChem News: Dr. Sommer, how do you see SusChem’s progress during 2011?

KS: During 2011, SusChem further increased its visibility and its effectiveness by defining positions for the Chemical and Biotechnology Industry with respect to many programmes and projects based on European Commission funding.

In particular, SusChem and its partners have established the basis for four major innovation initiatives in the areas of process efficiency, water, raw materials and smart cities that we feel can make a major contribution to strengthening the competitiveness of Europe.

Innovation has now become a major part of SusChem work, in addition to our traditional role of facilitating and promoting the chemical and biotechnology research agenda in the EU.

SusChem News: What are SusChem’s priorities for 2012?

KS: SusChem is thinking already established within the scope of the next EU Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation: Horizon 2020. In areas such as the Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) and Industrial Technologies SusChem has a great opportunity to ensure the central science – chemistry – is at the heart of the programme calls currently being defined by the European Commission.

SusChem will support policy makers to make Horizon 2020 an effective initiative to support sustainable growth for Europe. In particular we will continue work with our partners on the innovation initiatives on “SPIRE - Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency”, “Water Efficient Europe”, “Raw Materials for a Modern Society” and “Smart Cities”. These will set our priorities for the near- and mid-term.

SusChem News: What is the importance of SPIRE PPP proposal?

KS: The SPIRE proposal pulls together input from 15 European Technology Platforms and Associations and is therefore broadly based on the input from across many process industries in Europe. These industries represent about 20% of Europe’s production and provide 6.8 million jobs. It also focusses on the complete value chain from (bio-based) raw materials through processes, end products and recycling. If ultimately successful, this PPP can be a very significant platform for driving innovation in the chemical and other process industries so we continue to gather support from the European Commission, the European Parliament and national institutions.

SusChem News: What other areas will SusChem be active in?

KS: In addition to the focus on our four innovation initiatives we will continue to facilitate the chemical community’s input to FP7 during 2012. Our brokerage events during 2011 proved to be more popular than ever and showed the relevance of the calls to our stakeholders. We anticipate that our events in 2012 will prove to be as popular and useful.

2012 is International Year of Sustainable Energy for All and European Year of Water and SusChem will be contributing to activities in these two areas during the year. Both are highly relevant to our innovation activities.

A major activity will be our 10th Stakeholder event that takes place in April in Brussels. Its theme will be ‘Partnering for Sustainable Innovation through Chemistry’ and will emphasize SusChem’s collaborative innovation initiatives and bring stakeholders up to date on progress with our programmes.

SusChem News: Are there new SusChem communication initiatives?

KS: We will launch a new SusChem website in February with enhanced functionality and systems in place to ensure that it is always up to date. It is important that news about and from SusChem is available to all interested parties and delivered in a timely manner, therefore we will also be publishing regular SusChem e-newsletters. The SusChem News blog and twitter feeds will remain important parts of our news dissemination and we aim to develop further new tools during 2012.

A significant priority for the SusChem board is to enhance our communications with our stakeholders and the rest of the world. SusChem has been working very hard during the International Year of Chemistry 2011 and it is vitally important that all our stakeholders know what is happening – this is especially important at Member State level.

I believe that our efforts to date and through 2012 will be critical not only to the future well-being of the chemical and industrial biotechnology communities in Europe, but also for the quality of life for all citizens. It is important that chemistry makes its case clearly and coherently – emphasizing the benefits that chemistry brings to everyone’s daily lives and how we can provide solutions for current societal problems.

SusChem News: How would you summarize your main message for 2012?

KS: Europe needs to be more innovative to regain competitiveness and rise to the grand challenges facing society. Sustainable chemistry – SusChem thinking - is a critical element in ensuring that we can achieve these objectives. The important transition for 2012 is to make sure that SusChem thinking becomes SusChem doing – to translate our thoughts into large-scale concrete actions that can make a real difference. To do this requires wide-scale cooperation and participation. We all have a part to play to create this success and I look forward to working with SusChem stakeholders to shape and implement our initiatives.

SusChem Stakeholder Event 2012 Announced

2011-12-21T18:58:00.004+01:00

Save the date! SusChem has just announced that its 10th Annual Stakeholder Event will take place in Brussels on 17 - 18 April 2012. The event takes the theme 'Partnering for Sustainable Innovation through Chemistry' and will be held at the Diamant Business Centre and Conference Complex on the east side of the city.

As usual, the SusChem stakeholder meeting will be a high profile event and offer participants the latest insights on key topics such as water efficiency, sustainable processes, raw materials, smart cities and other areas where chemistry is playing a central role to develop sustainable solutions for society.

The SusChem event will offer plenty of networking opportunities and provide valuable information on European partnership programmes driven from the Innovation Union and Horizon 2020 objectives.

The 2012 stakeholder event will look to build on the game-changing 2011 event and further engage with value chain partners on concrete priority themes where sustainable chemistry has committed to promote partnerships and inspire innovation to achieve real growth in the EU.

Value chain solutions
No single component in today's complex value chain can deliver the comprehensive and timely solutions that society requires alone: we need to engage the whole value chain and SusChem is looking to deliver this. The 10th SusChem Stakeholder event will be a significant, dynamic, inspiring and productive step towards achieving this. Be there!

The preliminary programme and registration will be available soon via the main SusChem website. In the meantime, if you have any questions on the 2012 SusChem stakeholder event please contact the SusChem secretariat.

And don't forget to follow SusChem news via this blog and also via @suschem on Twitter.

Water Efficiency Workshop looks to ETPs for Innovation

2011-12-16T12:59:00.000+01:00

Today (15 December), the next step towards the Water Efficiency European Innovation Partnership (EIP) took place at a workshop in Brussels organized by the European Commission. The event held at the EUREKA offices in Woluwe Saint Lambert highlighted possible innovative contributions to the EIP from SusChem and other European Technology Platforms (ETPs).

Under the Innovation Union flagship initiative of the European Union, the Commission’s DG Environment, in cooperation with DG Research and Innovation and other DGs, is developing a proposal for a candidate EIP on Water Efficiency. The objective of the Water Efficiency EIP is to develop innovative solutions for water related challenges and boost innovation to create a global leadership position for European water technology and services.

The 15 December workshop was one of a series of stakeholder consultations to help develop the EIP and was specifically targeted at relevant European Technology Platforms, including SusChem and the Water Supply and Sanitation ETP (WssTP), to discuss existing innovative solutions, develop a prioritization of areas in which innovative solutions need to be developed and identify where the activities of these ETPs and the EIP can support each other. Other topics included discussion of the optimal governance model for such an EIP.

SusChem solutions
The meeting was active, open and free discussion on priorities and possible research and innovation needs in the water sector. SusChem’s input was led by Cefic Innovation Manager Antonia Morales Perez.

“The meeting was very positive and constructive,” commented Antonia. “SusChem is determined to show leadership and to make a significant contribution to solving water issues by working with partners to pursue large-scale projects which can demonstrate real value for society.”

Water is one of four key innovation initiatives for SusChem. SusChem is looking to develop breakthrough technologies and provoke a paradigm shift in integrated water management systems. This essentially involves revaluing water as a precious raw material rather than a utility product: rethinking the traditional approach in order to avoid future competition for water supply between industry and citizens in, for example, urban areas.

Priority for Europe
In June 2011, the Council of the European Union concluded that 'while water availability and water quality are essential for sustainable development and green economy, waters face many threats including increasing trends of global population growth, urbanization, pollution, overexploitation, desertification and climate change.’ Due to these increasing challenges and greater demand for scarce water resources it has been estimated that a global water supply shortage of up to 40% may emerge by 2030.

To achieve water resources protection and sustainable water management the Council highlighted the importance of innovation to find sustainable solutions and invited the Commission to 'investigate an innovation partnership on water in close cooperation with the Member States, with a view to achieving sustainable and efficient use of water.'

The overarching visionary objective of the candidate EIP is that in 2020 Europe will have safe, available and affordable water supply and waste water treatment for all users in place, based on sustainable management of the water resources and the most innovative, competitive and cost effective solutions.

Following the current intense consultation period, it is hoped that a final blueprint for a Water Efficiency EIP could be published in an EC Communication in June 2012. This would be highly appropriate as 2012 has been declared as European Year of Water. Following endorsement by the European Council and European Parliament this could allow the EIP to become operational by early 2013.

Euro-Chemistry Summit in Strasbourg

2011-12-12T21:22:00.008+01:00

On December 15 Euro-Chemistry, the new pan-European organisation representing chemistry funding agencies across the continent, is organizing a summit at the Council of Europe in Strasbourg to deliver a powerful message on how chemistry can help resolve the grand challenges facing the world today. SusChem will, of course, be there.

The summit will bring together stakeholders including chemistry performers, chemistry funders, chemical industry, policy makers (national & European level), international organizations, and non-European stakeholders such as the US National Science Foundation to discuss how funding for the vital work of chemistry can be improved.

SusChem board member Dr. Louis Vertegaal is President of Euro-Chemistry and will open the summit. He will be followed by Nobel Prize winner Prof Jean-Marie Lehn and Prof George Whitesides of Harvard University who will outline the grand challenges facing society. A policy viewpoint will be given by Catherine Trautmann, MEP.

Gernot Klotz of Cefic and SusChem will chair a round-table discussion on future funding. Further details of the summit programme can be accessed here.

Euro-chemistry
Established in Autumn 2010, Euro-Chemistry brings together national research organizations and funding agencies to establish joint strategies for collaborative research and improved funding mechanisms for European research in chemistry.

Chemistry is one of the key driving forces behind the welfare development of our society and for the global competitiveness of the European economy. It is ready to help meet the grand challenges facing society today including environment, health, energy and materials. These challenges for chemistry go beyond what can be acheived at a national level and demand wider collaboration. European research organizations and funding agencies need to join forces to create the synergy required for such a challenge.

Euro-Chemistry will collaborate with other consortia including industry federations. European networks and technology platforms and scientific societies to help design the future of European chemistry. SusChem has observer status in Euro-Chemistry.

For more information on Euro-Chemistry download their brochure or contact the organization now.

Commission gets Chief Scientific Advisor

2011-12-06T09:44:00.004+01:00

Yesterday (December 5) during the first Innovation Union Convention in Brussels, the appointement of Professor Anne Glover as the European Commission's first Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA) was announced. Prof. Glover will provide high-level and independent scientific advice in all stages of EU policy development and delivery. She will also provide advice directly to President Barroso and give regular updates on major scientific and technological developments.

Prior to this appointement Prof. Anne Glover (right) has served as CSA for the devolved Scottish government in Edinburgh since August 2006. She holds a Personal Chair in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Aberdeen, and has honorary positions at the Rowett and Macaulay Institutes. She is an elected Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, a member of the Natural Environment Research Council, and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

Most of Prof. Glover's academic career was spent at Aberdeen University where she had an active research group pursuing a variety of areas from microbial diversity to the development and application of biosensors for environmental monitoring and investigating how organisms respond to stress at the cellular level.

While announcing the appointment President Barroso praised Prof. Glover saying: "I believe her outstanding background and calibre will bring invaluable expertise to the Commission. She has a strong track record in leading the Scottish Science Advisory Committee which made her the standout candidate for this post."

Science for policy
The appointment of a CSA to the European Commission is a very welcome move and will hopefully lead to a strengthening of the scientific input to policy-making across the European Commission.

President Barroso announced his intention to appoint a CSA in September 2009. Prof. Anne Glover will report directly to the President with administrative support being provided by the Bureau of European Policy Advisors (BEPA).

The functions of the CSA are:

To provide independent expert advice on any aspect of science, technology and innovation as requested by the President
On request, to provide analysis and opinion on major policy proposals being submitted to the Commisson touching upon issues of science, technology and innovation; in particular the CSA will provide authoritative guidance on interpretation of scientific evidence in presence of uncertainty, and will be involved in strategic emergency planning
To build relationships with high-level advisory groups (e.g. European Research Area Board), the scientific Committees of the Commission, the EU agencies (European Medicine Agency, European Food Safety Authority, the European Chemicals Agency and the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control), the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies
To build relationships with similar structures in Member States and other countries
To advise on novel science, technology and innovation issues arising both in the context of the EU and internationally; to serve as an early warning conduct point on issues that might arise when scientific progress entails either opportunity or threat for the EU
To communicate the scientific values on which specific Commission proposals are based in order to enhance public confidence in science and technology, and in general to promote European culture of science and technology widely within Europe and abroad

SusChem welcomes Horizon 2020 proposals

2011-11-30T11:08:00.010+01:00

Today (November 30) the European Commission's proposal for Horizon 2020 - a key component in implementing the Innovation Union flagship under the Europe 2020 strategy - was published. The European Commission communication outlines an ambitious research and innovation programme that reflects much SusChem thinking. SusChem looks forward to supporting and fully engaging with the Horizon 2020 programme.

At the press conference to launch the 350 page programme proposal Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn described the Horizon 2020 as: “A new vision for European research and innovation in a dramatically changed economic environment. Horizon 2020 provides direct stimulus to the economy and secures our science and technology base and industrial competitiveness for the future, promising a smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive society."

She also promised that Horizon 2020 will allow "more research with less bureaucracy" by slashing red tape to reduce time to grant by 100 days compared current EU programmes.

SusChem response
Responding to the communication Gernot Klotz Executive (right) Director of R&I at Cefic and SusChem board member said: “SusChem and the chemical industry fully support this EU-wide approach to research and innovation. The significant increase in the proposed budget in comparison to FP7 is particularly welcome, especially in the area of innovation.”

“Horizon 2020 has a focus on output rather than being over prescriptive,” Klotz continued. “We support the use of bridging actions to coordinate programmes and the inclusion of pilot plant and scale-up activities that are vital to moving ideas into the market quickly.”

Such Horizon 2020 initiatives include European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) and Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) that incorporate both research and innovation activities. SusChem is involved with the development of four proposed innovation initiatives namely, water-efficiency, resource efficiency, critical raw materials, smart cities and is especially pleased to see references in the Horizon 2020 communication in these areas that strongly reflect SusChem thinking in these areas.

SusChem is also very happy to see the strong commitment in Horizon 2020 to develop and support the concept of Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) and will contribute strongly to this area especially on advanced materials, biotechnology and nanotechnologies.

Fit for innovation
To accelerate the EU out of economic crisis SusChem believes that the whole value chain (from advanced materials and processes to consumer-focused industries) needs to be stimulated simultaneously. Horizon 2020 must support and catalyse this innovation process.

The proposals for a single set of rules for participation and dissemination are attractive, but often drivers for research and innovation are different. “We need to make sure that the research-orientated instruments used in Horizon 2020 are fit-for purpose,” says Klotz. “They also need to pass a ‘fitness-check for innovation’ and, if necessary, be adapted to ensure they address issues such as value chain inclusion and speed of implementation.”

“European Technology Platforms (ETPs), such as SusChem, could help here,” says Klotz. “The formation of advisory groups involving relevant ETPs and other stakeholder could ensure funding is most appropriately and beneficially allocated. We also think that ETPs should now function as EU Technology and Innovation Platforms covering research and innovation and education – all three components are vital for future economic success.”

SusChem is already heavily involved in establishing cross platform and cross sector research and innovation initiatives. For example it has worked closely with others to build the basis for a proposed EIP on a ‘Water Efficient Europe’ that will offer both technological solutions and the opportunity to rethink water use in Europe. The aim being to ensure water quality that is appropriate to its use is available and make sure that for this increasingly scarce resource in Europe ‘every drop counts’.

Horizon 2020
Horizon 2020 promises to be a radical departure from current EU research funding. It aims to modernise and simplify support for research and innovation around three major objectives: excellent science, competitive industries and better society.

It will focus its investments on addressing major concerns shared by all European citizens such as climate change, affordable renewable energy and ensuring a sustainable future. The proposed budget for Horizon 2020 is €80 billion and the programme will run from 2014 to 2020.

The European Commission and European Parliament members are supporting or looking to increase Horizon 2020’s proposed budget, however a number of Member States are advocating lower expenditure. An extended negotiation will now take place before programme budgets are finalised.

More information
A press summary of the Horizon 2020 proposal can be found here and a more detailed memo summary found here. The full European Commission communications on Horizon 2020 proposal communication can be downloaded here from the revamped Horizon 2020 website. To view a recording of the Commission press launch click on the embedded video link below or on the EBS website here. This video link may not be functional after December 6.

A powerpoint presentation on the Horizon 2020 proposal is also available.

Innovation for Europe. Ready? Steady? Go!

2011-11-28T15:57:00.007+01:00

Innovation is key to future economic and ecological sustainability in Europe. And the chemical industry is a key driver of innovation. Now, more than ever, Europe needs innovative industries and they need Europe. On 22 November, as part of Cefic’s major public exhibition ‘Tomorrow Starts with Chemistry’ at the Palais des Academies in Brussels, a workshop involving policy makers, media and young students discussed how a new European model of innovation could be constructed and what it could achieve for society.

From the presentations and discussion it is clear that a new European model of innovation is possible, but requires increased levels of communication, collaboration and creativity to complement technological change. Fortunately, Europe has a history of collaboration and a track record of engaging with complexity at technical, cultural and human levels. With the right support and framework the new model can tackle our societal challenges in a smart and inclusive manner for the benefit of all.

Speakers from Cefic and SusChem outlined a number of proposed innovation programmes. The debate was moderated by SusChem Newsblog editor Tim Reynolds of Inta Communication (right below). First Gernot Klotz, Executive Director for Research & Innovation at Cefic (left below) explained what innovation means to the industry and the need for change in technologies and mind set, from both private and public partners, to face many societal challenges faced by Europe.

Chemistry innovation
Compelling examples that demonstrated the leading role of the chemical sector in driving innovation in the four priority areas chosen by SusChem, and how some of the challenges can be addressed were provided by the next speakers. Patrick Francoisse of Solvay (second left below) talked about the ‘Smart Cities’ initiative, while Mike Pitts of the UK’s Chemical Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (third from left below) described how we can satisfy the needs of 9.5 billion people on one planet through better use and reuse of critical raw materials.

Felix Mueller of Evonik Industries (third from right above) outlined the potential for the process industries to further improve resource efficiency and effectively “do more with less” through the proposed major Public Private Partnership (PPP) (SPIRE). Finally Antonia Morales Perez from Cefic (second from right above) described the chemical industry as simultaneously one of the biggest water-consuming industries, and one of the biggest providers of water treatment materials and technologies. The “Water Efficient Europe” European Innovation Partnership (EIP) has to adopt a symbiotic approach reusing and recycling water, and improving water treatment methods to recover raw materials and achieve sustainable production of appropriate qualities of water for appropriate use.

Communicate, collaborate, create
A subsequent interactive panel discussion featured Herbert von Bose, Director of Industrial Technologies at the European Commission DG Research (second right below), journalist Laura Shields of The Media Coach (second left)and chemistry student David Dupont from Leuven University (left).

All contributors agreed that there was a need to have a clear innovation agenda and to communicate widely: communication was the first step towards collaboration – and without collaboration there could be no opening of minds, no implementation and no creativity – no matter how wonderful the new technology was. Bringing different players together is very important and innovation must be driven by needs. High hopes were put on the chemical industry in Europe, as a global leader that interacts with virtually all other sectors and value chains, to provide solutions. It was therefore well placed to inspire and lead innovation.

For European innovation to be more successful and adopted by society, we need to focus not so much on techniques and technologies, but more on the outcome - the end-result - from a user point of view. To achieve this needs new ways of communication, collaboration and a cultural change of mind set is essential to give Europe a real sustainable advantage in global competition.

Horizon 2020: Proposal Next Week

2011-11-23T21:58:00.003+01:00

On November 30, the European Commission's proposal for Horizon 2020 - a key component in implementing the Innovation Union flagship under the Europe 2020 strategy - will be published. And SusChem News will be reporting on its launch.

Horizon 2020 promises to be a radical departure from current EU research funding. It aims to modernise and simplify support for research and innovation around three major objectives: excellent science, competitive industries and better society.

It will focus its investments on addressing major concerns shared by all European citizens such as climate change, affordable renewable energy and ensuring a sustainable future. The proposed budget for Horizon 2020 is €80 billion and the programme will run from 2014 to 2020.

SusChem News will bring you the highlights of the new programme and reaction on 30 November and will provide details of how to access live press launch coverage when that becomes available. Stay tuned!

