SusChem Netherlands starts work

The Dutch SusChem National Technology Platform (NTP) – SusChem Nederland – held its first meeting on 12 October 2009 at the offices of VNCI in The Hague. The platform is planning a number of activities during 2010.

The chairman of SusChem Nederland’s governing board is Gerard van Harten (Chairman of the Board at Dow Benelux) and the NTP’s secretary is Nelo Emerencia of VNCI. Three Working Groups have been established covering White Biotechnology (led by Jan Wisse, Managing Director of the Netherlands’ Biotech Industry Association - Niaba), Material Technologies (led by Rene Lammers, Global Director of R&D at Unilever) and Reaction & Process Design (led by Andrzej Stankiewicz, Professor of Process Intensification at TU Delft).

A draft programme for 2010 was discussed at the initial management meeting and a further meeting was held on 26 January in The Hague. At the January meeting the three work groups reported on a first analysis of ongoing projects and programmes in the Netherlands (and across Europe) where SusChem Nederland should make contact. The team also looked at fleshing out the 2010 programme. A dedicated website for SusChem NL will be launched during the year.

For more information please contact Nelo Emerencia of VNCI.

SusChem Innovation Project wins INNOVA funding

SusChem’s first pan European Innovation project - BIOCHEM - has been selected for funding by the European Commission under its INNOVA scheme. INNOVA is part of the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) managed (during 2009) by DG Enterprise. The proposed total cost of the BIOCHEM project is €4.5M including a significant EU contribution. The project will hold its kick-off meeting on 5 February 2010.

Commenting on the decision Ger Spork, Innovation Manager at Cefic said: “This is a key concrete step in SusChem’s new focus to foster innovation in the chemical and related industries.” This new direction was prompted, in part, by the recent report of the High Level Group (HLG) on the competitiveness of the European chemical industry which asked SusChem to consider promoting innovation networks in key strategic areas – in particular to support SMEs.

BIOCHEM
“The BIOCHEM project aims to stimulate demand driven bio-based business in the chemical sector and improve the innovation capacity of bio-based chemistry start-ups and SMEs,” says Steve Fletcher of the UK’s Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network who lead the BIOCHEM consortium. “In addition, and as a consequence of these actions, the project will help to accelerate the development of the bio-based chemistry market, which is one of the six Lead Market Initiatives (LMI) identified by the EU.”

Initially, using its network of partners, BIOCHEM will define and promote bio-based product opportunities in the chemical sector. The project will also facilitate and help finance of new bio-based business ideas to proof-of-concept, including facilitating access for organizations to European test facilities.

The project will develop tools, methodologies and processes (such as innovation management, life cycle methodologies, business planning, fund raising etc.) that are targeted towards those SMEs who aspire to innovate in the bio-based products market. BIOCHEM has a target of reaching at least 250 companies across eight European countries with these tools.

It will facilitate partnering of technology providers (from both industry and academic) with solution seekers, through new on-line open innovation support tools. In addition it will build capacity with regional and national Innovation Management organisations and chemistry cluster organizations to improve innovation management with local SMEs.

Investment fund
A novel concept will be the market testing of a “federated” Bio-Based Products Investment Fund (BBP-IF) to involve at least five regional funding agencies, business angels and early-stage funders in different European countries. This should improve access to capital and provide support to early stage ventures and accelerate their international growth.

During the project the impact of the different support tools and the integrated service package on start-ups and SMEs in six countries will be assessed. From this recommendations for extending the scope and uptake of the tools developed by BIOCHEM will be made.

In addition to Chemistry Innovation, the BIOCHEM consortium includes other national innovation programmes in Italy, Belgium, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands and Spain, as well as specialist partners in venture capital, public funding and programme consultancy. It will also work with other established European networks and innovation initiatives.

For more information, please contact Steve Fletcher at Chemistry Innovation.