Smart Cities: Cefic supports Covenant of Mayors

2011-11-22T21:12:00.006+01:00

As part of its work in support of the ‘Smart Cities’ policy area, Cefic has become an associated member of the Covenant of Mayors . The Covenant of Mayors is the mainstream European movement involving local and regional authorities that are voluntarily committed to increasing energy efficiency and use of renewable energy sources in their urban areas.

The vast majority of Europe’s citizens live in cities and policy issues in urban areas represent a microcosm of the general issues facing society, but intensified and accelerated. These issues include reducing energy consumption, encouraging greater use of renewable energy sources, adaptations of transport and other infrastructure to meet changing needs whilst improving mobility of the population, amongst other objectives on health and education. And all achieved at competitive cost and in an environmentally sustainable manner.

To achieve true ‘smart living’ in the future will require major joint public and private efforts to tackle the significant technical and societal issues. To help address these issues a Smart Cities European Innovation Partnership (EIP) has been proposed that Cefic and SusChem have a strong interest to participate in.

What are ‘Smart Cities’?
Smart cities go beyond the EU’s “20-20-20” objectives (20% reduction in CO2 emissions, a 20% share of energy from low carbon sources and a 20% reduction in the use of primary energy through energy efficiency measures) for the deployment of cost-effective low carbon technologies.

Many cities across Europe are already committed to building tomorrow’s cities today - in particular the Covenant of Mayors. This group of city authorities is developing a sustainable development framework that will allow them to voluntarily go beyond the 2020 targets. To achieve this, the group works closely with the EU to drive innovation across a variety of sectors. In many ways city authorities have more power and opportunity to implement the Kyoto agreement than national governments.

SusChem has already been involved with ‘smart living’ projects that connect research and industrial groups along the value chain such as its Smart Energy Home initiative, the Energy Efficient Buildings PPP and the Building UP Coordination Support Action (CSA). Chemical research and innovation are essential to achieving smart living and smart cities will benefit from the early and in-depth involvement of the chemicals sector. Essentially chemistry’s contribution to smart living is to enable “doing more with less”.

The Smart Cities EIP was one of the topics discussed at Cefic’s public workshop on European innovation at the ‘Tomorrow Starts with Chemistry’ event at Palais des Academies, Brussels on 22 November.

For more information on Cefic/ SusChem’s involvement with Smart Cities contact Ed d’Hooghe at Cefic.

Innovation for Europe: Ready? Steady? Go?

2011-11-16T17:02:00.008+01:00

At a time when our society is facing many challenges, now, more than ever, Europe needs industry and industry needs Europe. Innovation will be instrumental if we are to reach the ambitious objectives of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. As part of the major ‘Tomorrow Starts With Chemistry' event (see details below) at the Palais des Académies in Brussels, Cefic Research & Innovation is organising an open discussion on European innovation, its potential and practical achievement.

The discussion takes place from 13:30 to 16:00 on Tuesday 22 November, is free, and open to everyone with an interest in Europe’s future prosperity and growth.
The road from new ideas (“invention”) to their market uptake and their broad availability (“innovation”) is not easy. A series of policy and funding instruments such as the Innovation Union, Horizon 2020 and Key Enabling Technologies, have been and are being articulated by the European institutions with the objective of providing a stimulating framework for innovation in Europe.

It is therefore essential to understand and discuss how the various actors, such as the public and private sectors (at EU, national, regional and local levels), academia and civil society, could put this framework into practice for the benefit of all. We all have a responsibility and a role to play in enabling the huge European innovation potential to create greater value in and from Europe.

Join us!
So join us for an exciting and interactive discussion on 22 November on 'Innovation for Europe: Ready? Steady? Go?' The debate will be spiced with concrete examples from four societal priorities: water efficiency, resource efficiency, raw materials and smart cities.

The discussion will be both informative and challenging - voicing innovative and practical ways forward for Europe.

Talking innovation and chemistry
The debate will be kicked off by Gernot Klotz of Cefic who will tell us ‘What does innovation mean to the chemical industry?’ He will then be followed by four speakers who will briefly outline the potential for chemical innovation in four key areas:

Smart cities - Patrick Francoisse (Solvay)
Raw materials - Mike Pitts (CIKTN)
Resource efficiency - Felix Mueller (Evonik)
Water efficiency – Antonia Morales (Cefic)

This will set the stage for a panel discussion moderated by Tim Reynolds of Inta Communication Ltd followed by an open discussion where questions from the audience will be encouraged.

The panel discussion will feature:

Herbert von Bose (European Commission, DG RTD)
William Neale (Cabinet of Commissioner Potocnik) (tbc)
Edit Herczog (MEP) (tbc)
Laura Shields (media)
David Dupont (young student)

Before and after the debate, you can enjoy the exhibition “Tomorrow starts with Chemistry” showing some great chemistry innovations for today and tomorrow!#TSWC
The future starts tomorrow – and it begins with you. Come and join us as we celebrate the International Year of Chemistry 2011! From 21 to 23 November, the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) welcomes you to Tomorrow starts with Chemistry, an exciting three-day event and interactive exhibition in the Palais des Académies in Brussels. For twitter aficionados #TSWC is the hashtag for this event, if you want to keep up with the latest news.

A highlight of the International Year of Chemistry, #TSWC will demonstrate to you the endless possibilities of chemistry and its creative versatility. Visitors will be able to explore the breadth of the chemical industry’s achievements and it’s forward looking thoughts.

At the heart of the event is an eye-catching exhibition highlighting three societal challenges: mobility, housing and water. #TSWC will emphasise the role that chemistry plays in providing all the necessary answers. The centrepiece will be a large see-through platform built from a series of transparent display boxes, each containing daily life objects or materials associated with high-tech development that shape our lifestyle now and in the future.

The spectacular Solar Impulse plane, countless demonstrations and breath-taking experiments such as the quick dry paint demonstration and 3D holograms describing mobility in the future guarantee an unforgettable experience. Chemistry students from local universities will be present throughout the event to act as guides. The future starts tomorrow – and it begins with you.

The exhibition is open from 9.00 to 17.00 from Monday 21 November to Wednesday 23 November and is free to enter. To find out more visit the #TSWC blog site at http://www.tomorrowstartswithchemistry.eu/.

Biorefinery Study Bridging Gap Between Research and Market

2011-11-14T11:39:00.005+01:00

A study released at the European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bio-based Economy (EFIB) event in Amsterdam in October shows that Europe is well positioned to spearhead the development of a bio-based economy but must invest in demonstration activities to gain a competitive edge.

The “Biorefinery Feasibility Study” was launched by EuropaBio and nine partners, including DSM, Evonik, Genencor, Novozymes and Sud-Chemie, and undertaken by Dalberg Global Development Advisors. The study provides a blueprint for establishing integrated, demonstration scale biorefineries in the EU and recommends co-investments from public and private stakeholders to overcome the gap from research to market.

The “Integrated Biorefinery” concept was one of the original visionary projects described in SusChem’s Vision and Strategic Research Agenda. A cluster of FP7 projects are laying the knowledge-basis for such future bio-based facilities.

Vision, Value
Nathalie Moll, Secretary General of EuropaBio said: “The results present a vision, value chains and required capital investments, funding options, governance and implementation paths for demonstration biorefineries in the EU. These facilities are essential if we are to translate the full potential of our excellence in industrial biotech into smart, sustainable, marketable bio-based products and processes.”

The study provides a fact base on options and funding needs for demonstration biorefineries. It focuses on biotechnological conversion of agricultural residue, hard wood and energy crops into chemicals, materials and energy.

Biorefinery PPP?
According to the Dalberg study, diverse private sector interests mean competing sub-consortia of private and public stakeholders are likely to be most effective. The SPIRE PPP proposal that has been launched by the Resource and Energy Efficiency Partnership has included the topic of industrial biotechnology and biorefineries in their proposal and would provide excellent facilitation to access funding – including through Horizon 2020.

Other findings in the study include recommendations on the preferred location for biorefineries linked to synergies in co-location and feedstock availability. The study also outlines the need to focus on products with the highest added value, such as fuels and chemicals over heat and power, and to focus on funding for first-of-their-kind production plants and accessing funding to reduce risks to investors.

To find out more on the study and to access the full report contact EuropaBio either via Joanna Dupont-Inglis (Director, Industrial Biotechnology) or Rosalind Travers (Communications and Associations Liaison Officer).

SusChem España Stakeholders in Barcelona

2011-11-13T15:58:00.004+01:00

SusChem España will be holding its Annual Stakeholder event on 16 November during Expoquimia - Spain’s premier International Chemistry Trade Show that is taking place from 14 to 18 November in Barcelona. The day before the Spanish national platform is also involved with a major cross technology platform event at the same venue.

On 15 November, SusChem España is organising a major workshop with other Spanish national technology platforms entitled "Searching for Innovation at the Knowledge Crossroads". The aim of the workshop is to try and identify areas in which there are opportunities to cooperate, that in turn could lead into new innovative projects.

The following day the SusChem España stakeholder event takes place. The programme includes presentations on the next European Commission Framework Programme (Horizon 2020) and activities carried out both by the European and Spanish technology platforms. Antonia Morales Perez, Innovation Manager at Cefic, will present SusChem Europe’s current activities and prospects for the forthcoming Horizon 2020 programme.

Attendees will also receive information about the various activities and initiatives developed over the last year by the Spanish platform's groups working to define the “Sustainable Chemistry after 2012” roadmap. The stakeholder event will close with an award ceremony for the SusChem Young Chemist Prizes, under the categories of “Innova” and “Futura”

CDTI Forum
Antonia Morales Perez will also be presenting at the III Forum CDTI on 18 November in Madrid where she will outline SusChem’s proposal for a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials that is specifically looking at the development of new innovative materials by design and solutions for the substitution of critical materials. Ms Pilar Aguar, Deputy Head of Unit of the Operational Unit Materials at the European Commission DG Research & Innovation will also be talking on this topic.

CDTI is the Centre for Industrial Technological Development an agency of the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation and organised the forum to discuss the EU 2020 agenda and the general concepts behind the proposed EIPs.

For more information on SusChem España activities please contact Cristina Gonzalez or visit the SusChem España website.

Rare Earth Shortages can hamper Low-carbon Technologies

2011-11-11T17:01:00.004+01:00

A new report from the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) highlights the threat to successful deployment of low-carbon energy technologies due to a potential shortage of five elemental raw materials. The report recommends a set of actions to prevent shortages and allow a smooth implementation of the Commission's Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan.

Scientists from the JRC’s Institute for Energy and Transport (IET) have carried out an in-depth analysis of the use of raw materials, especially metals, in the six priority low-carbon energy technologies of the Commission's SET-Plan: nuclear, solar, wind, bio-energy, carbon capture and storage and electricity grids.

The study 'Critical Metals in Strategic Energy Technologies' reveals that five metals commonly used in these technologies – neodymium, dysprosium, indium, tellurium and gallium – show a high risk of shortage. Europe depends on imports for many of these, for which there is rapidly increasing global demand and limited supply, often concentrated in a few countries with associated political risks. Furthermore, these materials are not easily recyclable or substitutable.

Deployment issue
A large-scale deployment of solar energy technologies, for example, will require half the current world supply of tellurium and 25% of the supply of indium. At the same time, the envisaged deployment of wind energy technology in Europe will require large amounts of neodymium and dysprosium, (about 4% of the current global supply each) for permanent magnet generators, which could only be eased if the supply of such metals in the future is increased, which may not be simple. Virtually the whole European supply of these metals comes from China.

The report considers possible strategies to avoid or mitigate shortage of these metals, including promoting recycling and reuse and looking into substitution by other less critical materials. Further measures could be the development of alternative technologies. These are all issues that are addressed in the proposed European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials for a Modern Society being developed with significant SusChem involvement.

Chemistry for a Better Life at European Parliament

2011-11-08T20:42:00.004+01:00

Chemistry takes centre stage at the European Parliament in Brussels tomorrow (November 9) where the European Parliament's Science and Technology Options Assessment Panel (STOA) is holding a workshop on 'Chemistry for a Better Life'.

The workshop will be chaired by Teresa Riera Madurell, MEP and starts at 3pm. The event has been organised by STOA, in cooperation with the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS) and the European Chemical Industry Council (Cefic) and aims to highlight the crucial contribution of chemistry to achieving a better quality of life and welfare for humanity. The event takes place within the framework of the IUPAC/ UNESCO International Year of Chemistry 2011.

The workshop will be televised 'live' via a web video link. The main workshop session will be preceeded by a poster exhibition between 12:30 and 14:00.

Speakers at the workshop include:

Prof. Avelino Corma, Instituto de Technología Química, Valencia
Prof. Ulrich Schubert, EuCheMS
Prof. Dr. Dieter Jahn, BASF
Prof. Dr. Nicola Armaroli, CNR Bologna
Richard Allan, Scottish Water Horizons
Prof. Luis A. Oro, EuCheMS

Chemistry for solutions
Chemistry is fully committed to developing sustainable solutions to Europe’s pressing problems, including fostering resource efficiency (such as the proposed SPIRE PPP), developing alternative energy portfolios, redressing the consequences of climate change, improving our health conditions and assuring an adequate food supply for a growing population.

Chemistry is central to progress in many scientific and technological fields. Working with a wide range of experts EuCheMS has published a Roadmap where a number of key areas have been identified in which advances in chemistry can tackle some of the ‘Grand Challenges’ underlined by the Lund Declaration of 2009.

Chemistry, both as an industry and a science, will play a pivotal role in ensuring that the European Union is able to realise its vision of an ‘Innovation Union'. A strong partnership between academic, research and industry will ensure that research is transferred to sustainable economic solutions that contribute to the improved welfare of our society.

The workshop will be opened by a key note speech from Prof. Avelino Corma, Instituto de Technología Química, Valencia, followed by three Panel Sessions. Discussions between the panel members, MEPs and participants will provide an open discussion on the role of and expectations for chemistry in the forthcoming European Commission Common Strategic Framework for Research & Innovation - aka Horizon 2020.

SPIRE proposes Process Efficient Europe

2011-11-07T14:05:00.004+01:00

A big step closer to a sustainable, smart and inclusive Europe has been made with the publication of the SPIRE (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency) proposal for a major Public Private Partnership (PPP) for Horizon 2020 - the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation.

The SPIRE proposal was developed and is driven by the Resource and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REP) involving more than 10 major process industry sectors which together represent 20% of the European economy. The high-tech process industry is a significant part of advanced manufacturing.

The main objective of SPIRE will be to bring to life, for the first time, a European innovation agenda that would look into new technologies, business models and solutions along the value chain for improved European industry competitiveness, resource efficiency and employment. SusChem has played a leading role in the development of the SPIRE proposal.

Innovative process industry for a prosperous Europe
"The SPIRE initiative is key to the rejuvenation of the EU's industrial base and to its future. It will provide the technological and non-technological tools as well as focus public-private efforts necessary to decouple economic growth from increasing use of resources," said Dr Klaus Sommer, Chair of the SusChem Board.

The consortium behind SPIRE is addressing for the first time, in addition to research, the innovation opportunities for resource efficiency from a full value chain perspective. This value chain goes from raw material suppliers, to transformative industries, such as the chemical (including industrial biotechnology) industries, to intermediate and end-user products.

"The proposal is targeted to be high impact," says Ed D'Hooghe, Innovation Manager at Cefic. "Therefore, along with technological innovation, SPIRE covers novel business models, design and branding services in a comprehensive innovation concept. It looks to include also public sector and social innovation."

SPIRE ambitions
SPIRE will bring together large corporate industry and high-tech SMEs as well as academic centres of excellence to develop innovative materials and breakthrough technologies to modernise the EU's industrial landscape.

"SPIRE can boost enterprise in Europe and create more jobs in the process and related industries including in high-tech SMEs by stimulating existing and new global markets that Europe can lead," concludes Dr. Klaus Sommer. "At the same time, citizens’ quality of life will improve as a greener, more efficient and smarter industry is built in Europe."

For more information on SPIRE and related SusChem activities contact Ed D'Hooghe at Cefic. The SPIRE proposal brochure can be downloaded here and the Executive Summary from the document can be accessed here.

First Steps to a Water Efficient Europe

2011-10-25T18:21:00.006+02:00

SusChem attended the first Stakeholder consultation on the candidate European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water Efficiency on October 20. More than 100 stakeholders had registered for the event in Brussels and SusChem had the opportunity to talk with representatives from interested organisations such as the Water Supply and Sanitation Technology Platform (WssTP), European Water Partnership, the agricultural sector and SMEs organisations.

For each of the EU2020 targets, water is, without doubt, an essential resource element be it in terms of competitiveness of industry or in terms of sustainable development. So far, European citizens have not been confronted with severe water shortages, but as the demand on water increases and the global climate changes, Europe is becoming increasingly susceptible. The balance between water demand and availability has already reached a critical level in many areas of Europe.

The key water challenges in Europe are:

Scarcity of water as a resource
The water / energy nexus
Unsustainable waste water treatment (including pollution)
The need for water for making the bio-based economy and the development of eco-industries happen in Europe

Chemical industry
The Chemical Industry plays an important role in the whole water cycle due to its position being, on one hand, one of the biggest water-consuming industries, and, on the other hand, one of the biggest providers of water treatment materials and technologies. The industry’s commitment to the water topic and efforts to address its challenges are clear through its track record of supporting projects through SusChem and the WssTP.

These projects include the FP7 Coordination and Support Action ‘Coordinating European Strategies on Sustainable Materials, Processes and Emerging Technologies Development in Chemical Process and Water Industry across Technology Platforms’ (ChemWater) launched in May 2011 and the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water). This project to be finalised soon aims to create a breakthrough in industrial water treatment by enhancing its reuse, recycling and valorisation.

Water is used intensively by many different sectors: Agriculture-Urban-Industry, which makes water management, on the one hand, a challenging subject that cannot be tackled by one sector alone, and on the other hand an opportunity for Europe to establish a leadership position in this domain.

Symbiotic approach
There is a need for a symbiotic approach with two axes. Water quality and water quantity. The symbiotic approach includes reuse, waste water treatment, and recovery of raw materials from water that can be used as feedstock for other processes/ industries.

The Water Quality axis includes sustainable water production of the “right quality” for the “right use” (i.e. urban, industry and agriculture) and Sustainable waste water management. In this area examples of chemical industry contributions include more performing/ efficient chemically-enabled technologies with reduced environmental and energy impact such as:

Products for water purification technologies including new membrane technologies
Chemical and physical treatments, including seawater desalination
Elimination of water pollutants like phosphates and nitrates

The Water Quantity axis focuses on reducing the consumption of water. In the chemical industry this includes:

Reducing water consumption through new design of processes that demand less water
New sustainable cooling systems without water
Internal recycling and reuse (Resource Efficiency PPP- REP)
Reducing the use of fresh/drinking water resources (sustainable use of alternative sources such as desalination, waste water from urban areas, etc.)
Waste water treatment and management.

Underlying innovation
Underlying the whole approach is improved innovation. In times of major challenges for our economies and societies, innovation is highlighted as one of the efficient tools to achieve the ambitious targets of a smart, sustainable, competitive and inclusive Europe. As captured by the Innovation Union, Innovation is much more than research. It is about exploiting knowledge and ideas into solutions for the whole of society. This is the reason why the chemical and process industry noted with great interest the change in European policy to complement research policies with the European Innovation Partnerships that are supposed to embody this new understanding for the European initiatives and will bring it back in the global competitiveness and sustainable development race.

More information
To find out more on SusChem's work on 'Rethinking Water' contact Antonia Morales Perez at Cefic.

SusChem FP7 Success Stories

2011-10-25T15:06:00.007+02:00

Creating economic value through effective collaboration

SusChem Europe and the Polish National Technology Platform SusChem organised a workshop in Warsaw on October 18, under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the EU. The meeting brought together European policy-makers, politicians, industry and academia to share the benefits and impacts that have resulted through collaborative research and discuss best practices for successful EU projects, including impacts for scientific and commercial partners.

During the event at Warsaw University, speakers presented three FP7 projects involving significant Polish contributions (EUMET, EFECTS and INTENANT) and with great scientific and commercial potential. Dr Keith Simons, who worked as an EC-appointed advisor with these project teams, also described key generic learning points to ensure success in EU projects.

Polish perspective
Speaking at the panel discussion , Mr. Wojciech Lubiewa-Wielezynski, President of the Board of the Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry, described the challenges for major Polish industries to successfully work, in collaboration framework projects, with academic colleagues and the importance of SusChem national platform in Poland. However it is necessary to:

encourage chemical industry in Poland to be much more involved in research and innovation
increase of practical use of the Polish science potential in chemistry by industry
organize awareness workshop for the stakeholders with participation of EU-15 chemical industry. An opportunity for such as event could be during the Chemical Technology Congress in Krakow on 8-12 July 2012 or before through the Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry.

In this context, the good opportunities in the new EC framework programme, Horizon 2020, were discussed. For energy and resource intensive industries, SusChem is positioning the importance of the process industries in Europe in overall EU 2020 policy objectives. The concrete Public Private Partnership proposal in this area, which is currently under EC evaluation, would give excellent opportunities both for Polish industries and related academic partners.

Horizon 2020
Mr. Lubiewa-Wielezynski looked forward to future European research and innovation programmes saying: “Horizon 2020 will create significant targets on energy and resource efficiency improvements and Poland has a good hand of cards to play in these areas.”

Supporting this statement Ger Spork, Innovation Manager at Cefic said that: “The chemical industry’s participation will be of critical importance for these targets within the Horizon 2020 programme.”

Søren Bøwadt, Programme Officer for DG Research and Innovation commented that he was impressed by the quality of the projects presented and how well they fitted with the SusChem strategic directions. From the panel discussion he sought to encourage the chemical industry and academia in Poland to get further involved with collaborative participation in EC projects, as clearly in the new Framework Programme, Horizon 2020, some good opportunities could be expected on themes important for the SusChem Poland partners.

Patent success
All three projects demonstrated the importance of academia and industries working together to accelerate knowledge creation and build business opportunities. Industrial Biotechnology, Materials Technology and Reaction and Process Design, all key aspects of the Suschem Research Agenda were targeted by the projects. In addition to commercial success, the project outcomes are also impacting upon the challenges facing European society. To date, the projects have already filed 10 patents, and more are anticipated in the near future.

For example EUMET (Design, Development, Utilization and Commercialization of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts) developed a range of novel olefin metathesis catalysts. The first example has already been scaled-up by industrial partner Umicore. Improved olefin metathesis catalysts have also been discovered and approved for the synthesis of the Janssen Pharmaceuticals anti-hepatitis drug, TM435 currently in Phase III clinical trials.

In total over 50 new complexes were created and some 100 reactions tested. In addition to the direct benefit for the project partners, one catalyst is already available from research catalogues, and further selected catalysts are also to be brought to the market.

INTENANT (Integrated Synthesis and Purification of Enantiomers) has developed methodologies for improving the chemical yields (significantly reducing the cost of goods) during the manufacture of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). AstraZeneca is training over 100 chemists on the use of these new approaches which has been found to significantly improve process yields for a drug currently in Phase II clinical trials. The project has also benefited the German SME Molisa GmbH which has been able to develop an efficient synthetic route to the anti-tusive (cough-suppressing) Noscaspine. The molecule is also under investigation for its anti-cancer properties. In addition, a new company, FGEN has been created as a spin-out from the ETH, Zurich which will be supplying contract research services on the high-throughput racemisation approaches developed within the INTENAT project.

Finally EFECTS (Efficient Environmental-Friendly Electro-Ceramics Coating Technology and Synthesis) reported on the novel functional inks and ink-jet printing techniques developed during the project. The Greek SME Nanophos reported how they were able to rapidly commercialise the formulations developed during the project and offer self-cleaning and water-repellent surface coatings which are being incorporated into various building materials. The German SME Zenergy Power GmbH also reported it development of high-temperature superconducting tapes that could see application in turbines for wind and marine power generation.

Pictures from the meeting show (above from left to right): Johannes Spork - Cefic, Prof B A. Glowacki - University of Cambridge, Prof. Dr. Habil Karol Grela - Warsaw University, Dr. Søren Bøwadt - European Commission DG Research and Innovation, Wojciech Lubiewa-Wielezynski - President of the Board at Polish Chamber of Chemical Industry and Mr. Zbigniew Kamienski - Deputy Director, Ministry of Economy Poland.

Pictured below (from left to right) are: Dr Martin Hedberg - Astra Zeneca, Dr. Angelino Doppiu - Umicore, Prof. Dr. Habil Karol Grela - Warsaw University, Dr. Andras Horvath - Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

SusChem at Wetsus

2011-10-24T21:29:00.006+02:00

SusChem was present at the seventh annual Wetsus Congress held in Leeuwarden, The Netherlands, on October 3 and 4. Wetsus is a centre of excellence for sustainable water technology.

More than 300 people participated in the convention and on the first day, the topic addressed was “Cooperation in innovation, a global requirement?” and speakers from diverse backgrounds presented their views on this subject. On the second day, the topic was focused on “International scientific developments in water treatment technology”. In addition, a number of parallel sessions were organised around water science and technology.

Several of the world’s leading scientists in this field including Prof. Eilon Adar, Director of the Zuckerberg Institute for Water Research, Israel and Prof. Dr. Benny Freeman, Professor of Chemical Engineering at University of Texas at Austin, discussed the latest developments in water management and water related technologies.

During the Wetsus event, SusChem was represented in the exhibition area. The technology platform reiterated its commitment to addressing the challenges facing water management and supply, and its important role in bringing together academia and industry to speed up knowledge and business opportunity creation in the face of this crucial challenge.

ChemWater
SusChem is actively involved in European initiatives, such as the ChemWater FP7 project, that is contributing to the essential planning required for a future European Innovation Partnership on water efficiency. ChemWater is based on the long-standing, sucessful collaboration between the European Water Platform (WssTP) and SusChem.

ChemWater will outline how a more efficient use of water can be achieved to avoid the anticipated impacts of water shortages driven by climate change and other factors. The process industry, especially chemistry, plays an essential role as both a major water user and a key solution provider for the development of future water technologies.

BIOCHEM Milan Success, Frankfurt Next

2011-10-24T21:01:00.003+02:00

BIOCHEM held its first “Accelerator Forum” in Milan from 5 to 7 October. The event, which was run alongside the LIFE_MED 2011 conference, attracted over 90 attendees, including SMEs, investors and representatives from national and regional innovation agencies.

As well as hearing about the BIOCHEM project and getting an opportunity to try out the new toolbox, there were a number of general talks outlining some of the European and national initiatives aimed at stimulating the bio-based products market. Over the second and third days a variety of SMEs had the opportunity to pitch to a panel of investors and get constructive feedback on their business plans and market focus.

The event provided an excellent opportunity to assemble companies, private investors and innovation agencies in one place and many fruitful discussions took place outside the main sessions. The next Accelerator Forum will take place alongside the huge ACHEMA 2012 meeting, which will be held in Frankfurt between 18 and 22 June. By this time BIOCHEM will have identified many more SMEs to take part in the project and benefit from a BIOCHEM boost to their business.

SMEs that have an interest in developing their activities in the bio-based product market are very welcome to take part in BIOCHEM. It costs nothing, apart a few hours of your time, and could have a major impact on your success in this growing market. You can contact any of the partners through the BIOCHEM website. We are looking forward to hearing from you!

Water Efficient EIP starts consultation

2011-10-19T21:16:00.005+02:00

SusChem wil be participating at the Stakeholder consultation for the candidate European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water Efficiency that takes place in Brussels tomorrow (October 20). During the consultation stakeholders will discuss the proposal and its concrete objectives and targets, focus areas, structure, governance and implementation.

Under the Innovation Union flagship initiative of the European Union, DG Environment, in close cooperation with DG Research and Innovation and other DG's, is developing a proposal for a candidate EIP on Water Efficiency.

Water scarcity and droughts already affect one third of the EU territory, floods across Europe have caused enormous human and economic costs, while water pollution remains an issue across Europe, posing threats to public health. These are major societal challenges with links to many sectors. Innovative solutions, bringing together all involved actors and different disciplines can provide effective and sustainable solutions and can contribute to realizing a global leadership position for European innovative solutions to water challenges.

SusChem is already involved in initiatives, such as the ChemWater FP7 project, that can support the proposed EIP.

This general meeting at the Centre Borchette will be first of a number of stakeholder consultations. Further, more specific stakeholder consultations on particular elements of the proposal will be organised until the end of February 2012.

It is hoped that a Commission Communication will then be developed for June 2012 with subsequent endorsment by the European Council and the European Parliament later in the year.

SusChem at 'Entrée en matière'

2011-10-19T19:07:00.005+02:00

The SusChem exhibits on the Smart Energy Home (SEH) and F³ Factory (see below) are amongst a multitude of attractions featuring advanced materials and material science at the 'Entrée en matière' exhibition organised by Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS) in Paris.

This major exhibition runs from today (19 October) to 31 October in the Trocadéro Gardens close to the Eiffel Tower in the French capital.

The SusChem exhibits were organised via the Union des Industries Chimiques who have more images from the exhibition on their Facebook page.

The exhibition covers all types of matter from the elements to galaxies, cells to neutrinos showing the beauty of nature and the excitment of science.

Entry to 'Entrée en matière' is free and the exhibition is designed to be accessible to all ages from 8 to 80 and beyond. Attractions include films, documentaries and debates with specialists.

The major themes of the event are: 'Exploring Materials', 'Transforming Materials', 'Materials for Life', and 'Dream Materials'. A number of special event days are scheduled including a 'Chemistry' Day on Saturday 29 October from 10h00 to 19h00.

In addition two conferences are being organised. On 21 October a conference on "Chemical Careers" is being held at 14h30, while the conference on 27 October at 14h30 the topic is "Decoding chemicals labels".

Not to be missed!

Star-COLIBRI issues Biorefinery Vision, Roadmap

2011-10-12T08:37:00.004+02:00

The final event of the FP7 Star-COLIBRI project in Brussels last week (7 October) marked the official publication the project's Joint European Biorefinery Vision for 2030 and Joint European Research Roadmap 2020. The High-level Policy-maker Conference on Biorefineries saw a discussion of key policy priorities in the context of the future bio-economy strategy. Special emphasis was given to the important role of biorefineries in achieving the ambitious goals set out in this strategy, including resource-efficiency, sustainability and greenhouse gas reduction.

The Joint European Biorefinery Vision for 2030 predicts that the Biobased Economy is expected to grow significantly in Europe in the next 20 years. One of its core pillars is biorefining: the sustainable processing of biomass such as food, fuel and paper into a spectrum of marketable products and energy. In 2030, it is estimated that biorefineries will use a wider range of feedstocks and will produce an even greater variety of end-products than today.

Biorefinery goals
Achieving the goals set out in the report will require future biorefineries to be better integrated, more flexible and operating more sustainably. This will only be possible if crucial bottlenecks along the entire value-chain can be removed.

To address these challenges, several strategic research areas must be addressed by 2020. These are:

Biomass production and supply (including logistics)
Processing (both pre-treatment and conversion)
Programme integration (cross-sector, value-chain optimisation, process integration and overall sustainability assessments), and
Market development (from research to markets).

Invaluable tools
“The new reports on Biorefineries as well as the key strategic research areas discussed at [the] conference have provided invaluable information and tools to enable policy-makers to build a framework for the development of a sustainable European bioeconomy, with a network of biorefineries playing an essential role,“ said Johan Elvnert, coordinator of the project.

Commenting at the event, Dutch MEP Judith Merkies said: “Policy-makers in Europe have identified three key challenges that will affect Europe before the rest of the world. These are an ageing society, stability and equity in the economy and resource efficiency. Because our consumption grid is the highest per person in the world, it is our responsibility in Europe to turn these challenges into benefits. The issues and solutions identified through the Star-COLIBRI project are exactly the kind of responses intended under the EU Innovation Partnerships and it is of critical importance to resource efficiency in Europe and to the economy as a whole that we initiate these solutions as soon as possible”

More information
The Joint European Biorefinery Vision for 2030 and the European Biorefinery Joint Strategic Research Roadmap for 2020 are available to download on the Star-COLIBRI website.

To obtain more information on the Star-COLIBRI project contact project co-ordinator Johan Elvnert of the Forest-based Sector Technology Platform, or Christophe Luguel from the IAR Cluster.

Star-COLIBRI (Strategic Research Targets for 2020 – Collaboration Initiative on Biorefineries) is a two-year Coordination and Support Action funded under FP7. The project involves five European Technology Platforms (including SusChem) and five major European Research organisations.

Star-COLIBRI's main objectives are to overcome fragmentation and promote cross-fertilization in the area of biorefineries research, support innovation by speeding up and facilitating industrial exploitation of research results in the biorefinery field, promote coordination in the field of future R&D funding, and facilitate the creation of Public-Private Partnerships.

Klaus Sommer, new SusChem Chairman

2011-09-30T17:16:00.007+02:00

At the SusChem Board meeting on 22 September Dr. Klaus Sommer, Head of Business Management at Bayer Technology Services was appointed as the new Chairman of the board. He succeeded Dr Paul-Joël Derian who has recently moved from Rhodia to a new position with Suez Environnement.

Klaus has been intimately involved in the founding and evolution of SusChem – in particular through leading the Reaction and Process Engineering workgroup and working to realize the SusChem F³ Factory visionary project and several other strategic initiatives for SusChem.

SusChem News caught up with Dr. Sommer after the board meeting to find out his thoughts on the future direction of SusChem and his immediate goals for the technology platform.

SN: What are your plans for SusChem as its new chairman?

KS: As you know SusChem is a multi-stakeholder organization and relies on the work of many committed members, including the board members, from industry, academia and other research institutions. Over the years SusChem has managed to increase its visibility and its effectiveness by defining positions for the Chemical and Biotechnology Industry with respect to programmes and projects based on European Commission funding.

The ultimate aim for SusChem is to contribute to strengthening the competitiveness of Europe. Innovation and Technology are the two key elements in maintaining and improving competitiveness and SusChem has highlighted the critical role of sustainable chemistry and industrial biotechnology in delivering new technological solutions and innovations along the value chain.

We are now at a crucial point since the new Common Strategic Framework for research and Innovation – Horizon 2020 - is currently being defined by the European Commission and the European Parliament. SusChem has two main focus points in this context.

First, to continuously give input for the content and the calls of the Common Strategic Framework and, secondly, to launch significant programmes such as Public Private Partnerships (PPP) or make a significant contribution to European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) in collaboration with other European Technology Platforms. It is my priority to support SusChem in both focus areas.

SN: Do you have some specific programmes in mind?

KS: As I already indicated SusChem will have to develop a strategic plan for Horizon 2020. This would be similar in spirit to the original SusChem Strategic Research Agenda but adapted to recognise the new Societal Challenges like resource and energy efficiency

SusChem is strongly supporting PPPs and EIPs, such as “Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency”, “Water Efficient Europe”, “Critical Raw Materials” and “Smart Cities”. These set our priorities for the near- and mid-term.

SN: Do you have any specific expectations from the policy makers?

KS: I can say that SusChem has – over the years – established a very effective dialogue with the policy makers. This goes right back to the original reason why this European Technology Platform was set up namely to establish a body that can coordinate, align and deliver positions in Research, Development and Innovation for the Chemical and Biotechnology Industry. Our expectation is that the dialogue continues and that our positions, together with that of others, are recognized and considered in shaping future policies.

One additional specific point is that tools and workflows need to be continuously simplified so that it becomes even easier to have access to the European Commission Programmes. The formal requirements to engage with European programmes are still often considered to be too high and this acts as a barrier to participation. We have recently seen some encouraging communication and commitments; Horizon 2020 is a great opportunity to implement steps in the right direction.

SusChem has raised the profile of the sustainable chemistry, biotechnology and process engineering over the past few years. It has had a tremendous success in developing a specific research agenda and initiating a range of related projects. I believe that it has even greater opportunities ahead with the innovation agenda and I look forward to leading our technology platform, jointly with the SusChem board members, in these challenging times.

INVITE for F3

2011-09-27T09:49:00.005+02:00

The SusChem inspired F³ Factory project took a major step forward recently with the opening of the INVITE research centre at the Bayer Technology Services (BTS) Chempark in Leverkusen, Germany.

The INVITE (INnovations, VIsions and Technologies) research facility (pictured left) is a joint venture between Bayer Technology Services and TU Dortmund University and was formally opened on September 21. The facility is dedicated to the development and testing of flexible and efficient production concepts for the “Factory of the Future”.

The SusChem F³ Factory project will be one of the first projects to take advantage of the INVITE infrastructure. F³ stands for Fast, Flexible, Future and this project marks the first time that 25 partners, including seven of the leading European chemical companies, have put aside their own competing interests to combine the advantages of larger, better optimized plants with those of smaller, more flexible plants with the aim of conserving resources.

Ambitious goals
“INVITE will provide a major part of the infrastructure required to achieve the F³ Factory projects ambitious goals,” said Dr. Klaus Sommer of Bayer Technology Services, a SusChem board member and a leading figure in the F³ project. “The F³ Factory project was originally launched as a “Visionary Project” inspired by the strategic work within SusChem and is an example of how industry and academic partners can collaborate to push technology along in a very relevant area.”

The principle idea is to build chemical factories according to a modular principle. Modular standard apparatus are consolidated into containers, which can then be connected in series to form a complete plant. Both stakeholders in INVITE GmbH (BTS and TU Dortmund) are participants in F³ Factory, a €30 million research project coordinated by Bayer Technology Services.

INVITE’s Managing Director Dr. Thomas Bieringer is pictured above holding a modular micro-reactor component that can be used to construct highly optimized process configurations in the facility.

INVITE funding
Construction of the INVITE facility began in October 2010 and was partially funded by the German federal government and the state of North Rhine-Westphalia with contributions also from Bayer and TU Dortmund University. The centre will eventually employ more than 20 people in the 800m² facility that comprises a technical centre, laboratories and office space.

Warsaw to showcase SusChem FP7 success

2011-09-18T21:44:00.007+02:00

When the European Commission’s FP7 Programme was launched in 2007 its aim was to increase productivity and economic growth through innovation. SusChem had already developed its Strategic Research Agenda to promote collaborative Research, Development and Innovation between European industry and academia in the fields of Industrial Biotechnology, Materials Technology and Reaction and Process Design and many of its ideas and concepts were incorporated into the initial calls for FP7. Now these initial FP7 projects are being competed.

To celebrate the successful conclusion of these initial ‘SusChem inspired’ projects, SusChem is organising an event in collaboration with SusChem Poland under the patronage of the Polish Presidency of the EU to share the outcomes of three successful SusChem FP7 projects that all included Polish participants.

The event, which takes place at Warsaw University on 18 October is entitled ‘SusChem’s FP7 Success Stories: Creating economic value through effective collaboration’ and will feature FP7 projects: EUMET, EFECTS and INTENANT.

The projects
EUMET (Design, Development, Utilization and Commercialization Of Olefin Metathesis Catalysts). Led by St Andrews University in the UK, EUMET has developed a range of novel olefin metathesis catalysts which exceed the state of the art. The first example has already been scaled-up by industrial partner Umicore and is available from chemical research catalogues. Improved olefin metathesis catalysts have also been discovered and approved for the synthesis of a Janssen Pharmaceuticals drug currently in Phase III clinical trials.

INTENANT (Integrated synthesis and purification of single enantiomers). Coorodinated by Max Planck Institute, Magdeburg in Germany the project has looked to simplify the synthesis, purification and yields of enantiomeric substances for the pharmaceutical industry. In partnership with AstraZeneca, Bayer Technical Services and Molisa improved process technologies have been developed and applied to the development each of the company’s development pipelines. Training in the application of the methodologies is being rolled-out across the companies and is changing how they perform their candidate drug pipeline development. A spin-out company FGEN has also been formed which uses the technology developed in INTENANT to develop optimized biocatalysts.

EFECTS (Efficient Environmental-Friendly Electro-Ceramics Coating Technology and Synthesis) was coordinated by the University of Ghent in Belgium and has advanced the use of ink-jet printing technology to develop functional electro-ceramic coatings which have been incorporated into commercial products as diverse as high-temperature superconductors for Zenergy Power’s wind turbines and Nanophos’s self-cleaning ceramic tiles.