SusChem Hybrid Materials Event

During the first week of March 2010 a workshop on ‘Hybrid Materials, future needs and opportunities between material classes’ is being organized by SusChem with the suppport of the Dutch Polymer Institute (DPI) and in conjunction with the European Commission. There is a clear need to increase the involvement of leading European materials producing companies in the Commission Research Framework Programmmes and increase their innovation focus.

The workshop will focus on developing new strategies in materials research in Europe that will serve to inform SusChem’s input into relevant areas of FP8. The outcome of the workshop will also be used to adjust the DPI’s research programme over the next five years.

The workshop will cover two days (noon to noon) and will involve up to 20 keynote speakers, who will give their views on materials needs over the next 4 – 10 years. The workshop will take place in Luxembourg at the European Commission's Jean Monnet building on 3 - 4 March.

For more information please contact the SusChem secretariat.

European Sustainable Chemistry Award 2010

SusChem is supporting the European Sustainable Chemistry Award (ESCA) recently launched by the European Association for Chemical and Molecular Sciences (EuCheMS).

The €10 000 first prize will be awarded at the 3rd EuCheMS Chemistry Congress that will take place in Nürnberg Germany from 29 August to 2 September 2010. The award is designed to:

• recognize individuals or small research groups who make an outstanding contribution to sustainable development by applying sustainable chemistry
• promote innovation in chemistry and chemical products that deliver clear sustainable improvements
• demonstrate that chemistry is playing a central role in delivering sustainable solutions to society

The deadline for submission of applications is 15 February 2010. For more information visit the EuCheMS website or contact the EuCheMS secretariat. Good luck!

December 2009 Editorial - Rodney Townsend

A very warm welcome to the latest issue of our SusChem Solutions newsletter.

As we approach the latter period of FP7, much is changing in terms of the Commission’s research and innovation priorities. It is important that SusChem should respond to these changes in order to ensure that the substantial progress we have made so far is consolidated. Long before the Commission initiated its “Strategy for Recovery”, SusChem had recognised that we needed to update and perhaps re-focus our Implementation Action Plan (IAP) on a regular basis. Consequently, over the summer and autum SusChem’s technology work groups have been putting the finishing touches to the 2009 IAP update. A comprehensive and consolidated IAP document will soon be available for all stakeholders and will be widely circulated for comment. Please have a look at this document and let us know your views!

As you know we announced at the 2009 Stakeholder conference in Prague that the IAP Update would now be an annual process. The comments, additions and inputs from SusChem stakeholders and others on the 2009 IAP document will form the basis for this new process and enable us to respond to Commission initiatives in an up-to-date and authoritative manner.

In addition, the regular IAP Update is designed to make sure that our research and innovation agenda is always relevant to the research needs of society. A similar focus on the issues facing society will be one of the main approaches for planning the next European Research Framework Programme, FP8, which will begin in 2014.

FP8 is expected to focus on Grand Challenges and Great Ideas. The first of these comprises a process to convert problems, questions and concerns of citizens into a series of Grand Challenges and then act to meet them through research – examples being social cohesion, global security, education, climate change, environment and energy. Grand Challenges is very much a “top-down” exercise. By contrast, via a “bottom-up” process, Great Ideas looks to universities, research institutes, companies in pan-European teams to develop new ‘higher risk’ research concepts with a focus on cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional research.

SusChem already has defined its SRA by looking at general societal areas of concern. We are therefore very well placed to help shape FP8 and respond to policy developments. For the future prosperity of sustainable chemistry and biotechnology in Europe it is essential that we do influence FP8 effectively. With the very recent announcement by President Barroso that he wants to appoint a Chief Scientist to “deliver proactive, scientific advice throughout all stages of policy development and delivery” it looks like true science-based policy may at last become a reality across the European Commission.

If we are to improve our innovative capabilities within Europe and enhance our competitive capabilities in the future, especially in sustainable technologies, it is very important that we enhance the skills capabilities of not only young people passing through universities and into the job market, but also all members of the current European work force. SusChem is taking a lead here in assessing the skills needs of the future and I was delighted to be invited to speak on skills needs, and what we are doing to deliver them, at the recent ECTN Conference in Dresden in early September. On that occasion, it was good also to learn of the achievements and future plans of the European Research Council, through an excellent lecture from Prof Hans Joachim Freund. ERC support for chemistry has been encouraging but we must not be complacent as the ERC reviews progress to date and formulates future plans.