The SusChem Newsblog will be featuring case studies from further ‘SusChem inspired’ collaborative projects over the next few months.

SusChem – key to chemistry
This event will bring together European policy-makers, politicians, industry and academia to discuss to share the benefits and impacts that have resulted though collaboration in these and other FP7 projects and discuss best practice for maximising commercial impact from collaboration.

In addition speakers from the European Commission will outline the FP7’s successor programme: Horizon 2020. And SusChem representatives, including Prof Rodney Townsend, will describe the vision and strategy that the technology platform will be taking to maximise the benefits of sustainable chemistry for the chemical community, the European Union and its citizens.

More information
For more information on the Warsaw SusChem Success event take a look at the SusChem website. In particular you can find the agenda for the event here and can register directly for the event here.

For further information and specific queries please contact the SusChem secretariat.

Brokerage event presentations online

2011-09-17T23:05:00.007+02:00

Following the very successful Brokerage event on 14 September the SusChem Brokerage Database is being populated with the presentations made on the day. This valuable resource is open to all SusChem stakeholders and registration for access is quick and simple.

All presentations on proposals for potential projects made in the morning session and the Expressions of Interest (EOIs) outlined in the afternoon will be included.

Key tool for you
The brokerage database is a key tool for you to find projects and partners. To be able to utilise the brokerage database you need to register via a simple access form. This can be found here.

A screenshot of the access form is above. The form is easy to complete, but needs input in all areas. In particular if the following fields are not completed: ‘Name’, ‘Organisation’, and ‘Country’ your profile will not be visible in the profile directory and this will limit your use of the database.

If you have any specific requirements re brokerage or other database queries, please do not hesitate to contact the SusChem secretariat. And in any case if you have comments and experience you can share that could improve our Brokerage service, please let us know: IT IS THERE FOR YOU!

Last but not least, we hope to see you all at the Brokerage Event 2012!

ChemWater plans strategy for sustainable water

2011-09-15T11:06:00.004+02:00

Improving efficiency in water use is essential to avoid the potential impact of climate change and other factors on water resources in Europe. The new ChemWater FP7 project will help to address these issues by linking the process industry and water industry.

ChemWater launched earlier in the summer and is a coordination and support action project under FP7 that will last 30 months and involves 11 partners. Its essential aim is to link process industry and water industry know-how to develop sustainable water resources.

The 11 international partners are drawn from the scientific, industrial and water utility communities and will develop a long-term strategy for sustainable industrial use of water in close coordination with existing initiatives and projects. A special focus will be the exploitation of the technological potentials in the fields of nanotechnology, materials and process innovation.

Sustainable solutions
“In developing sustainable solutions for water issues the process industry, especially chemistry, can play an essential role: both as a major water user and a key innovation provider for the development of future water technologies.” says Dr. Thomas Track of project coordinators DECHEMA. A core rationale behind the project is to highlight the role of the European Chemical and related process industries as solution providers within the context of the complex challenges of industrial and urban water management. The project aims to coordinate EU strategies across and beyond existing technology platforms, including SusChem, to integrate and exploit new findings.

“This role emphasises a transformation in perspective which values "chemistry for water" alongside the more traditional notion of "water for chemistry",” explains Thomas. “Such a perspective allows the project to extend its reach and impact beyond the chemical sector itself to key strategic European process industry sectors such as mining, industrial biotechnology, health, food, electronic, pulp and paper, and energy.”

Roadmap for a Water Efficient Europe
Relevant European Technology Platforms active in these sectors will be involved to allow the identification of cross-industry synergies, build a roadmap for technologies and process development requirements and construct an action plan. At the same time, concepts for the rapid commercialization of innovations will be formulated.

ChemWater can provide significant support for the proposed European Innovation Partnership (EIP): "Water Efficient Europe". This will be discussed in a ChemWater workshop to be organised in early 2012. The project will also have synergies with the proposed Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP.

Obviously the issue of sustainable water resources is a global issue. And ChemWater will be looking to work with existing EU international networks and cooperation actions to disseminate its findings across the World.

More information at the ChemWater website.

Brokerage breaks records, sets standards

2011-09-14T16:48:00.006+02:00

The SusChem Brokerage 2011 event today (September 14) saw a record number of registrations as delegates presented their research ideas and started to build the basis for consortia to bid for the latest SusChem relevant FP7 calls. In addition to this invaluable networking, delegates learnt about the importance of incorporating standardisation issues into their project proposals – a vital element for market entry.

The opening plenary session at the Hotel Silken Berlaymont in Brussels was literally standing room only as Ger Spork, SusChem coordinator at Cefic (below left) and Ron Weerdmeester of PNO Consultants (below) described SusChem objectives for the day and took participants through the programme.

Following a presentation on integrating standards into project proposals from Ségolène Martin of CEN-CENELEC (see more below) a dozen prospective project proposals were presented in rapid-fire succession before lunch.

After lunch Ron Weerdmeester demonstrated the SusChem brokerage database – an online tool open to all SusChem stakeholder on request – that promises to be a valuable addition to project formulation and consortium building. This was followed by a series of presentations outlining expressions of interest or available expertise from a variety of research organisations.

Before the final wrap up session an hour of ‘speed dating’ and pre-consortium meetings was facilitating with 80 one-to-one meetings arranged prior to the day and many more set up on the day. A poster session was available through out the day.

“The day was a great success,” commented Ron Weerdmeester of PNO. “With so much interest we knew that a ‘military-style’ operation was needed and it all went very well. We look forward to a seeing some great ‘SusChem inspired’ FP7 projects emerging from today’s work.”

Standardisation – a vital market issue
The CEN-CENELEC Management Centre in Brussels was established in 2010 and coordinates the activities of the two EU-funded standards bodies: CEN (the European Committee for Standardisation) and CENELEC (the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardisation). Both bodies coordinate the relevant National Standards authorities from 31 European countries.

Ségolène Martin (right) from the Management Centre described the importance of including work on standards into project proposals. Many FP7 calls explicitly include a reference to work on standardisation as a key deliverable, but all research projects should consider including work packages in this area.

Early consideration of standardisation issues can yield benefits including:

Faster and easier access to market
Enhanced economic value of the research
Easier access to public procurement market
Possible licensing revenue
Interoperability
Codifying the ‘state of the art’
Reassurance to consumers and customers

Standardisation issues can be included at all steps of project development to implementation. Standardisation work packages are often placed within the dissemination element of project strategies.

A CEN-CENELEC Research Helpdesk has been established to provide support to the research and innovation community on standards issues. The Helpdesk has a dedicated website and also can also be contacted directly by email.

EC consults on European Research Environment

2011-09-14T12:27:00.006+02:00

Yesterday (13 September) the European Commission launched a wide scale public consultation on the state of the EU’s research environment and ideas to improve it. The consultation was launched by European Commissioner for Research and Innovation Máire Geoghegan-Quinn at the European Research Area Committee’s (ERAC) Stakeholder Seminar at the Berlaymont building in Brussels.

The Commissioner’s goal is to achieve the European Research Area (ERA) by 2014, creating a genuine single market for knowledge, research and innovation. This will enable researchers, research institutions and businesses to circulate, compete, and co-operate across borders, increasing growth potential. The consultation will allow the scientific community and other interested groups and individuals to contribute to this process by helping redefine the research landscape in Europe.

At the launch Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (pictured below, right with Robert-Jan Smits, Director General of DG Research and Innovation at the ERAC meeting) said: "The need to boost Europe's economy means that we have to get the very best out of our research. It is unacceptable that it is often more attractive and easier for our top scientists to cross the Atlantic than to move across the EU. We want the research community to tell us what they need, so we can work together to tear down barriers to growth and jobs."

“We have excellent researchers in Europe. I am determined to give them the research area that they deserve, so that they can drive Europe's economic recovery,” she concluded.

Open consultation
The consultation is open now and will run until 30 November 2011. Some of the questions the European Commission wants to tackle include:

Are researchers looking for new opportunities, but finding themselves locked behind national borders?
Are scientists in need of new research infrastructures to perform and test ideas?
Does the research community need more opportunities to share views, realise new projects and create new products and services?

The Commission will draw on input received on these and many other questions to finalise its proposal for an enhanced ERA Framework, to be published before the end of 2012. The Framework will optimise the coordination of research funding across Member State borders, improving the efficiency and the impact of European research.

The European Commission has identified the ERA as a prerequisite for a new era of innovation and competitiveness in Europe, with the best brains working together so the European Union becomes an "Innovation Union".

All those interested in European research and innovation should participate in the consultation which can be found here.

What is ERA?
The ERA concept was proposed in January 2000 by the European Commission in its communication "Towards a European Research Area" (COM(2000)6), and launched at the Lisbon European Council in March 2000. It was given new impetus in 2007 with the European Commission's Green Paper on ERA (COM(2007)161).

Commissioner Quinn is now determined that it will become a reality. You can read the full text of the Commissioner’s speech at the ERAC seminar here.

ERAC is a strategic policy advisory body that assists the European Commission and the Council of the European Union in matters relating to research and technological development.

Wetsus talks sustainable water technology

2011-09-13T13:58:00.002+02:00

The 7th annual Wetsus congress will be held in the northern Dutch city of Leeuwarden on October 3 and 4. The theme for this year’s congress is ‘Cooperation in innovation, a global requirement?’

The congress is split into two halves with the first day covering international cooperation initiatives on water technology including the involvement of public-private partnerships. In the afternoon, parallel sessions cover the major challenges for water and how educational and human resource issues interface with water issues.

The second day is devoted to developments in water science and technology, again in parallel sessions, including the structure of water, invisible threats to water supply, safety of non-piped systems, water reuse, agricultural water treatment, getting value from waste water, desalination and energy from water.

Registration for the first day of the congress is free, but a €175 fee (free for students) is charged for the October 4 sessions.

Centre of excellence
Wetsus is a centre of excellence for sustainable water technology. It creates a unique environment and strategic cooperation for development of profitable and sustainable state of the art water treatment technology. This multidisciplinary collaboration between some 70 companies and 13 research institutes in Wetsus results in innovations that contribute significantly to the solution of global water problems.

More information on registration and programme content can be found on the Wetsus website.

REACH and Innovation

2011-09-10T15:58:00.003+02:00

As part of its extensive review of the REACH (Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals) Regulations the European Union has commissioned a new survey to assess the impact of the regulations on launched the innovativeness of the chemical industry in Europe.

The survey, which will be open for input until 7 October 2011, is being conducted by the Centre for Strategy and Evaluation Services (CSES) on behalf of the European Commission DG Enterprise and Industry.

This innovation survey forms part of a wider exercise to evaluate the effects of REACH and to inform future amendments to the legislation.

Chemical stakeholders
The online survey of businesses across the European Union will receive feedback on key issues related to the implementation of the REACH Regulation. The survey targets manufacturers and importers of chemical substances but also downstream users, distributors of chemicals and other firms involved in the different stages of the chemicals supply chain that may be affected by the REACH Regulation and is available in all European languages.

Views are solicited on innovation from product conception through testing and piloting to production. Within the interpretation of the term “innovation” is included product, process, marketing and organisational innovation.

For more information on the purpose of the study, please contact Jan Smits, REACH evaluation project leader at CSES. The survey can be found here.

Tomorrow starts with chemistry at EC HQ

2011-08-31T00:49:00.008+02:00

As part of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC2011) the European Commission DG Enterprise is hosting an exhibition at the European Commission Headquarters: ‘Tomorrow starts with Chemistry’. The event will be held at the piazza of the EC’s Berlaymont building in Brussels. Earlier in the year the Berlaymont building was adorned with a giant IYC2011 banner (right).

The exhibition will take place from 5-8 September and will be officially opened on 6 September at an early evening ceremony involving EC Vice-President and Commissioner for Enterprise and Industry Antonio Tajani, Mr. Giorgio Squinzi, President of Cefic, the European Chemical Industry Council, and Prof. Ulrich Schubert, President-elect of the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS).

The exhibition will show how advanced materials can deliver a more sustainable future and demonstrate the fundamental role of chemistry in our everyday life via engaging exhibits and displays that will lead visitors through an experience that stimulates all the senses. Technologies such as conductive films, light and smart materials, photovoltaic cells and other renewable energy technologies will be highlighted to show how sustainable chemistry can turn science into tools for a world that is fit for the future.

It is often forgotten that chemistry is not only the basis for technologies that make our current high standard of living possible, but also the key to solving many of society’s current challenges.

Without chemistry, innovative advanced materials to build complex electronic devices, or to improve the efficiency and safety of current and future electric vehicles, solar panels or wind turbines to harness the energy of nature, new products to protect health, food and water would simply not be possible.

United effort
In its efforts to create smart growth and an economy based on knowledge and innovation, Europe needs to play to its strengths and build upon robust industrial sectors that have a track record of successful research, innovation and deployment of technology. The chemical industry is such a sector and is determined to play its part.

The chemical community is committed to support, and where appropriate lead, new public-private partnerships in key areas, such as raw materials, sustainable technologies, water efficiency and smart cities, to ensure that big and small businesses can collaborate with society to keep Europe at the forefront of innovation and sustainability and address the major challenges that society faces. The exhibition will demonstrate how many of these challenges may be addressed.

SusChem brokerage event open to all

2011-08-29T00:53:00.003+02:00

Preparations are well underway for the 2011 SusChem Brokerage event. The event takes place in Brussels on September 14 and will include opportunities to present project proposals, make general expressions of interest in an area of research and engage in ‘speed dating’ for consortium building.

“The SusChem Stakeholder event is open to all stakeholders in the European sustainable chemistry community, which means anybody with an interest in the sustainable chemistry research and innovation agenda,” says Ger Spork, Innovation Manager and SusChem coordinator at Cefic. “Any party with an interest to participate in the new round of FP7 calls that relate to this agenda is welcome to join us.”

The event will be held at the Hotel Silken Berlaymont (pictured) in Brussel’s European quarter. Delegates can find out more information on the Brokerage event on the SusChem website and you can register for the event here.

The agenda for the event and other useful information, including an overview of the relevant FP7 2012 calls across topics including Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies (NMP), Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE), Energy, and Environment can be accessed here.

To help in the organisation of the event, and to highlight your project idea or specific offer of expertise, the SusChem Brokerage Partnering Database is now available. This database provides you with the opportunity to upload your project idea and expression of interest for specific calls prior to the event. To register for the SusChem Brokerage Partnering Database, click here.

We look forward to seeing you on 14 September.

EU companies to boost innovation investments

2011-08-12T13:29:00.005+02:00

The latest European Commission survey of EU R&D Investment Business Trends published on 10 August shows that the top R&D investing companies based in Europe expect their global research and development (R&D) investments to grow by 5% annually from 2011 to 2013.

The results published in the sixth EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends is more than double last year's expectations, and represents a significant upturn from the 2.6% R&D cuts in investment implemented by these companies during 2009. The survey also revealed that an average of 27% of the annual sales of the companies analysed in the report come from innovative products introduced in the past three years. A clear indication of the value of innovation to commercial success and to job creation.

"The survey provides welcome positive economic news and grounds for cautious medium-term optimism, given that business R&D is a key driver of sustainable growth and jobs. But if we are to achieve our Europe 2020 targets, including getting R&D investment in the EU up to 3% of GDP, we will need these forecast investments for 2011-13 to be delivered in practice,” commented Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science. “We will also need further increases in the rate of growth of private R&D investment in subsequent years, both by the big companies covered in this survey and by SMEs. And we will need to deliver an Innovation Union in Europe so that investing in R&D here is more attractive than doing so elsewhere."

Investment in EU and globally
Companies surveyed expect their R&D investment inside the EU to grow 3% a year over the next three years. But they expect the growth in their R&D investment in other world regions to be higher: in particular China (25%) and Japan (17%). The surveyed companies carry out a quarter of their research outside the EU, in particular in the US and Canada.

This trend shows that EU-based companies want to benefit from the growth in emerging economies while still retaining a strong overall focus on the EU.

In response to questions on the key factors that have a positive effect on innovation, the main factors identified were: the availability of qualified personnel and of public support such as grants and fiscal incentives. Collaboration with other entities, such as higher education institutions, was also seen as important.

Factors perceived as negative for all sectors were enforcement costs of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and the time needed to obtain IPR protection. This again highlights the critical importance of fostering an innovation-friendly IPR regime in Europe -in particular the proposed unitary EU patent.

Survey background:
The EU Survey on R&D Investment Business Trends was carried out by the Commission’s Joint Research Centre’s Institute for Prospective Technology Studies based in Sevilla, Spain. The survey results are based on 205 responses of mainly larger companies from the 1000 EU-based companies in the 2010 EU Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard. Taken together, these 205 companies are responsible for R&D investment worth almost €40 billion, constituting around 30% of the total R&D investment by the 1000 EU Scoreboard companies, which is a significant share of European business investment in R&D.

New EU prize celebrates Innovative Women

2011-08-02T09:01:00.003+02:00

The role of female innovators is being highlighted by a new EU prize. Women make a continuing and vital contribution to Europe's research scene, developing, managing and commercialising the results of myriad studies that impact sectors across the continent.

However turning bright ideas and research into commercial success is an issue in Europe. This latest initiative for encouraging and fuelling the participation of women in innovative enterprises is the European Union Women Innovators prize. The idea is to reward three of Europe’s top women innovators, who have seen the fruits of their labour successfully go to market.

The prize will bolster awareness of why innovation is important, and why an increasing number of women entrepreneurs are needed in both research and industry. These womens’ success can, in turn, foster innovation and enterprise in other women.

How to get involved?
Interested parties must meet six conditions in order to participate in the competition. The contestant must be:

a woman living in either a EU Member States or a country associated to the EU's Research Framework Programme;
a founder or co-founder of an active company;
their company must have been registered before 1 January 2009;
their company should have posted a turnover of at least €100,000 in 2010;
the contestant must be a recipient of EU funding from either the EU Research Framework Programme or Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) - either as an individual or through the business founded/co-founded by the contestant;
the candidate must be active in research and innovation activities, linked to the origin of the product or services, provided by the company she founded or co-founded.

Those keen, and qualified, to take part in the contest must submit their applications by 20 September 2011 at the Women Innovators prize application site. The winning contestants will be notified in mid November.

A total of €175,000 in prize money is on offer! The first prize is worth €100,000, second prize €50,000 and third prize €25,000. An independent panel of judges from academia and industry will assess and select the winning candidates. An award ceremony will take place during the European Commission Innovation Convention taking in Brussels, Belgium on 5 December 2011.

World Chemistry Congress kicks off in Puerto Rico

2011-07-31T23:09:00.003+02:00

Academics and business leaders have come to Puerto Rico to attend three significant International Year of Chemistry 2011 events. The 43rd World Chemistry Congress, the 46th IUPAC (International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry) General Assembly and the World Chemistry Leadership Meeting take place in San Juan, Puerto Rico from today (July 31) to August 7.

The 43rd World Chemistry Congress has the theme "Chemistry Bridging Innovation Between the Americas and the World” and will be a major event for the development of chemistry and related scientific and technological disciplines. The Congress includes plenary lectures, symposia, oral presentations, poster presentations, workshops, group meetings and an up-to-date scientific exhibition. Seven chemistry Nobel laureates will be joining the event as plenary speakers.

The World Chemistry Leadership Meeting will be held during the IUPAC 2011 General Assembly. A full-day event is planned for August 2 and Cefic President Giorgio Squinzi will give a keynote address at this event. The meeting will aim to identify new ways to accelerate the contributions of chemistry to Sustainable Development through innovative international collaboration between involving scientists from chemistry and the chemical related sciences, policy makers and social actors, including those with global responsibilities from the relevant UN agencies, and those who apply the science and who will develop the key technologies for tomorrow from industry. It will be a perfect opportunity for leaders from chemistry to set new priorities for the science.

Gernot Klotz of Cefic and SusChem will present at a session on employment and professional development for chemists. He will present the recent Cefic work on skills needs to improve innovation in the chemical industry.

Call for increased support for chemical innovation

2011-07-29T20:06:00.008+02:00

SusChem board member, Gernot Klotz from Cefic R&I, has called for increased support for chemical innovation in an interview for an article published in Chemistry World today (July 29).

Klotz welcomed the boost to total funding for calls in FP7 for 2012 (up 9% compared to 2011), but indicated that chemistry-related funding for basic research in the new package will remain at about the same proportional level as for previous FP7 calls. The main chemistry-related beneficiaries will include key enabling technologies such as nanotechnologies, advanced materials, biotechnology as well as environment and energy.

However, although he is pleased that the European Commission has emphasised the importance of innovation as the end goal of basic research in the 2012 call and in the thinking for the next Framework Programme now named Horizon 2020, Klotz feels that more concrete support for innovation is needed in terms of funding, policy alignment and coherence.

More support needed
‘Research does not equal innovation,’ he states. ‘We (Europe) have to work on innovation to be a world leader. Compared to the Asia-Pacific region and the US, Europe is not good at commercial deployment of knowledge, so we would like to see more action, not just more words. But the chemicals sector is ready to make big contributions.’

One area of innovation support that Klotz says is lacking is the ‘processing side,’ which includes conversion of feedstock into chemicals, pulp and paper, and metals. He says the chemicals sector is taking the lead in cooperation with other sectors in developing key technologies and is currently working on concrete proposals to improve resource and water efficiency, for using raw materials, and in creating so-called ‘smart cities’ of the future in a public-private cooperation.

He hopes that the Commission will strive to support the long process from basic research to innovation and commercial deployment. ‘Innovation is a chain that breaks at its weakest link and we have to speed up,’ Klotz says. ‘In addition (we) need to have very efficient research: no double research, working closely together, with explicit priorities.’

Call information, brokerage
Full information on all new FP7 calls, including the 2012 call, can be found at a new dedicated Participant Portal. This is now the entry point for all electronic administration of EU-funded research and innovation projects, and hosts the services for managing proposals and projects throughout their lifecycle.

Currently the portal covers mainly actions under FP7. In the future, its coverage will be extended to other programmes in the area of research and innovation.

The site has experienced some teething troubles, but technical issues are now said to be completely resolved.

And don't forget the SusChem Brokerage event that is taking place in Brussels on 14 September. This will be a great opportunity to get involved with SusChem-related FP7 projects in the latest call.

BIOCHEM accelerates at Milan

2011-07-21T08:56:00.002+02:00

BIOCHEM, the Europe-wide partnership co-funded by the European Commission to support companies entering the rapidly emerging market of bio-based products, will be staging an Accelerator Forum in Milan from 5 to 7 October 2011. The Forum will offer the chance to promote your organisation or company to an influential audience of biotechnology investors, entrepreneurs and other major players in the area.

The Accelerator Forum takes place at FieraMilanoCity as part of the LIFE-MED 2011 event. The BIOCHEM event is free but requires compulsory registration. Entry to the BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum will also allow participants access to LIFE-MED 2011.

Presentations at the BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum event will give a comprehensive briefing on BIOCHEM’s business support toolbox. This suite of business tools can help evaluate a company’s potential to enter and succeed in the bio-based market and boost innovation.

The meeting will also give an overview of the current status of the bio-based market in Europe and support for bio-based regional networks across the EU. Further presentations will describe examples of best practice in the sector and examine a number of EU-funded INNOVA projects (BIOCHEM is funded under this European Commission scheme).

Venture capital networking
As well as expert presentations the Forum offers the chance to present to a number of venture capitalists and other industry investors. A set of six formal company presentation sessions are envisaged. In addition One2One meetings can be arranged between potential collaborators or investors throughout the event.

The full programme for the Milan BIOCHEM Accelerator Forum can be found here together with registration here.

More information on the BIOCHEM Accelerator event can be obtained from Julie Gruchy at Europe Unlimited.

BIOCHEM background
Bio-based products are made from renewable, biological raw materials such as plants and trees. They are typically sold into market sectors such as bio-plastics, bio-lubricants, surfactants, enzymes and pharmaceuticals. BIOCHEM aims to improve the innovation capacity of bio-based chemistry start-ups and SMEs. It provides a business support toolbox for entrepreneurs to assess their potential to enter the bio-based products market and to assist in boosting innovation capacity.

The BIOCHEM toolbox provides bio-based market information, individual audits, coaching, and business planning elements. To support the toolbox a European online partnering and innovation resources system to find the right research and business partners, test facilities and experts everywhere in Europe is also available.

LIFE-MED 2011
LIFE-MED 2011 is recognised as a reference point for Life Sciences in the Mediterranean region and has three components:

NUCE INTERNATIONAL - the international fair for the Nutraceutics, Cosmeceutics, Functional Foods & Drinks and Health Ingredients industry
BIOTECH - the international event and conference on biotechnologies
ALGAE EUROPE - the fair-conference on production technologies and industrial applications for algae culture.

FP 7 billion!

2011-07-19T14:29:00.006+02:00

Today (19 July) Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announced nearly €7 billion to kick-start innovation through research. This is the European Commission's biggest ever Research and Innovation funding package and covers the 2012 call for project proposals under the current EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7).

The funding boost (a 9% increase compared to the FP7 calls in 2011) shows that EU research funding is at the top of the European political agenda and is at the centre of a coherent innovation strategy: the Innovation Union.

The Commission adopted the 2012 work programme today (19 July) with most of the calls being formally launched tomorrow (20 July). Deadlines for application will be spread over the rest of 2011 and decisions on allocating funding will be taken in 2012. The work programme and full set of associated documents can be found here.

"Today, Europe is again showing its commitment to putting research and innovation at the top of the political agenda for growth and jobs," said Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn (above) at a press conference to launch the funding package. "EU-wide competition for these funds will bring Europe's best researchers and innovators together to tackle the biggest issues of our time, such as energy, food security, climate change and our ageing population. The Commission is proposing a significant increase in research and innovation funding for our Horizon 2020 programme post-2013 and I want to show taxpayers already with the calls we are announcing today our determination to get the best value for every euro."

The text of the Commissioner's speech is available here or you can watch it below.

R&I for growth and jobs
The main focus of the FP7 2012 calls is the integration of research with innovation to tackle societal challenges and create sustainable EU jobs and growth in the key technology markets of the future. The consequence of this investment is expected to be some 174000 jobs in the short-term and nearly 450000 jobs and nearly €80 billion in GDP growth over 15 years.

A key element will be the provision of more support to activities that help bridge the gap between research and the market, for example by demonstrating that new technologies have commercial potential or can work on a sufficiently large scale to be industrially viable. This market-linked approach is also central to the European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), set up under the Innovation Union action plan, that will be supported by FP7 projects.

In addition to the €7 billion allocated to conventional FP7 projects, some €1.6 billion will be available for calls associated with Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) such as EIPs, JTIs and other large scale initiatives.

Funding highlights
Funding headlines include:

€488 million for nanotechnologies (NMP) will focus on areas such as factories of the future, green cars and energy efficient buildings
Research and innovation for cleaner, safer and more efficient transport and mobility will get €313 million
€40 million is set aside for the "Smart Cities initiative" to help find more efficient ways to use energy and provide urban transport
€265 million is reserved for environment research to address major challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss or resource efficiency
€307 million to be invested in building a strong bio-economy that will improve production methods, create new industries and provide jobs
€656 million for health research (of which €220 million for healthy ageing challenges)
€1.3 billion for information and communication technology ICT (of which €240 million for healthy ageing challenges)
The European Research Council (ERC) get close to €1.6 billion including funding to bridge the gap between frontier research results and commercialisation under a “Proof of Concept” initiative
Around €900 million in support for researchers' mobility and careers will be provided through 'Marie Curie Actions' including €20 million for a pilot project to fund "European Industrial Doctorates", to stimulate entrepreneurship and cooperation between academia and companies
Finally, special attention will be given to SMEs, including a dedicated package of close to €1 billion

Get ready for SusChem Brokerage event 2011!

2011-07-13T14:35:00.003+02:00

SusChem is committed to helping you succeed in participating in EU Research and Innovation projects. With this in mind SusChem is organising its Annual Brokerage Event on September 14 2011 in Brussels. The event will give you the opportunity to present your project ideas and engage with possible collaborations in consortia.

The EU Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) is a key tool to enhance European research and innovation. The 2012 work programme and calls for proposals will be officially published on July 20 with Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announcing the details at a press conference at midday on 19 July.

The July call for FP7 will be the largest R&I funding exercise launched by the Commission with calls for proposals to fund European research and innovation, totalling around € 7 billion. The Commissioner plans to boost innovation through research with the announcement of the first calls for proposals since the adoption of the Innovation Union flagship and will give details of the main fields of research and innovation to be covered. The main focus of these work programmes is the integration of research and innovation. Particular emphasis has been placed on SMEs.

In it to win it
SusChem's Annual Brokerage Event will focus on this call and will be held on Monday, September 14 between 10:00 and 16:00 at the Hotel Silken Berlaymont, 11-19, Boulevard Charlemagne, 1000 Brussels.

Don’t miss this opportunity! First project ideas will be presented, and speed-dating sessions will be organised in order to discuss possible collaboration in consortia.

To be best prepared for the brokerage event, SusChem has already compiled an overview of the expected chemistry, industrial biotechnology and materials SusChem relevant calls of the following 2012 work programmes:

Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (NMP)

Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)

Energy

Environment

For more information visit the SusChem website and for an impression of last year's brokerage event see our report on the blog. The SusChem Brokerage Database is also available online to facilitate consortium building.

For more information on EU funding opportunities and partners searches, please contact either Ron Weerdmeester or Judith Spaltman at PNO Consultants.

FP7 PPPs: An EU R&I Success Story?

2011-07-13T13:51:00.003+02:00

This week (11 and 12 July) over 950 registered delegates met in Brussels to network, discuss past progress and future funding for the EU’s initial Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) on Factories of the Future (FoF), Energy Efficient Buildings (EeB) and the Green Car initiative in Brussels. The three PPPs seem to have worked well, increased industrial participation in FP7 and worked in a fast, efficient and flexible manner. More PPPs are planned as part of Horizon 2020.

The event held at the Charlemagne Building supported the preparation of proposals for the third tranche of cross-thematic coordinated calls by these research PPPs.

In his opening addresss Rudolf Strohmeier, Director-General of DG Research & Innovation, noted that €3.2 billion had been invested so far in the three existing PPP programmes, and a further €480 million of EU funding was available for the next call with deadline 1st December 2011. Projects responding to calls launched under the three PPPs have been characterised by significant industrial (including SME) participation compared to conventional FP7 projects.

Industry re-engaged
Massimo Mattucci speaking for the Factories of the Future PPP said that “Industry had re-engaged in FP7 through the PPPs” and that the PPP research roadmaps reflected industry needs.

Wolfgang Steiger of Volkswagen and the Green Cars initiative said that FP7 PPPs are “a real success story: an efficient, fast model that produces results.”

Jose-Lorenzo Valles from DG R&I endorsed the focus on industry in PPPs but stressed that the FP7 PPP calls were open to all. Overall the success rate for project proposals for PPP calls was higher (~20%) than for conventional FP7 projects. PPPs were of high added-value for competitiveness, more flexible (faster) than JTIs, and brought EC & industry together, with industry able to commit to long-term R&I investment.

Bruno Smets from Philips and EeB said PPPs were “not business as usual” They represent a true value chain approach. It was important to create a market and listen to the voice of the user. But improving the dissemination of programme results to whole value chain was very important.

Many speakers indicated that accurate measurement of the impact of the PPP work was important for the future. There was also a need to refine the governance of PPPs to allow for long term stability.

To coincide with the Information Days a new brochure has been published highlighting progress in the PPPs and including indicative information on the upcoming July 2011 calls for the FoF, EeB and Smart Cars PPPs.

Future of PPPs
Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn delivered the closing address at conference saying: "I am sure you will be very pleased to hear that the draft legislative proposal in preparation for Horizon 2020 will address the use of Public-Private Partnerships. It is important that there is a place for large-scale strategic actions such as PPPs with the critical mass to reach their objectives"

She also indicated how criteria for selecting the industry sectors that are most suitable for future PPPs are developing. Criteria should include:

Clear added value by acting at the European level

Demonstration of sufficient scale of impact on industrial competitiveness, sustainable growth and/or socio-economic issues

A long-term commitment from all parties based on a shared vision and clearly defined objectives

The scale of the resources involved in the proposal, and the ability to leverage additional investments in research and innovation

Clear defined roles for each of the partners and agreed key performance indicators

The full text of the Commissioner’s speech can be accessed here.

Herbert von Bose of DG Research had also underlined some essential characteristics for future PPPs. Commitment from industry was essential and the proposal had to be “more than just doing business together”. The Commission needed to easily understand what the ultimate goal of the PPP is – essentially what are the measurable economic or environmental impacts or objectives. PPPs need both a technology and a business roadmap. The critical question to answer is: “What does the proposed R&I investment (i.e. EU funding) bring to the citizen and society?”

Major funding boost for Horizon 2020 welcome

2011-07-01T18:25:00.003+02:00

Proposals for the European Union’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) 2014-2020 published this week include a significant boost in funding for research and innovation activities. The Horizon 2020 Framework Programme could be worth €80.2 billion if the European Commission submission gets through negotiations with other European Institutions intact.

This level of funding represents a 46% increase for Horizon 2020 compared to the budget for FP7 which is worth some € 56 billion for 2007 to 2013. In addition Horizon 2020 will be complemented by significant support from the EC Structural Funds.

Commenting on the budget proposals Ger Spork, SusChem coordinator at Cefic said: “SusChem and its stakeholders support the closer integration of research, development and innovation activities proposed for the new Horizon2020 programme. The boost to funding for the programme suggested in the draft EU budget for 2014-2020 is vital to ensure smart inclusive growth and maintain competitiveness.”

In a statement announcing the budget proposal, the Commission confirmed that the increase is meant to boost Europe’s economy and demonstrates continuing commitment to research, science and innovation.

"This is an anti-crisis budget, a pro-jobs budget and a budget for tackling our biggest challenges—things like climate change, energy and food security, health and our ageing population,” said Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research and Innovation. “It's a pro-growth budget and more growth means less austerity for less long.”

What is new for Research?
The Horizon 2020 programme will cover three existing research and innovation instruments: FP7, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the European Institute for Innovation and Technology. It will be closely linked to key sectoral policy priorities such as health, food security and the bio-economy, energy and climate change.

On the financing side, innovative financial instruments will help leveraging private investments. Public Private Partnerships, as well as Public to Public Partnerships, will be promoted. Funding schemes will be standardised and simplified. Likewise, there will be one single set of rules for participation, audit, support structures, dissemination of results and reimbursement schemes, across all funding schemes.

Budget negotiations
The budget proposal will now be passed on to the European Parliament and the European Council, which will have to approve or amend it. Negotiations between the Commission, Parliament will continue through 2012.

The MFF translates into financial terms the EU's political priorities for at least 5 years. It sets annual maximum amounts (ceilings) for EU expenditure as a whole and for the main categories of expenditure (headings). By specifying the spending limits for each category of expenditure, the MFF imposes budgetary discipline and ensures that the Union's expenditure develops in an orderly manner within the limits of its own resources and in line with Union's policy objectives. In addition, this system ensures a predictable inflow of resources for the Union's long-term priorities and gives greater certainty to beneficiaries of EU funds.

KETs key to EU innovation

2011-06-29T22:00:00.005+02:00

The final report of the High Level Group (HLG) on Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) was published late on Wednesday (28 June). This expert group was set up by the European Commission to examine how European industry can maintain or gain a competitive edge through deploying these industrial technologies of the future: micro- and nanoelectronics, advanced materials, industrial biotechnology, photonics, nanotechnology and advanced manufacturing systems.

SusChem co-founders Cefic and EuropaBio both had considerable input to the HLG discussions, support the report’s conclusions and will help bring to reality the recommendations. The report clearly highlights the vital role of sustainable chemistry and industrial biotechnology in furthering competitiveness and addressing the grand challenges facing the EU.

The main conclusions call on decision-makers to adopt radical policy objectives to retain critical capability and capacity in Europe through a single and comprehensive approach to KETs. In particular, the group recommends that the vital importance of KETs should be reflected in the structure and funding balance in the upcoming Horizon 2020 framework for research and innovation and in the priorities of the EU's future regional policy.

Innovation first
Launching the report EC Vice-President Tajani said: "Europe's innovation depends on the development and growth of Key Enabling Technologies. We need to focus our policies better and align them to create more synergies between our instruments to boost Europe's capabilities in the area of KETs."

Technological research and product demonstration projects should be given a high priority. Further recommendations cover the combination of funding mechanisms at EU and national level and a set of actions to enhance technological skills in Europe. An "in Europe first" Intellectual Property policy is called for and a monitoring mechanism to analyse market developments on KETs is also proposed.

The Commission will report back on the policy recommendations in the report in a communication scheduled for the end of 2011.

Gernot Klotz, SusChem board member and executive director of Cefic’s Research & Innovation group, commented: “The report gives a solid blueprint [on] how the entire value chain can be activated simultaneously, which includes not only end-user industries like cars and computer chip producers, but also considers value chain process and materials industries like chemicals.” This value chain approach is a key element in SusChem’s work on innovation issues.

Sustainable chemistry is at the root of the future manufacturing value chain. The report is also an important step towards EU 2020 policy goals for sustainable growth, including efficient use of water, energy storage, resource efficiency and health.

Klotz added: “Putting through these recommendations keeps industry on the front foot to exploit KETs quickly. The end game is a strengthened EU manufacturing base, including chemicals, that will produce lighter cars with longer lasting batteries, better medical products, and smarter ways to achieve the EU’s ambitious goals for more energy efficiency and lower CO2 emissions.”

Cefic, EuropaBio and SusChem are already working with Commission officials to ensure the role of sustainable chemistry in emerging technologies. Concrete proposals have been developed that provide solutions for resource industries, raw materials, water efficiency and smart cities involving the full value chain.

Recommendations
Launched in 2010 by European Commissioners Kroes, Geoghegan-Quinn and Tajani, the KET HLG (members pictured above) had three main objectives:

To assess the competitive situation of the relevant technologies in the EU and their contribution to address major societal challenges.

To analyse the available public and private research and development and innovation (R&D&I) capacities for KETs in the EU.

To propose specific policy recommendations for more effective industrial development and deployment of KETs in the EU.

The final report outlines the need for an integrated approach for all six KETs from ideas to marketable products, the need to establish combined funding mechanisms to promote KET R&D&I projects and finally a three pillar bridge model and strategy to enable KETs to pass over the so-called ‘valley of death’ from research to achieve marketable products and technologies.

Recommendations include the need for three separate stages to overcome this issue:

Technological research, consisting of taking advantage of European scientific excellence in transforming ideals from research into technologies competitive at a global level.

Product demonstration, in which exploitation of the KETs occurs to create innovative European product prototypes competitive at a global level.

Competitive manufacturing, allowing product prototypes duly validated during the demonstration phase to create and maintain in Europe attractive economic environments and globally competitive industries.

Combinations of KETs are embedded at the core of most advanced products, such as electric cars, mobile phones or a advanced medical analysis technology. For example, an electric car is a combination of advanced materials for batteries, microelectronics components for power electronics in order to reduce the weight of the car, photonics for low consumption lighting, industrial biotechnologies for low friction tyres and finally advanced manufacturing systems to produce electrical vehicles at a competitive cost.

Download the full report here.

Amsterdam hosts EFIB2011

2011-06-27T18:24:00.004+02:00

This, the fourth Annual European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology & Biobased Economy (EFIB2011), will reflect the growing context and significance of this sector. For environmental, political and economic security in Europe industry, policy-makers and academia must come together to provide viable bio-alternatives for materials, energy and products. Europe’s knowledge and infrastructure makes it uniquely positioned to lead the industrial biotechnology revolution and bring the bio-based economy to the mainstream. EFIB2011 is one of the leading conferences in this sector with high profile speakers and a comprehensive exhibition.

EFIB 2011 will take place on 18-20 October 2011 at the Novotel Amsterdam City Hotel and is organised by SusChem co-founders EuropaBio, in partnership with IntertechPira.

EFIB 2011 will feature over 60 speakers in two plenary and six parallel tracks evaluating the evolving context and growing significance of the industrial biotechnology sector. Two plenary sessions will discuss timely topics including the role of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy reform in the bioeconomy, the bioplastics markets, the use of the bio-based products by mainstream consumer brands, and the utilisation of biofuels by the aviation industry. SusChem’s Peter Nagler of Evonik will contribute to the closing plenary session.