As many of you will know my term as SusChem Chairman was nearing its end and I was expecting to stand down at the end of this year. A process was agreed by the SusChem board earlier this year to nominate and select my successor. The process has gone well and some possible successors identified, but with all the changes taking place in both the management structures and objectives of SusChem at present, it is very important that whoever succeeds me should “hit the ground running”, so to speak. For these reasons, it was felt that to effect the transition at the end of this year might be a premature move and I have been asked if I would be prepared to stay as Chairman for a further period of six months. This means that we now expect to welcome a new Chairperson in July 2010. Whoever that new person is, I do hope you will all show him the support and enthusiasm that I have been fortunate to receive from you. As the recent brokerage event shows, SusChem continues to be a great success and has a tremendous and valuable future in front of it.

As ever, if you have any comments on SusChem activities or suggestions, please do not hesitate to contact us via suschem@suschem.org. And please note the date for our next Stakeholder event in Lyon on 4 May 2010 – we look forward to seeing you there!

Prof. Rodney Townsend
Chairman SusChem Board,
Director Science & Technology, Royal Society of Chemistry

In this issue of SusChem Solutions

SusChem Brokerage Event

EU Recovery Package

PNO Consortium building

SusChem Chair Succession

Stakeholder Event 4 May 2010 - Lyon

1st SusChem France Stakeholder Event

SusChem/DPI Polymers Event - March 2010

EuCheMS SustainableChemistry Award 2010

Joint Brokerage Event 15 September 2009, Brussels

To help stakeholders to respond to the most recent FP7 calls published in July SusChem organised a joint brokerage event in Brussels on 15 September. A packed meeting at the Hotel Bloom! was briefed on the latest calls under the NMP, KBBE, Environment and Energy themes and the integrated calls under the EU 2010 Recovery Plan.

In addition to formal presentations on the calls during the morning, participants were encouraged to make short presentations during a series of afternoon workshops. To help with project initiation and networking there were also opportunities to engage in discussion with potential partners during poster sessions, add offers or ideas to topic “bill-boards” and complete a questionnaire to indicate each participant’s main research interests.

SusChem future
Opening the event, Cefic Innovation Manager Ger Spork gave a brief overview of SusChem’s current status and future plans. He stressed the continuing central role of SusChem’s RTD pillars to provide the driving force for the platform - such as the recently completed IAP update. An IAP update will now be a regular annual process to ensure that SusChem’s work remained relevant to society’s most pressing issues.

SusChem would also work to create more effective collaborative partnerships and stimulate chemical industry participation in projects. Efforts would be made to synchronise the activities of SusChem’s national platforms including a new approach via the reorganised Member State Mirror Group.

Ger also emphasised SusChem’s wish to work along the value chain to drive towards real solutions for society. This would involved more cross-platform work such as the recent agreement to collaborate with the Water Supply and Sanitation ETP (WSSP). SusChem is also working closely with the EUMAT technology platform on advanced materials and technologies, and initiating collaboration with the Dutch Polymer Institute on FP8 and innovation issues.

There would also be more support for open pre-competitive innovation activities including the new services offered by PNO Consultants in this area for consortium building.

FP7 calls
Current calls under the NMP theme were described by Frederic Gouarderes. He highlighted potential SusChem interest in organic-inorganic hybrids for electronics and photonics, the development of standard scaffolds for the rational design of bioactive materials in tissue regeneration, new materials for catalytic reactors, modelling of the degradation and reliability of crystalline materials, new industrial models for a sustainable and efficient production, and manufacturing systems for 3D- shaped, multilayered products based on flexible materials. He also noted new ERAnets proposed on nanotechnologies (including nanotoxicology), manufacturing and in catalysis. In addition to these calls Frederic outlined the joint calls proposed under the EC’s 2010 Recovery Plan.