The closing plenary keynote speech will be delivered by Dr Roger Wyse from the leading biotechnology investment firm, Burrill & Company, who will outline challenges to financing a global biobased economy and opportunities for emerging markets.

The six parallel conference tracks cover research, the NGO perspective, innovation, strategy, policy, financing and business in sets of three each day. The Research session will look into breakthroughs in industrial biotechnology and biorefinery research.

The NGO discussion session will involve representatives from NGOs, industry and policy makers and will discuss how sustainability can be measured, visualised and implemented in sourcing and the value chain. It will provide a platform for NGOs involved in the development of policy in these fields to express their views and positions on where the challenges, threats and opportunities lie for Europe.

Innovation
EFIB 2011 will feature two Innovation sessions, one on each day, and will examine different innovative biobased products. SusChem board members Marcel Wubbolts of DSM and Wim Soetaert of Ghent University will contribute to the innovation session on the second day.

The Strategy track will discuss the importance of improving awareness and understanding of the bio-economy through targeted communications. Five presentations will be followed by a panel debate on the subject of 'Communicating the Knowledge-Based Bio-economy (KBBE)'.

The Policy, Financing & Business session will explore how to profitably develop biobased products from feedstock to end product.

Joanna Dupont-Inglis, Industrial Biotechnology Director at EuropaBio says: "We are pleased to bring EFIB to Amsterdam this year and to organise it in co-operation with NIABA, the Netherlands' Biotechnology Industry Association. Although EFIB focuses largely on European industry, it has captured the interest from attendees around the world, including North America, Asia and Australia, which we are delighted about. We aim to continue attracting a truly international audience to help foster global cooperation."

More information
Full details of all presentations can be found on the event's official website and the conference brochure can be downloaded here.

EuropaBio and Cefic members are eligible for a discounted registration for EFIB2011 as members of partnering organisations. Details on how to register for the conference can be found here.

Plant-based Chemistry in Paris

2011-06-27T12:30:00.004+02:00

The first European Congress on plant-based chemistry will take place in Paris on September 5 – 7. Plant-based chemistry constitutes a major avenue for progress in developing sustainable chemistry in Europe. Plant-based chemistry could enable a significant alternative feedstock resource from within the European agricultural community.

The two-day congress 'Plant-based Chemistry for 2020' will take place in the Maison de la Chimie in Paris and will welcome some 400 delegates representing the main plant-based chemistry players (including academic researchers, industry representatives, policymakers and venture capital providers) in Europe with the focus on achievements, challenges and opportunities for this field.

On the first day participants will discuss the state of play in biorefinery concepts from a number of perspectives in the morning, and assess the market for plant-based bioproducts in 2020 in the afternoon.

Policy and impact
On September 6 the programme will look at European policy statements and their likely impact by 2020 during the morning sessions. This session will include a contribution from SusChem on its position on the Knowledge-based Bioeconomy from SusChem board member Marcel Wubbolts.

The afternoon session will look at incentives and regulation and also feature the 2011 awards ceremony for the Agrobiobase bio economy competition.

In addition technical visits to a number of company facilities are possible on Wednesday September 8.

More details of the programme can be found here and details of the registration proceedure here.

The congress is co-organised by the Association Chimie du Vegetal (ACDV), Axelera, the European Renewable Resources and Materials Association (ERRMA), the Germany-based Agency for Renewable Resources (FNR), the French Industries and Agro-Resources cluster (IAR), the UK’s National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials (NNFCC) and the Union des industries Chimiques (UIC) – the French chemical industry body.

FP7 PPP Info Days announced

2011-06-21T20:12:00.006+02:00

A two-day information event on FP7 Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) calls on the Energy-efficient Buildings, Factories of the Future and Green Cars initiatives will be held in Brussels on 11-12 July 2011.

The event to be held at the Charlemagne Building will support the preparation of proposals for the third tranche of cross-thematic coordinated calls by these research PPPs. Delegates will hear about the proposed research areas, conditions for participation and future priorities of the PPPs.

The event will also host formal and informal brokerage and networking opportunities.

Details of the event programme can be found here and online registration can be accessed here. Registration will close on 5 July.

SusChem News hopes to be reporting from the conference.

Horizon 2020

2011-06-21T19:01:00.006+02:00

"Horizon 2020" has topped the poll of the short-listed names for the future EU-funding programme for research and innovation.

Horizon 2020 received 3055 votes, with runner-up Imagine 2020 getting 2785 and Discover 2020 coming in third with 2478.

The full name that will be part of the legislative proposal at the end of 2011 for the new programme will therefore be: "Horizon 2020 - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation".

Two nominators of the winning name Marcela Endlova, a teacher from the Czech Republic, and Beata Zyngier, also a teacher, from Poland will get to meet Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn at the European Innovation Convention in Brussels in December.

Announcing the winning name Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn said: "The new name is an important symbol of a new departure and a new adventure. Horizon 2020 is not just a new name for the same Framework Programme. This will be a smarter way to support researchers and innovators in Europe – so as to further boost excellence and to help ensure that good ideas reach the market and generate sustainable economic growth and new jobs. Research and innovation funding will focus more clearly on addressing global challenges. Needless red tape will be cut out and participation made simpler."

Draft 2012 FP7 Industrial Technologies Call Available

2011-06-17T10:43:00.005+02:00

The European Commission has published a draft working paper on the likely calls for the 21012 FP7 programme in Industrial Technologes (aka NMP or Nanotechnology and nanosciences, knowledge-based multifunctional Materials and new Production processes and devices).

The current orientation document outlines proposed priorities for the 2012 NMP programme. It is expected that the publication date for all call documents including the final work programme will be on 20 July.

Innovation Union Information and Intelligence system launched

2011-06-15T21:29:00.005+02:00

The European Commission's Joint Research Centre (JRC) has just launched the Innovation Union Information and Intelligence system (I3S) as a web-based platform for all Innovation Union stakeholders.

This web-based platform gathers information on each of the 34 commitments made in the Innovation Union Communication published in October 2010. These commitments include crucial issues for innovation such as e-skills, access to finance, a viable and economic EU patent, eco-innovation or joint public procurements.

At the core of the I3S is a searchable repository of detailed information on each of the 34 Commitments. For each of these, a dedicated section of the site sets out:

the key dimensions of challenges faced

the objectives in tackling these challenges

the approach planned to meet these challenges

Key milestones along the way are presented, highlighting the achievements made and specific events, publications and other activities planned.

Background intelligence
Complementing this information, the system provides more detailed background intelligence information relating to each commitment. These facilitate further exploration of the key issues addressed, and provide additional supporting data and analytical perspectives.

The portal aims to ensure that all stakeholders are well informed on the implementation of the commitments by providing easy access to up to date and comprehensive information.

It is planned that the I3S site will be complemented by the launch of a web-based portal on research and innovation policies in EU Member States, Associated Countries and a number of third countries.

State of the (Innovation) Union

2011-06-14T16:44:00.005+02:00

Last week (June 8) the European Commission published a massive report on the state of innovation in the EU and its 27 Member States. The Innovation Union Competitiveness Report 2011 weighs in at several hundred pages, but a more digestable Executive Summary is also available.

In addition, individual country profiles can be accessed via the report's webpage. To be published every two years, the Innovation Union Competitiveness Report will contribute to the Europe 2020 Strategy by providing an in-depth analysis covering the main features of an efficient research and innovation system. The report replaces the former Science, Technology and Competitiveness Report.

Key findings
The report highlights the fact that the EU's innovation performance needs major improvements in many areas if the Europe 2020 strategy is to deliver smart sustainable growth.

Europe needs more and "smarter" investment in both public and private research and development. More research cooperation within the EU and internationally is needed, along with better use of research results, in particular a stronger, cheaper EU intellectual property regime is needed. Education systems need to be adapted to business innovation needs and innovative and fast-growing SME's need more encouragement.

"This Report underlines that the road to the Innovation Union is long and challenging, with big obstacles along the way. But it confirms that the EU has agreed the right policies to get to the end of that road. Putting the Innovation Union into practice at European and national levels is an economic 'must', as important for sustainable growth as sorting out public finances," said Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn at the launch of the report.

Worrying facts
Some disturbing trends and data are revealed by the report. In 2008, 24% of the total world R&D expenditure was performed in the EU declining from 29% in 1995. Relative to GDP, business invests twice as much in R&D in Japan or in South Korea as it does in Europe.

The development of highly-skilled people needs to be better matched with the needs of business. Only 46% of EU researchers work in the business sector compared to 80% in the US.

Weak framework conditions prevent knowledge being transformed into marketable products and services. Although the EU is the primary producer of peer-reviewed scientific publications in the world (29% in 2009) the rate of growth of Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) patent applications in Japan and South Korea is almost double that of the EU.

Shockingly, half of EU Member States do not produce high-tech European Patent Office (EPO) patents at all. The relatively high cost of filing and maintaining a patent in Europe is a clear barrier to successful innovation in Europe. It is estimated that an SME must spend €168000 to obtain and maintain patent protection in all 27 EU Member States. This compares to only €4000 for similar protection in the United States!

Voting time for FP successor

2011-06-14T15:53:00.005+02:00

You have until 17:30 Brussels time on Friday 17 June to register your vote for the three short-listed names for the next European Commission programme on research, development and innovation.

The three names were announced by research commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn (below) at the end of the Common Strategic Framework (CSF) conference on Friday (June 10). The conference was held to discuss the public consultation on the Green Paper on future research and innovation programmes, to which more than 2,000 responses were submitted.

Out of the 1600 suggestions received, the European Commission chose the following trio as candidate titles for its next research funding programme, due to start in 2014.

Discover 2020

Horizon 2020

Imagine 2020

The final public choice will be announced around June 20. You can vote here now.

Resounding support
The conference and consultation showed a resounding public backing for the Commission's Green Paper proposal to bring research, development and innovation under one unified framework. The Commission will work to design the future research and innovation programme in the light of the consultation responses between now and the autumn.

Some main messages from the public consultation were:

Strong support for bringing research and innovation closer together to enhance the impact of EU funding

Simplification of processes should be a top priority

EU funding for research and innovation should be directed towards major societal challenges

Successful elements of the Framework Programmes (European Research Council, Marie Curie programmes, themed collaborative research) should remain as core elements

Funding calls should be less prescriptive and allow room for smaller projects and consortia

Support should be available for all stages in the innovation/ value chain using appropriate instruments

Enabling easier access by SMEs to EU research and innovation funding is important

Basic and applied research should work (and be funded) together

You can read the European Commission analysis of public consultation here.

Cefic Responsible Care Awards 2011

2011-06-09T18:09:00.005+02:00

The closing date for entries to the Cefic Responsible Care Awards 2011 is fast approaching. The final date for reciept of entries is 24 June.

The awards are open to companies to showcase their projects or achievements under Responsible Care - the chemical industry's commitement to sustainability - and share their effective and innovative approaches. In celebration of the International Year of Chemistry 2011, a Special Award is dedicated to outstanding community outreach projects. Business federations are eligible to receive this Special Award.

High recognition
The Awards will be presented by the Cefic President during the Global Chemical Industry European Convention in Madrid on 30 September 2011. Winners will be invited to attend the event and receive their Awards. Award winners will feature in a Cefic film that is widely used by Cefic at conferences, on YouTube and on the Cefic website. You can watch the 2010 Award winners film here! All entries commended by the independent jury will be published in Cefic’s Annual Report on Responsible Care and on the Cefic website.

Easy to apply
Just fill in the application form on the Cefic website, submit a short project summary on one page and add any further documentation available. For more information read the application form or contact Bernhard Thier, Manager Responsible Care at Cefic.

Meet our Innovation Managers

2011-06-08T19:13:00.006+02:00

Cefic has recently welcomed two new members to its Research and Innovation team who will both play a significant role in SusChem’s development of its EIP/PPP proposals. Many SusChem stakeholders will have met Antonia Morales Perez and Ed d’Hooghe at the Amsterdam Stakeholder event, or via various SusChem workgroups, but for those who haven’t yet met them we profile our two new Innovation Managers below. Welcome!

Antonia
Before joining Cefic, Antonia Morales Perez (right) was Technical Service and Development Manager at Repsol’s Polyolefins Business Unit. Antonia’s career at Repsol, the Spanish energy and chemicals company, has focused on identification of new market needs and business opportunities including close monitoring of market trends and solutions.

Prior to her position in Polyolefins, Antonia was PE Film and EVA Copolymers TS&D Manager where she was responsible for product portfolio development and technical support to customers. Previous roles included technical positions working with EVA Copolymers and Polypropylene Injection moulding. In 2004 she was “Transition Team” leader for Repsol during the acquisition process of a Portuguese Petrochemical Site from Borealis.

Antonia has been extremely active in national and international industry representative bodies including ISO. From 2006-2009 she was chair of the International Committee of Plastics for Agriculture (CIPA). Antonia has also been a long-term member of the Spanish Committee for Plastics in Agriculture (CEPLA) including serving as its Secretary General and Chairperson.

Antonia obtained a degree in Biology from the Universidad Complutense Madrid before taking a Master in Science and Technology of Polymers at CSIC – Madrid. She also studied Business Administration at the IESE Business School in Madrid.

Antonia’s role in Cefic includes responsibility for the Innovation Union Flagship PPP/EIP projects on Raw Materials for a Modern Society and the Water Efficient Europe proposal.

Ed
Ed d’Hooghe (left) will be responsible for driving innovation activities around the Innovation Union Flagship PPP/EIP projects on Sustainable Technologies by the Process Industry (previously known as Resource Efficiency in the Process Industry) and the Smart Cities initiative.

Ed worked in various customer interface and R&D roles for The Dow Chemical Company before the move to Cefic. He joined ABS product R&D in 1990 and moved to Appliances and Consumer Goods in 1991. In 1994 he took on a new role focussing on new application and product development for TPU and ETPU markets which led to the development of various patent protected technologies. In 2000 Ed was named Global Technology Leader for the FULCRUM Thermoplastic Composites business and in 2001 he transferred from The Netherlands to Texas to build a new market development and production facility. In 2003 he returned to Europe to take on the leadership of the automotive EU TS&D department – a role which was later expanded to include global leadership of the automotive plastics value growth team. In recent years Ed took on additional assignments as Global Composites Platform Leader with the mandate to define a participation strategy for this market.

Ed received an M.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from Technical University Eindhoven. He has been a recipient of the Dow 'Bob Cramer' Developmental Scientist award for 'Excellence in Technical Development' in 1998 and the 2000 Dow European Scientist Award. He is also a certified Six Sigma ‘Black Belt’.

International regulation key to nanotech growth

2011-06-08T18:56:00.003+02:00

SusChem board member Gernot Klotz of Cefic R&I highlighted the need for a coherent approach to international regulation for nanotechnologies at the EU-US High Level Regulatory Cooperation Forum in Brussels today (8 June).

The event, co-organised by BusinessEurope and the US Chamber of Commerce, also involved the EU Commission and the Transatlantic Business Dialogue - the main business voice with the U.S .Government and the European Union on the transatlantic economic relationship.

Dr. Klotz made the opening statement and outlined the business perspective in a panel discussion on nanotechnologies to which US and EU regulators then responded. He is the coordinator for High Level Group on Key Enabling Technologies working group on nanotechnology.

Follow the CSF Conference via the Web

2011-06-08T17:45:00.007+02:00

This Friday’s (June 10) conference on the Common Strategic Framework (CSF) for EU Research and Innovation is taking place in the Charlemagne building in Brussels. The all-day meeting hosted by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (below) will present the first results of the public consultation on the Green Paper on the CSF. The Commissioner will also announce the winner of the competition to propose a catchy name for the future CSF that will bring together all EU research and innovation funding.

Registration for the meeting closed awhile ago due to oversubscription, however the conference will be webstreamed live and the final programme can be found here.

The soon-to-be-renamed Common Strategic Framework will, from 2014, cover the successor to the Framework Programme for Research (FP7), the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP) and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) with a set of coherent goals and shared strategic objectives. This will create a coherent set of instruments along the whole innovation chain from basic research to the market. The CSF will also feature far-reaching simplification of procedures and rules.

The conference will feature high-level speakers from the European Commission, science organisations, universities, entrepreneurs and governments from across Europe and beyond and will wrap up the public consultation on the Green Paper, present the results of the consultation and focus on how best to support research and innovation in Europe going forward. Leading industrialists, researchers and politicians will highlight the critical importance for research and innovation as a major component of the next EU budget round.

The meeting opens at 9h15 on Friday. Edited video highlights are likely to be available sometime after the meeting.

ENF2011 - a Snapshot on EU nano innovation

2011-05-31T13:05:00.004+02:00

EuroNanoForum 2011 (ENF2011) saw some 1200 members of the nanotechnology community from over 50 countries gather in Budapest at the end of May. Presentations over three days (including various satellite events) showed how nanotechnology is already addressing the grand challenges that face Europe and the whole world. Numerous examples of cross-disciplinary, cross-sector, and of course cross-border research and collaboration were shown. In European nanotechnology - cooperation and collaboration is the order of the day.

It is clear that nanotechnology is the key enabling technology that underpins a wide range of other enabling technologies and processes. In fact the term nanotechnology covers a wide and diverse family of technologies and processes that will and are already making an impact on industry and society at large.

This family of technologies continues to grow. For example the opportunities that are emerging from research into applications for graphene are quite remarkable – and could usher in the end of the silicon age and open a new age of carbon-based electronics.

In fact it is easy to be carried away at a conference like ENF2011. Presentations at this conference have shown that nanotechnology can enable the blind to see, the deaf to hear, and bring cheap, sustainable power amongst many other miraculous possibilities in fields from medicine to the environment.

Innovative, safe
However to ensure that this European investment in research yields a European dividend in terms of growth and competitiveness requires successfully transfer to industrial level – selling nano-enabled products to the mass market. This is the real challenge and a vital challenge for our continuing prosperity.

I could worry about the fact that many presentations showed excellent examples of EU research outcomes but – for example – Japanese examples of near – or in the market products. Europe must do better on commercialisation and retention of IPR. This is our most important challenge going forward. Hopefully the instruments being developed for the Common Strategic Framework, and other policy initiatives, will assist this process.

We also need to ensure that nano is safe and seen to be safe. The meetings of the Nanosafety cluster projects at Budapest showed how important this is and that all aspects are being addressed.

The number of nanotech products that are in - or about to enter the market – increase almost daily and this means that conclusions on international regulatory and standardisation issues are becoming increasingly urgent.

And of course effective communication of the benefits and risks of nanotechnology is necessary. Fortunately the numerous Nanotechnology communication initiatives at ENF2011 show that this area is also being fully addressed and making an effective impact. Of particular interst was the OpenLabs concept pioneered in the NanoToTouch project. This brought working nano scientists and their laboratories into a public space in three science museums across Europe and allowed direct interaction with interested citizen 'on the job'.

Pictures from Budapest

2011-05-30T23:26:00.007+02:00

The EuroNanoForum 2011 event is in full swing. The weather in Budapest is glorious but with four parallel conference sessions plus other workshops and events delegates have not had any much time to appreciate the weather.

The event is taking place at the Budapest Congress and World Trade Centre.

In parallel with the conference there is an extensive exhibition area.

After a hard day at the conference on Monday delegates were able to relax at the Budapest Palace of Miracles - a major new science centre in the centre of town - in the evening.

SusChem.Be has the answers

2011-05-30T22:46:00.005+02:00

SusChem Flanders and Essenscia have launched a website dedicated to promote sustainable chemistry and help companies with their questions on sustainable chemistry.

The 'SUSCHEManswers.be' site has just gone live in Belgium!

Essenscia, the industrial federation for chemistry and life sciences in Belgium, is committed to sustainable chemistry and wants to help Belgian organisations that use or produce chemicals with their transition to sustainable chemistry.

SUSCHEManswers is a joint initiative of Essenscia and SUSCHEM Flanders to enable cooperation between external partners with expertise in different complementary aspects of sustainable chemistry. The aim being to help organisations with their sustainable chemistry questions.

As well as promoting interesting links and events the platform allows users to pose questions related to sustainable chemistry, free of charge and anonymously.

Knowledge organisations that want to cooperate as a partner with this intitiative should contact Dr. Saskia Walraedt at SusChem Flanders.