In the Environment area Andrea Tilche noted some specific areas that could be productive for collaboration between SusChem and WSSP on water management and other areas of interest in the Environment & Health (Indoor air pollution, and human health and exposure to pharmaceutical products). Other areas include work to facilitate recycling or reuse of construction and demolition waste, novel ideas for minimising municipal waste management, brownfield site remediation or regeneration concepts, and very long-term / large-scale carbon sequestration technologies.

A range of SusChem opportunities were outline by Maria Fernandez Gutierrez in the KBBE areas. These included the novel use of marine organisms in industrial processes and products, innovative aquatic biosensors, biocatalysts and biotechnology for “greening” the chemical industry, biotechnology for soil and water treatment and bioremediation.

DeChema’s Alexis Bazzanella completed the survey of open calls with a review of the Energy theme. He highlighted calls for thin wafer-based photovoltaic (PV) materials, two co-ordinated calls with India for novel materials for thin-film PV applications, materials for large offshore wind turbines, concentrators for PV materials, the production of biofuels from algae (including a demonstration component), fuel production using direct bio-conversion of solar radiation, demonstration projects for advanced CO₂ capture concepts, and research to utilise low temperature “waste” process heat.

Follow-up
As a follow-up all participants at the brokerage will receive copies of the presentations on call topics, all information gathered on interests per call, a set of full contact details for participants, collated “bill-board” offers and ideas, and the workshop presentations made by participants. Participants were also reminded about the online SusChem Brokerage Database which could be used as a virtual brokerage event on a 24/7 basis.

For more information, please contact the SusChem secretariat. More information on open FP7 calls, application criteria and other relevant topics can be found at the Cordis FP7 home page.

2010 Recovery Package

At the end of November 2008 the European Commission adopted an Economic Recovery Package to help Member States and European industry during the current financial crisis. As part of that package three major Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) focusing on research and innovation activities to develop clean technologies for the automotive (Green Cars), construction (Energy-efficient buildings – EeB) and manufacturing sectors (Factories of the Future – FoF) were announced.

The aim of the PPPs was – in part – to stimulate “smart investment” in research and support innovation that can contribute to the transition to a “green economy”. Their objective is to promote the convergence of public interest with industrial commitment and leadership in determining strategic research activities. SusChem already has significant research initiatives that are relevant to all three sectors and is keen to play its part in supporting the initiatives.

The FP7 calls in July contained the first joint calls from the PPPs. All the calls were funded individually or jointly under appropriate FP7 themes and many offer opportunities for SusChem-led collaborations.

Energy efficiency
Under the EeB PPP six calls were made with an indicative total budget of €65million. The topics cover: New nanotechnology-based high performance insulation systems for energy efficiency; New technologies for energy efficiency at District level”; Compatible solutions for improving energy efficiency in historic urban buildings; Demonstration of Energy Efficiency through retrofitting buildings; and two calls under ICT for energy-efficient buildings and spaces for public use. These calls are now closed.

A total of five calls are made under the FoF call with a total indicative budget of €95 million. The calls cover Plug-and-Produce components for adaptive control; Supply Chain approaches for small series industrial production; Intelligent scalable manufacturing platforms and equipment for components with micro- and nano-scale functional features; and two calls under Smart Factories: ICT for agile and environmentally friendly manufacturing. These calls are now closed.

For the Green Cars PPP one topic is described with a budget of €25 million on Materials, Technologies and processes for sustainable automotive electrochemical storage applications. The deadline for this call is 14 January 2010.

Commission advice
According to Frederic Gouarderes from DG Research the PPP FP7 calls under the Recovery Package should be treated exactly the same as normal FP7 calls. However, he recommends that applicants should read the call documentation carefully: “These calls are not for long-term research,” he says. “Projects must be near market and make a clear link with concepts such as sustainable production. Remember that the call is part of a policy response from the European Community to the current financial crisis.”

For more general information on research aspects of the Economic Recovery Package can be found here.