SusChem at EuroNanoForum 2011

2011-05-29T20:58:00.003+02:00

SusChem will be reporting from the EuroNanoForum 2011 taking place in Budapest 30-31 May and also take a look at the NanoFutures session on Wednesday morning (June 1).

Over 1000 participants are expected at this biannual event. The 2011 event promises to be the biggest so far and the European nanotechnology event this year. It will reveal how nanotechnology can contribute to addressing the grand societal challenges of our time. The event covers research breakthroughs, industrial innovations and societal aspects of nanotechnology.

In addition to plenary sessions, four parallel conference sessions will cover the impact of nanotechnology on energy, health, electronics, the evironment and biotechnology amongst very many more sessions in an extensive programme. A large exhibition is also part of ENF2011.

The NanoFutures initiative brings together an number of technology platforms (including SusChem) to assess how nanotechnologies can support sustainable development.

You can follow SusChem reports from ENF2011 via the SusChem twitter stream http://twitter.com/suschem and we will also post blogs from Budapest.

SusChem in the Sunday Times

2011-05-27T16:00:00.007+02:00

Chemical innovation and SusChem are highlighted in a special supplement that is being published and distributed with The Sunday Times this weekend (29 May). The chemical innovation article features an interview with SusChem board member Gernot Klotz of Cefic.

The Sunday Times is one of the UK’s leading quality newspapers with a weekly circulation of around 1.2 million copies. The supplement looks at UK and European innovation under the title Ingenious Britain.

The special magazine is introduced by Vince Cable MP, UK Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills and contains interviews with a variety of personalities from the innovation scene including Martin Shuurmans of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) and Andrew Wyckoff of the OECD amongst many others.

The future of science-business cooperation and knowledge transfer are subjects that are also covered through contributions from leading European organisations in this area. And there are case studies of companies using innovative approaches to improve healthcare, manufacturing, IT and communications, financial and other services. Further case studies cover universities and research institutes making dramatic improvements in many research areas.

If you cannot get a copy of the Sunday Times – or your local international newspaper seller doesn’t get the supplements – Ingenious Britain should be available online from Sunday, 29 May at its dedicated website: http://www.ingeniousbritain.eu.

Amsterdam videos on SusChem YouTube

2011-05-26T15:49:00.004+02:00

During the recent Amsterdam SusChem Stakeholder meeting our media partners for the event, ICIS Chemical Business, made video interviews with many of the participants. Three of these videos have now been uploaded onto the SusChem YouTube channel for wider distribution.

The three videos available on the SusChem YouTube channel are:

• SusChem board members Peter Nagler of Evonik and Gernot Klotz from Cefic discussing the role SusChem can play in EIPs.

• Marcel Wubbolts of DSM talking about the importance of the bio-economy to Europe.

• Klaus Sommer of Bayer describing how work on one of the SusChem inspired EIPs/PPPs on resource efficiency in the process industry is progressing.

The videos are also accessible via the YouTube sidebar on this blog.

Further coverage of the event can be found via the special issue of ICIS Interactive published earlier in the week.

We hope you enjoy our coverage of the Amsterdam event! You can keep up to date on all SusChem activities by:

• Following this news blog
• Visiting the SusChem website
• Following @SusChem on Twitter

The Suschem Amsterdam Stakeholder event was an offical event of the International Year of Chemistry 2011.

Green Week 2011 - Resource Efficiency

2011-05-24T09:12:00.011+02:00

The 11th edition of Green Week, the biggest annual conference on European environment policy, kicks off today (24 May) and runs until Friday (27 May) at the Charlemagne building in Brussels. The 2011 theme is “Resource Efficiency – Using less, living better”.

Resource efficiency is, of course, a topic of major interest to SusChem and the technology platform will be contributing to a Green Week session on "Green Chemistry finding Green Solutions" organised by The European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS). The session takes place on Thursday 26 May from 11:30 to 13:00 in the Salon Rouge

One of the goals of the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC2011) is to underline the critical role chemistry plays in a sustainable future. Resource efficiency in Europe means not only making production as sustainable as possible, it means making consumption as sustainable as possible.

Roadmap
EuCheMS is preparing a Roadmap for the Chemical Sciences, the roadmap identifies major societal challenges and outlines critical gaps in knowledge that are limiting technological progress. The Roadmap then identifies where the chemical sciences have a role to play in meeting these challenges. The event will look at the positive contribution of green chemistry to improving resource efficiency and innovation in Europe.

Prof Michael Roeper of BASF will describe EuCheMS's Roadmap for the Chemical Sciences, with an emphasis on the section dedicated to Resource Efficiency and will highlight how SusChem is contributing to a more sustainable future - in particular through its proposals for European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs).

Other speakers include Dr Wim Thielemans of the University of Nottingham who will present the principles of Green Chemistry and Dr Mike Pitts from the UK's Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network (CIKTN) and a member of SusChem UK, who will focus on how product and process innovation can deliver sustainable growth.

Exhibition
In parallel to the four-day conference Green Week hosts an extensive exhibition. SusChem partner organsiations taking stands this year include Cefic, EuropaBio and the Water Technology Platform (WssTP).

Cefic will also highlight resource efficiency from the perspective of the chemical industry during Green Week, describing the challenges and opportunities presented by the global need for a more efficient use of energy and natural resources.

The Green Week conference and exhibition is organised by the European Commission and is open to the public. Full programme details can be found on the conference website and over 5000 participants have registered for the week.

ICIS Interactive - SusChem Special

2011-05-23T21:16:00.017+02:00

A special issue of ICIS Interactive hosted and edited by John Baker, one of ICIS Chemical Business' most experienced editors, has just been published. This digital newsletter features images and viewpoints from the SusChem Stakeholder event in Amsterdam.

The publication covers all aspects of the SusChem Stakeholder event from 17 May and encompasses articles on the how, why and when of European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), SusChem's goals and current work in this area, and gives insights on many other aspects of SusChem's programme.

A series of video interviews are featured including:

Waldemar Kütt from Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn’s cabinet explaining European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs).

SusChem board members Peter Nagler and Gernot Klotz discussing the role SusChem can play in EIPs.

Gerard van Harten from Dow outlining why industry needs to get involved.

Marcel Wubbolts of DSM talking about the importance of the bio-economy to Europe.

Nelo Emerencia of VNCI and SusChem Nederland explaining why SusChem national platforms have a key role to play.

Klaus Sommer of Bayer describing how work on one of the SusChem inspired EIPs on resource efficiency in the process industry is progressing.

The Amsterdam event panel discussion and closing remarks are also covered by photo features.

To access this ICIS Interactive Special either click on the cover image above or click here. The ICIS Interactive will then open in a new window.

Amsterdam Event in Pictures

2011-05-20T18:46:00.009+02:00

A small selection of images from the SusChem Amsterdam event.

SusChem board members and event organisers relax during the evening before the main event on a trip around Amsterdam's famous canals.

Waldemar Kütt from Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's cabinet makes a point on EIPs during his plenary speech.

Renée Bergkamp, Director-General of Enterprise & Innovation, in the Netherlands Economic Affairs ministry, described how the Dutch government supports chemical innovation.

Gerard van Harten, CEO of Dow Benelux, being interviewed by John Baker of ICIS for ICIS Interactive.

During lunch delegates could view the exhibition 'Our Children on Water' organised by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

The Resource Efficiency in the Process Industry workshop gets under way in the afternoon.

Many more photos will be available via the ICIS Interactive report available soon.

Amsterdam EIP Workshop Outcomes

2011-05-19T19:15:00.011+02:00

The four European Innovation Partnership (EIP) workshops that took place at the Amsterdam SusChem event each evaluated the status of an individual EIP proposal, looked at possible targets and held an open and dynamic discussion on the approach and content required. The outcomes of the workshops will be incorporated into initial draft programme proposals.

SusChem coordinator Ger Spork described the workshops as “excellent dialogue sessions” and said that initial drafting of a position paper on the four EIP proposals should now be completed by the beginning of June.

Brief outcomes from the four workshops are given below with contact emails for the relevant SusChem Programme Manager. Use the links to jump to your area of interest. The four EIP areas discussed were:

Smart Cities

Raw Materials for a Modern Society

Resource Efficiency in the Process Industry

Water-efficient Europe

Brief descriptions of the EIP areas can also be found on this previous blog posting.

Smart Cities
Initial discussion in this workshop focused on some fundamental questions: What is a Smart City? Are we talking EU cities or global cities? What are specific areas for R&I for cities? Targets for CO₂ emissions/ energy have already been set by politicians. Perhaps we need to step back from societal challenges to evaluate what the societal needs of big cities are? There is a clear need to better understand and define what a Smart City is and therefore what its innovation needs might be.

In addition, there are already many ongoing projects in this area that we need to learn from. Some 2000 cities in the EU have produced a written agenda or plan to curb emissions and/ or reduce energy use etc. What would be the unique selling point for an EIP: to change public (and private) mentalities?

It was felt that the Smart City proposal is microcosm of all the other challenges facing society. The Energy Efficiency in Buildings (EeB) Public Private Partnership (PPP) already had ~50% industrial membership. Likely technical issues were similar to those in EeB – such as energy storage and refurbishment – but the main challenges are not just technical they were also societal.

It was felt that the chemical industry would not sustain a significant lasting effect in this area without a defined potential to demonstrate technology. This meant working with a small number of cities that want to host demonstration projects. A final issue was the idea that not all steps in the value chain may be profitable in this area. This meant that a new ‘holistic’ profit sharing business plan would be needed that looked at the value chain from an integrated perspective – not an isolated link-by-link approach.

SusChem contact: Ed D’Hooghe
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Raw Materials for a Modern Society
Five work packages have already been determined for the Raw Materials EIP proposal; two of which are technical areas and three are largely policy action areas. The three mainly policy areas are Regulatory, knowledge, and infrastructure; Regulatory aspects recycling and excellence; and international cooperation.

The first technical work package covers new technologies for supply, extraction and recycling. A list of critical raw materials had been drawn up and a proposed chapter structure for the positioning paper drawn up. The second technical area/ work package is innovative technologies and solutions for substitution of critical raw materials. Both technical areas called for substantial input from the chemical and process industries.

The position paper should cover the case for raw materials substitution highlighting where substitution is necessary versus where substitution is possible. In terms of substitution there was a need to focus on areas where recycling was not a viable option. Principles for developing substitution material were needed to ensure principles no competition for supply, over demand on building blocks and identifying bottlenecks. One outcome was the need for additional input from industry to the recycling work package.

The workshop concluded that there was a need to focus on criteria for prioritisation. Criteria included scale and urgency (i.e. critical materials with few possible alternatives), the timeliness for delivery of new materials (to market), and the EU competitiveness position in terms of any technical lead and the market need for the material. Two initial potential priority candidates were noted: gallium and indium.

SusChem contact: Antonia Morales Perez
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Resource Efficiency in the Process Industry
This workshop was clearly the most popular at the SusChem event claiming well over 50% of the registered delegates. The proposed EIP has four themes: Feedstock; processing; products that enable better efficiency downstream; and recycling. Major topics debated in the workshop included what was the best methodology to measure sustainability in order to select appropriate projects? Was life cycle analysis (LCA) appropriate? It was concluded that a review of all current methods was needed with attention given to availability of good quality data and standardisation.

Raw materials sources were considered in terms of material cascades, biomass, and alternative renewable feedstocks (such as CO₂). It was noted that it is difficult to achieve balance volumes in cascades and in some cases recycle is a viable alternative to a cascade approach. There is a need to consider optimal resource use: not just a biomass/ biorefinery approach.

A big question was ‘How to prioritise?’ There are many topics that could be covered in the programme. There was a need to develop a broad appealing programme but with a focus on areas and governance structure to set and avoid overlap with other initiatives. Another big question was how to involve SMEs. This could be difficult but the PPP instrument can offer opportunities. Industry can tailor opportunities that are more appropriate to SMEs and/ or streamline tendering and look at current best practise – for example the SusChem inspired BIOCHEM project. Also SusChem national platforms offered routes to engage with the SME community and that special attention should be given to entrepreneurs.

Other conclusions were that the EIP programme needed to show completeness and coherence. Targets needed to be measurable and should be therefore use aggregated results that were publicly available. One target should be to increase the fraction of bio-based feedstock used in the EU to 20%. It was noted that no additional stakeholder engagement was required for this EIP proposal at present.

SusChem contact: Ed D’Hooghe
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Water-efficient Europe
The objective of this proposed EIP is to boost innovation in the water sector? And why water? Because industrial water use (at 55%) is the major user of this increasingly scarce resource compared to urban use (16%) and agriculture (29%). A primary objective would be to integrate water management in these three use areas. At the heart of the Water-efficient Europe EIP would be cooperation with different sectors, and a comprehensive look within regions to find best practices for reuse of water.

Delegates thought that the EIP needed to be aware of too broad an approach and to focus on those areas in which the chemical sector is clearly already engaged. There was also a need to be aware of sustainable, multi-disciplinary, focussed solutions that are based on efficiency indicators. It was felt that the role of sectors outside the chemical industry was extremely important especially in terms of concepts of cascade use of water.

Regulation and standardisation had potential roles as stimulators of innovation and change in this area. It was important to stress targets and goals where the sector can be challenged, but bring its expertise as a global technology leader to the issue. SME involvement was important but problematic.

SusChem contact: Antonia Morales Perez
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An Excellent Stakeholder Dialogue

2011-05-17T15:10:00.019+02:00

The 9th SusChem Stakeholder in Amsterdam was a dynamic event that again showed SusChem to be the European network for sustainable chemistry in Europe. Delegates discussed and contributed to SusChem's plans for European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs - see separate report) and caught up on other SusChem developments.

SusChem board member Peter Nagler (right) of Evonik summed up the event saying "We have had a good and interesting day, a lively discussion and good ideas on how to drive things forward."

With respect to the EIPs he noted a key word: Simplicity. "It is a challenge to all of us to build a saleable story, to get better understanding by all stakeholders - indeed all Europeans to actively support these critically important initiatives," Nagler said.

Commitment
Nagler also stated that the chemical industry is fully engaged with the EIP task as are the European Commission. He sensed differing opinions in the various EU Member States on detail, but all welcomed the EU2020 Agenda where it engaged with national priorities. It was likely that each country would assess their commitment to each EIP on a case-by-case basis.

But there was a need for speed and focus to achieve the ambitions of the EU2020 Agenda. The initial task was to build a common understanding of the challenges in order to build common targets. Nagler speculated if technology platform can change mentalities? In particular to promote entrepreneurship in Europe - is it a mindset or can we educate people to be entrepreneurs? "In any case SusChem must promote further dialogue with stakeholders and the wider society," he stated.

EIPs: work in progress
The Commission's EU2020 implementation process was evolving and the four SusChem work groups' activities were ongoing. The aim to achieve concrete plans by mid-2011 had been pushed forward by the workshops in Amsterdam.

The key messages that chemistry and the chemical industry are solution provider was loud and clear. The essential role of SusChem in EIPs was to align stakeholders and drive deliverables.

A further key message was that the value chain approach championed by SusChem was the way forward. "Within the workgroups this afternoon it became clear that there is no one component in the value chain that can deliver comprehensive solutions alone: we need to engage the whole value chain," Nagler emphasised.

Over the next year SusChem had plenty or work to do and would look forward to the first substantial steps forward for EIPs in its areas of interest.

EIP viewpoints
Earlier delegates were welcomed by Gerard van Harten (left) CEO of Dow Beneluxand Chair of the SusChem national platform in the Netherlands. He wished everyone an "inspiring day". He believed that the SusChem national platforms provided a vital link between EU and national R&I activities. The day's programme was outlined by Peter Nagler who encouraged the audience to "think big". He compared SusChem to the event venue - the Beurs van Berlage. "Both were created to create value and improve competitiveness," he stated. "Sustainability is a comprehensive innovation opportunity."

Following a video message from Cefic president Giorgio Squinzi, Waldemar Kütt from Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn's cabinet described the evolution of the EIP concept. He said that EIP proposals should not cover too broad a policy area, needed to "focus on a few 'killer' activities" and must be targeted to aligning existing R&I tools. He anticipated announcements on the next "wave" of EIPs in September or October following evaluation of the initial EIP on Healthy Aging.

Dutch civil servant Renée Bergkamp, Director -General of Enterprise and Innovation in the Economics ministry, described the R&I policy landscape in the Netherlands. Chemistry had been identified as one of the country's top nine sectors. Each of the "top sectors" had a "top team" including industry, SMEs, science and government to plan national priority programmes. Netherlands would consider engagement with EIPs on a case-by-case basis in terms of how they fitted with national policy.

Following a coffee break a lively panel discussion led by EU journalist Willy de Backer (above far right) saw Waldemar Kütt (right) and Gerard van Harten joined by Janneke Timmerman - a government member of the Dutch "top team" for the chemistry sector - that really opened up discussion on EIPs to stakeholder questions.

ICIS Interactive reports
ICIS - the SusChem media partner for the Amstersdam event was active videoing interviews with speakers and SusChem leaders during the day and will be producing a special edition of the digital publication 'ICIS Interactive' on the event and SusChem developments in the very near future.

The SusChem 9th Stakeholder event was proud to be an official event of the International Year of Chemistry 2011.

SusChem and EU2020

2011-05-17T14:23:00.007+02:00

Cefic President Giorgio Squinzi, CEO of Mapei, delivered a video message welcoming delegates at the SusChem Stakeholder event in Amsterdam this morning (17 May). The message underlined the chemical industry's commitement to support the EU2020 initiative and efforts to progress European Innovation Partnerships.

See the video below.

Follow the SusChem event on Twitter

2011-05-17T12:20:00.002+02:00

SusChem News is tweeting 'live' from the stakeholder event in Amsterdam. Comments and images from the event are being posted at the SusChem twitter page. Blogs to follow later today.

SusChem twitter account can be accessed at http://twitter.com/Suschem

Chem industry uniquely placed to deliver EIPs

2011-05-16T12:38:00.005+02:00

In a news release today (17 May) at its Amsterdam Stakeholder event, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem) announced the next steps in its plan to play a leading role in four critical societal challenges for Europe. These steps, unveiled at the SusChem annual event in Amsterdam, aim to further demonstrate the chemical and biotechnology industry as an essential partner in the EU Innovation Union.

There is a way to bring innovative ideas to market in much shorter timescales. However, speeding up delivery depends on a radically new approach to innovation, i.e. through wide-scale collaboration that stimulates innovation simultaneously at various stages of the value chain.

The chemical industry, one of the few European industries that still retains world leadership, is acknowledged as a principle source of innovation for other sectors in Europe.

“The chemical and biotechnology industry is uniquely positioned to be an active value chain captain in Europe,” commented Peter Nagler (right), of Evonik and SusChem Board member responsible for innovation. “SusChem builds on its excellent track record of cooperation with a whole range of industry sectors across national borders – by doing so, it is already putting the Innovation Union into practice.”

SusChem has developed proposals in four areas where sustainable chemistry has a leading role to play:

• Resource efficiency - Bringing energy savings in a demonstration plant that allows reduction of CO2 emissions by 50% and increasing the use of renewable feedstocks by 20% beyond 2020 along the value chain

• Water efficient Europe - Reducing competition between the public and private sectors for scarce water resources.

• Smart cities - Improving energy storage and renovating housing

• Raw materials for a modern society - Addressing scarce resource issues through new materials initiatives and improved recycling / reuse efficiency

“Neither the public or private sector can do it alone. These partnership proposals have the potential to improve the quality of life in Europe and deliver key gains for society as a whole,” concludes Nagler. “They can also drive new markets and make a major impact on various business sectors. The time is right therefore to give our stakeholders a clear-cut proposal of what our industry can achieve in the Innovation Partnerships.”

More background on the proposed EIPs can be found on this blog posting.

SusChem is a European Technology Platform that brings together stakeholders from many different backgrounds to boost sustainable chemistry with a focus on technology, research and innovation issues. It was founded in 2004 by Cefic and EuropaBio.

Visit the SusChem website at: www.suschem.org

SusChem, innovation, EIPs

2011-05-16T11:58:00.006+02:00

SusChem will discuss four proposals for potential European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) at its SusChem Stakeholder event in Amsterdam tomorrow (17 May). EIPs are major instruments developed under the Innovation Union and EU 2020 Agenda to accelerate innovation and promote growth in the EU.

EIPs are large-scale multi-year programmes that involve the EU, Member States, industry and academia that could involve multiple funding structures from public funds to venture capital. All EIPs will aim to show proof of concept and demonstrate innovation on the large–scale and all should address one or more of the significant social challenges facing the EU today.

The SusChem approach to EIPs is based on the acknowledged leadership of chemistry and the molecular sciences in driving innovation along many value chains in Europe. SusChem believes that simultaneous innovation along defined value chains can accelerate innovation and competitiveness. SusChem knows that the close working relationship between industry and academia that it has developed and its established collaborative work with other technology platforms and other transnational organizations can stimulate and lead the successful value chain initiatives.

Resource efficiency
Improving the resource efficiency of the process industry is an EIP proposal developed ‘bottom-up’ by SusChem to address a perceived need / opportunity identified within the industry. The chemical industry has a central role along many value chains in the process industry from feedstock to finished consumer products and then in enabling and managing recycling/ reuse.

SusChem is establishing a Resource and Energy Efficiency Partnership (REP) to pursue a cross-sectorial approach that can improve the use and reuse of scarce resources and maximize resource efficiency along the value chain. The aim is to “do much more with a lot less”.

A smarter city
The Smart Cities EIP proposal from the Commission aims to support a number of larger European cities to achieve a 20% reduction in carbon emissions, a 20% increase in the use of renewable energy, and a 20% increase in energy efficiency by 2020. The idea is to demonstrate tangible progress towards the EU’s energy and climate objectives at a local level, to improve urban quality of life and boost local economies. Many of the concepts involved in the SusChem Smart Energy Home and related initiatives are applicable here to address urban construction and mobility needs.

Within this EIP area there is an already-existing public-private partnership – the Energy Efficient Building (EeB) initiative launched as part of the EU Recovery Plan. SusChem has a bilateral relationship with the European Construction Technology Platform (ECTP) on a proposed joint EC project: Building Up. And a working group on the Smart Cities proposal was formed in early 2011 with work on an initial positioning paper already completed.

Water efficient Europe
Making the best use of water resources is a significant social challenge. There is a need to reduce competition between water users, make better use of waste water and reduce leakage in supply systems amongst many other issues. A cascade usage vision is a key part of the strategy with a need for research and innovation in sustainable separation technologies, re-use processing and new materials.

There are already joint programming initiatives between Spain and the Netherlands in this area as well as the formal collaborative agreement between SusChem and the Water sanitation and supply Technology Platform (WssTP) which is working on a number of potential EC projects. An EIP working group was established in early 2011. SusChem is featuring water issues at the 17 May Amsterdam event, but will hold a second event exclusively focused on water issues in the second half of 2011 as part of the International Year of Chemistry (IYC 2011).

Raw materials
The EIP on Raw Materials for a Modern Society has been proposed by the European Commission and supports an integrated EU strategy to ensure access to raw materials from international markets, boost resource efficiency and the rate of recycling, and set the right framework conditions within the EU. Two of the proposed work packages are of particular interest to SusChem: the development of new innovative technologies and solutions for sustainable raw materials supply and the development substitute materials to replace critical materials.

Within the scope of this EIP SusChem is already working with a number of other European Technology Platforms on a joint approach. These ETPs are Eumat, Manufuture, the Textile Technology Platform, the Sustainable Mineral Resources (SMR) platform and the European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP).

The workshops on May 17 will discuss the opportunities that these potential EIPs bring and start to make concrete plans. To find out more about getting involved email the SusChem secretariat.

What does SusChem mean to you?

2011-05-11T20:02:00.000+02:00

Defining sustainability is an ongoing global discussion in many sectors. In the context of chemistry, biotechnology and innovation what do we really mean by sustainability? And how can SusChem design criteria to evaluate projects and programmes that it inspires or engages with? These are fundamental questions and we would like to know what the wider SusChem community thinks. So, what does sustainable chemistry and/ or SusChem mean to you? You can tweet your view to @suschem on Twitter.

In its 2005 Vision document SusChem referenced the Brundtland Commission definition of sustainable development as one of its founding principles. That definition is:

“Development which meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”

SusChem has built its thinking on the three pillars of sustainable development : environment, society and economy – or people, planet and profit. Essentially this means that SusChem thinking should promote activities and support projects that are economically viable and environmentally sound and address societal needs.

As SusChem moves from sustainable research to encompass sustainable innovation a clear communicable definition of sustainable chemistry is needed together with a set of guiding principles.

Screening criteria
These qualitative principles need to be given a quantitative basis to develop an iterative screening process for project assessment in SusChem. Such a system must be able to be applied to the diverse portfolio of SusChem projects in different technologies and regions. A small group lead by SusChem board members Martina Bianchini (Dow) and Marcel Wubbolts (DSM) is working to develop such a process using a Life Cycle Conceptual Approach.

Some tools already exit that could be of help. For example, the iSUSTAIN^TM Green Chemistry Index links green chemistry and sustainability based on the 12 principles of green chemistry proposed by Paul Anasta and John Warner in their ground-breaking book ‘Green Chemistry. Theory and Practice’. While the FP7 PROSUITE project is looking to produce a standardised methodology in Europe and is employing case studies that are very relevant to SusChem.

Tweet your ideas
This is work in progress and SusChem News would like to gather a range of views on what sustainable chemistry means to the SusChem community. So why not add your vision to the debate? As mentioned above you can tweet @suschem or email SusChem News with your take on sustainable chemistry. We look forward to hearing from you.

Amsterdam Registrations Accelerate!

2011-04-28T09:03:00.008+02:00

Registrations for the SusChem Amsterdam Stakeholder event have accelerated over the Easter break. But organisers are looking for as wide a participation as possible as SusChem debates major new programmes that could have a significant impact for the sustainable chemistry community in Europe.

The Amsterdam event comes at a key moment in the development of SusChem’s proposals for its involvement in European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs) and the next European Research and Innovation Framework programme.

“The SusChem board feel that stakeholder consultation on the SusChem proposals and recommendations is of great strategic importance,” explains Ger Spork, Innovation Manager at Cefic and SusChem coordinator. “The Amsterdam meeting is key in terms of both timing and getting stakeholder input on how the European sustainable chemistry community can make a leading contribution to addressing some of society’s major challenges.”

“Although we are always open to receive input from our stakeholders at any time, the Amsterdam event will be the main forum for debate. Participants can learn more about both the EU 2020 programme and the SusChem proposals, but also make a direct input to the planning,” continues Spork.

Our Beurs van Berlage venue is limited to 150 participants and current registration rates indicate that the event will reach the maximum capacity, so to avoid disappointment register now !

EIPs explained
One of the main aims of the event is to give an insight on the aims and objectives of EIPs. Following an outline of SusChem’s proposed role in achieving the EU2020 agenda objectives from SusChem chairman Paul-Joel Derian, delegates will get a briefing on EIPs from both the perspective of the European Commission and a Member State.

The Commission view will be given by Waldemar Kütt a senior member of Research and Innovation Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn’s cabinet. Dr. Kütt obtained his PhD from the Technical University in Aachen in solid state physics and semiconductor technology before working as a technology and innovation consultant with a focus on patent licensing deals and financing of start-ups. He joined DG Research in 1997 and is currently responsible for the co-ordination of innovation and SME policies in the life sciences area.

A Member State point of view will be described by Renée Bergkamp who is currently Director-General of Enterprise and Innovation at the Netherlands Ministry of Economic Affairs, Agriculture and Innovation. She graduated in law at the VU University in Amsterdam and began her government career in the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Fisheries with subsequent appointments including time at the Ministry of Justice and further senior roles in the Ministry of Economic Affairs and in the Ministry of Agriculture.

EIP panel
After coffee the morning session will conclude with a panel discussion on how to ensure Member State engagement, support and participation with EIPs where Waldemar Kütt will be joined by the President of Dow Benelux Gerard Van Harten and a number of Member State representatives. The panel discussion will be facilitated by Willy de Backer.

Gerard van Harten was appointed President and Chairman of the Board of Dow Benelux, responsible for all Dow locations in Belgium, The Netherlands and Luxembourg, in March 2002. Gerard joined Dow in 1977 as a Process Engineer at the Dow Terneuzen site after graduating in Chemical Engineering from the Technical Universite Twente. His career in Dow has seen him alternating between positions of increasing responsibility in Terneuzen and Dow’s Freeport, Texas facilities.

The afternoon session in Amsterdam is dedicated to workshops on the proposed SusChem programme for EIPs. Details of the proposed projects and the session itself will be covered in a subsequent news blog. More programme details can be found on the SusChem website.

IYC Art Exhibition at Amsterdam Meeting

2011-04-14T09:20:00.004+02:00

SusChem stakeholders will have the opportunity to take an exclusive preview of an international art exhibition during the SusChem Annual Stakeholder event in Amsterdam on 17 May.

During the lunch interval the exhibition “Our Children on Water” will take place. Created by the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) as a contribution to the International Year of Chemistry (IYC) this unique international art exhibition consists of artwork created by children from three African and six European countries depicting the role that water plays in their lives.

The three African countries involved are South Africa, Kenya and Ethiopia and the photo below ((C)Zoe Heaton) shows children from Abyot Public School in Ethiopia getting involved.

The artwork has been produced under the title 'Water: Refreshment or Responsibility?' The resulting collection of artwork displays breathtaking imagination and shows children's views on water from many different, thought-provoking perspectives. The artwork in addition helps to draw attention to the role of chemists in industry and academia in providing safe and clean water around the world.

European tour
The exhibition will take place in Beurs Van Berlage in Amsterdam on 17 May. Following exhibition at the SusChem Amsterdam event "Children on Water" will tour major European cities including London, Frankfurt, Prague, Rome and Barcelona throughout 2011 in collaboration with a number of European and African chemical societies. The official launch for the exhibition will be held at the European Parliament in Brussels in June.

The "Our Children on Water" project is a high profile exhibition that serves to showcase the chemical community’s involvement in the pursuit of clean and safe water for everyone.

What is in a name?

2011-03-28T16:24:00.006+02:00

The competition to find a new name for the next EU Research and Innovation Programme was launched today (28 March). You have until 10 May to suggest a relevant, appealing and catchy name for the new EU research and innovation programme which will be introduced after 2013.

The competition is linked to the ongoing stakeholder consultation on the Commission's Green Paper on the programme that was launched on 9 February.

The programme currently labours under the working title of the 'Common Strategic Framework' (CSF) and aims to be at the core of the Innovation Union initiative and the Europe 2020 Strategy.

The Commission's Green Paper also provides the basis for far-reaching
simplification of procedures and rules. Stakeholders have until 20 May 2011 to respond to this main consultation.

Competition
Introducing the competition European Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (below),said: "The Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development have served Europe well and are still creating growth and jobs and improving quality of life. But our new programme for research and innovation will be a new departure and a new adventure, so we need a new name. We need to connect with stakeholders and the public and to raise the political and media profile of our work, which in turn can boost participation and improve results."

This new "identity" must be easily associated with research and innovation, while also being original, memorable, easy to pronounce and spell and be meaningful in a wide range of European languages.

You name it!
Your proposal for the name of the new programme should be submitted via http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm where rules and conditions can also be found. The competition is open until 10 May to everyone except employees of the European institutions and their direct family members.

An international jury will select three proposals to be put to a public online vote in the late spring/ early summer. The jury members will include academics, entrepreneurs, and branding and communication experts.

The winning name will be announced by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn at the conference concluding the current consultation on the CSF that is taking place on 10 June in Brussels. The winner will get an expenses paid trip to the European Innovation Convention in Brussels at the end of this year, and he or she will meet the Commissioner and other leading political, scientific and business figures.

Please feel free to share you suggestions for the new programmes name with SusChem News. We will publish our favourites before the 10 June conference!

ICIS named media partner for SusChem Amsterdam Stakeholder event

2011-03-24T12:06:00.005+01:00

ICIS, the chemicals and energy news and information provider, will be SusChem's media partner for the Amsterdam Stakeholder event taking place on 17 May.

The news on the ICIS partnership gives us an excuse to highlight one of our favourite fellow bloggers: John Baker, ICIS Global editor, previously editor of the long-lamented European Chemical News (now part of ICIS Chemical Business) and long-term friend of SusChem.

John's blog 'Chemicals and Innovation' covers exactly what it says on the tin with an emphasis on chemical company innovation strategies, RD&I investments, financing, people and awards. Take a look today.

SusChem animates for WWD2011

2011-03-22T16:51:00.006+01:00

To further mark World Water Day 2011 (WWD2011) SusChem has launched a new animated feature on its website.

The SusChem World Water Day page features a graphic that vividly demonstrates how precious and scarce fresh water is as a resource for the world.

A powerpoint presentation outlining details of the collaboration between SusChem and the European Technology Platform on Water and Sanitation (WSSTP) can also be obtained on the SusChem website.

SusChem: innovating on water in Europe

2011-03-22T09:29:00.006+01:00

SusChem is making water a major priority during 2011 and ‘Water’ is one of the main topics at SusChem’s Annual Stakeholder Conference that takes place in Amsterdam on 16 and 17 May.

SusChem marks World Water Day with a focus on value chain cooperation to achieve better water management systems and introduce new sustainable technologies. As the chemical industry is the critical basis for smart and sustainable growth across all sectors, it is uniquely positioned to contribute to European Innovation Partnerships (EIP) – including the proposed ‘Water Efficient Europe’ EIP.

SusChem's approach reflects the objective of World Water Day 2011 (WWD2011) with its focus on the impact of rapid urban population growth, industrialisation and uncertainties caused by climate change, conflicts and natural disasters on urban water systems. WWD2011's main theme is "Water for cities: responding to the urban challenge".

Responding to the challenge
For a number of years SusChem has been working closely with the European Water Sanitation and Supply Technology Platform (WSSTP) to develop breakthrough technologies and new water management systems. Both platforms have taken the initiative to revalue water as a precious raw material rather than a utility product.

Providing more efficient and ecologically sound water management systems is a prominent theme for the European Union’s 2020 Agenda for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. SusChem is determined to show leadership and make a significant contribution in this area by pursuing large-scale projects that can demonstrate a real impact for society.

SusChem is also planning to organise a dedicated event on Water and Sustainable Chemistry later in 2011 in Amsterdam. This event will examine the main challenges relating to water at both the European and global level and discuss possible solutions. The proposed conference will support both the International Year of Chemistry 2011 (IYC 2011) – a global UNESCO sponsored initiative that also has water as a major theme – and the European Union’s EU2020 Agenda for growth. SusChem thinking in action!

SusChem France Roadmap

2011-03-11T12:08:00.009+01:00

SusChem France has just published its national roadmap in English. The aim of the “SusChem France Roadmap” is to provide an overview of France’s situation with respect to sustainable chemistry needs and to outline the main lines of action followed by SusChem players to meet these needs as effectively as possible.

The document is addressed mainly to research teams in the public or private sector and to innovation managers and resource agencies that can help to build the chemical industry and produce the sustainable products of tomorrow.

Collective thinking
In the introduction to the report SusChem Europe Chairman Dr. Paul-Joel Derian says: "The SusChem France roadmap, a product of high-quality collective thinking, comes at the right time to contribute to the updating of SusChem Europe’s strategic agenda and [to] plan for its implementation over the next few years."

"[We must] actively propose solutions to the European Commission to guide the structuring of the 8th framework programme which will begin in 2013 and ensure that the innovation needs of the chemical industry are taken into account," he continues. "[We must] switch from a research culture to an innovation culture, using the whole value chain of our industry by heading at least one of the new Public-Private Partnership (PPP) programmes to be launched by Europe between now and the end of 2011."

"SusChem has announced its ambition to head a PPP on the theme of chemistry, industry and technology as a source of more resource-efficient industrial processes.
To achieve these ambitious objectives, we will have to bring together our customers and suppliers, continue to develop cooperation between public and private research, and pool our forces with other European platforms."

"This requires stronger involvement of SusChem’s national platforms and a strong effort from French manufacturers and academics to bring new human resources into SusChem."

Eight themes
The 40-page report describes eight themes that summarise the French position on sustainable chemistry. The themes are:

Renewable raw materials and biosourced economy
Chemistry and recycling
Advanced materials
Chemistry for energy
Eco-efficient processes
Analysis, methods and performance
Eco-design
Innovation network

The Roadmap was launched in France at the 2ème Rencontres de SusChem France (Second stakeholder meeting for the French national platform) that took place at the end of November 2010.

The original French version of the roadmap (Feuille de route de SusChem France (Ed. 2010)) is available to download here. For more information on SusChem France activities visit the website or contact SusChem France coordinator Valerie Lucas at UIC.

Register for Amsterdam Stakeholder Event

2011-03-08T14:43:00.011+01:00

SusChem’s 9^th Stakeholder Event takes place in the heart of Amsterdam on May 17^th 2011. This year the focus for discussion will be on sustainable chemistry’s role in ensuring the EU 2020 Agenda boosts prosperity in Europe and specifically how SusChem stakeholders can get involved in European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs).

As previously announced the 2011 SusChem Stakeholder event will be held in the historic Beurs van Berlage conference facility (below) in central Amsterdam. The venue situated between the city's Central Station and de Dam square. The event's working title is 'Partners for Sustainable Growth - Chemistry at the roots of the EU 2020 Strategy'.

EIPs are the new large-scale Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) - part of the EU's 2020 Agenda and Innovation Union - designed to accelerate the pace of innovation and make sure that Europe’s world-class research and commercial strengths are employed effectively to bring sustainable products and services rapidly (and profitably) to market.

EIPs are designed to deliver the sustainable business development promise of benefits for people, planet and profit. Clearly the chemical sciences and industry has a pivotal role in boosting innovation and competitiveness across Europe and can play leading roles in a number of EIPs.

Morning session
During the morning of the Stakeholder event delegates will learn how the EIP concept was developed and will be deployed from Commission officials and government representatives. SusChem chairman Paul-Joel Derian (below) will outline the platform’s role and aspirations for EU 2020. A panel discussion will cover the interface between EIPs and Members State authorities with interventions from the Commission, academia, industry and stakeholders.

After lunch there will be three parallel workshops on EIPs that are of particular interest to the chemical community:

• Resource Efficiency
• Water Efficient Europe
• Smart Cities

The workshops will provide stakeholders with information on the proposed programmes in these areas and seek input on their draft Roadmaps and Work Programmes. These EIPs represent real opportunities for collaborative partners along their respective value chains to be at the forefront of the Innovation Union.

Innovation agenda
The European innovation agenda – the EU2020 agenda – has been decisively shaped to encourage European enterprise to invent and adopt sustainable solutions to address the major challenges facing society. SusChem is determined to take a leading role in EU2020 initiatives dedicated to innovation, resource efficiency and industrial policy, and to bring strong support to achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe.

The proposals for the successor to FP7, currently under consultation, will be designed to support and implement EU2020 policies.

As a multi-stakeholder platform, with a structure that covers both pan-European and national entities, SusChem is ideally suited to engage in broad dialogue on innovation topics and to strengthen cross-sectoral and transnational cooperation covering the full value chain.

Get involved - register today
The Amsterdam Stakeholder event is your opportunity to get involved with, and contribute to, innovation programmes that have the potential to drive new markets and make a major impact on the sector and the European economy as a whole.

You need to know about the challenges and opportunities involved in the EU2020 agenda. You need to ensure that your organisation’s perspective is part of the discussion.

For more details on the 9^th Stakeholder event visit the SusChem website, consult the draft agenda for the event or go direct to the registration page.

SusChem News looks forward to seeing you at to the SusChem Stakeholder Event on May 17^th and getting your input on SusChem’s plans to get the chemistry right for EU2020 success!

The SusChem Stakeholder Event in Amsterdam is part of the International Year of Chemistry 2011.

EuCheMS Brussels Update

2011-03-05T16:10:00.003+01:00

The latest EuCheMS (European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences) Brussels News Update (dated February 2011) is now available at the EuCheMS website.

This monthly compilation summarizes the latest news from the European Institutions and covers policy areas such chemicals, innovation, business, jobs, consultations, events and funding.

The briefing is compiled by Catherine Feore EuCheMS Policy Manager in Brussels.