Convention highlights innovation challenges

The European Commission held its second Innovation Convention on 10 and 11 March in Brussels. The Innovation Convention is an essential (and fun) part of the Innovation Union flagship initiative that aims to create an innovation-friendly environment in Europe. The convention provides a platform for debate, workshops, award ceremonies and a showcase for some of Europe’s most innovative ideas and people.

The convention was organised by Research and Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (pictured below trying out Google Glass) and opened by Commission President José Manuel Barroso. He praised the Commissioner for her efforts and enthusiasm in driving forward an ambitious European agenda on innovation in the context of the overall Europe 2020 agenda.

President Barroso said: “Innovation has a vital role to play in the [EU’s] recovery and in shaping our societies of tomorrow. Europe has a good story to tell, but we still need to do more to foster innovation and we want to do it with our partners.”

“Innovation and skills go to the very heart of what we, in Europe, should be about in the 21st Century, in our knowledge, in our values and in our way of living,” he continued.

Key messages
SusChem contributed to a session on the ‘Key innovation messages from 2013’ as a follow up to the Vilnius Innovation Forum and the 5th European Innovation Summit. This fringe session was organised by Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) and the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union 2013 on the afternoon of the first day of the conference.

In 2013 the two major innovation summits were organised in Vilnius and Brussels respectively and both resulted in a series of new messages and actions that were presented and discussed at this meeting. Speakers included Mr Lambert van Nistelrooij, MEP, Chairman of the Knowledge4innovation Forum Governing Board, Dr. Albertas Žalys from the Lithuanian Ministry of Education and Science, and Mr Dimitrijus Kucevicius from the Ministry of Economy.

Dr. Gernot Klotz, Executive Director Research and Innovation, Cefic (above) gave the view from SusChem. He noted that Europe produced around 30% of the world’s patents but only a few percent of the global manufacturing. He emphasised the difference between research and innovation: innovation is about change, doing things differently and at the appropriate speed – it is not only about more money.

The EU needs to build on its innovation strengths. This meant that we needed to not only focus on brand new industries, but also on existing leading innovative industries such as chemicals and the process sectors. He noted the role of SPIRE PPP in connecting innovation across the process sectors under Horizon 2020.

He concluded that Europe needed to decide if it was only interested in knowledge creation or also the benefit, in terms of jobs and growth, which came from serious implementation of knowledge. He believes that Europe needs a strong manufacturing as basis for whole economy and that to succeed at innovation would require clear and strong leadership from all parts of society including both government and business.

Perception
Another highlight was an early evening ‘Global Leader’ session, moderated by Clara de la Torre who now heads the Key Enabling Technologies Directorate at the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation, that saw Marijn E. Dekkers, Chairman of the board of Management of Bayer AG in conversation with Professor Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisor to President Barroso (pictured below).

Their conversation discussed the role and the perception of science and innovation in society – in particular how to strengthen an evidence-based approach for policy-makers, thus ensuring transparency and an effective involvement of the public.

The SusChem News team also enjoyed a Science Communication workshop organised by the BBC featuring (below from left to right) BBC presenter Vivienne Parry, BBC Science producers Jacqui Smith and Helen Thomas and comedian and BBC Science Club presenter Dara O’ Briain.

Showcase area
The exhibition area of the Innovation Convention provided a space to showcase a range of innovative prducts and enterprises from Google Glass to fuel-cell powered cars and rapid cooling for drinks!

Two of our favourites with a sustainable chemistry elements were the Algae Lamp – pictured above being described by Nicolas Hue (on the right) - and the Confederation of European Paper Industries (CEPI) stand (below) which highlighted the winners of its ‘Two Team‘ projects that looked at breakthrough technologies for a low carbon economy including the use of Deep Eutectic Solvents to process biomass – an extremely energy and resource efficient concept.

A huge number of photos from the two days can be found here on the Innovation Convention's flickr web page and video summaries of the two days of the Convention can be viewed below and are also available on the Innovation Convention website along with lots more information on all the events that took place.

Innovation Convention Day One



Innovation Convention Day Two



We are looking forward to the third event already!

Europe’s Energy Future

Competitive, secure and sustainable energy is vital for a thriving European economy and society. In the aftermath of the ambitious European Commission goal-setting for 2030, a high-level round table addressing the current fragmentation challenges and the promises of innovative technologies in the energy sector will place policy targets on the path to implementation. This discussion will take place on 19 March 2014 at the European Parliament in Brussels hosted by Mr. Jerzy Buzek MEP, Chairman of the Knowledge for Innovation (K4I) Forum.

The meeting entitled ‘Europe’s Energy Future: Efficiency and competitiveness through smart integration’ will examine the EU’s ambitious 2030 energy targets. These will only be meaningful if we manage the sustainable integration of a portfolio of energy technologies, elevate the current level of debate and action to broader concepts across sectors and national / regional activities and their implications on sustainability and competitiveness, and consider the significant recent changes in global context including emerging economies, access to energy supply, dependency, technological leadership, and Europe’s role and needs.

 The key note speech will be made by Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy, with contributions from: Dominique Ristori, Director-General at DG Energy; András Siegler, Director of Energy at DG Research and Innovation; Gernot Klotz Executive Director Research and Innovation, CEFIC; Pedro de Sampaio Nunes Head of Secretariat, EUREKA; David Salisbury President of the European Gas Research Group (GERG); and Gabriel Marquette General Manager of EUROGIA 2020: the EUREKA cluster for low-carbon energy technologies.

This high-level round table could mark the setting of some new directions for a more efficient articulation of a sustainable European energy system highlighting new business models, new opportunities and synergies.

Both SusChem and SPIRE have and continue to contribute chemical innovations to the sustainable energy sector and have leading roles to play in development of new low-carbon technologies.

Scope and issues
The EU needs new, high performance low-cost, low-carbon sustainable energy technologies to be brought to the market. However, the greatest impact of these technologies in terms of delivery on policy goals, competitiveness and efficiency will be achieved through an integrated strategy for innovation in the energy area.

The Integrated Energy Roadmap puts forward an action plan that addresses the energy challenges in a system approach, consolidates and aligns the various individual technology roadmaps, covers the entire research and innovation chain, and identifies pathways for work and synergies between various programmes, stakeholders, instruments and authorities.

However, the roadmap needs to practically address a series of existing challenges for implementation including how and what to prioritise short-term versus medium-term and long-term, what we can learn from each other across sectors, borders, and along value chain, how to create synergies among different instruments, different sectors, different technologies, and how to balance (sometimes competing) targets considering technological, economic, environmental and social aspects.

More information
Further information on the event can be found on the K4I website.

Second SPIRE Brokerage Event in May!

The second Brokerage event to be organized by the Public Private Partnership (PPP) on Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) will be held in Brussels on 23 May. The objective of the meeting will be to look more closely into preparations for the SPIRE 2015 calls and to consider the first ideas for shaping SPIRE and related Horizon 2020 work programmes for 2016-2017. 

Following the very successful first SPIRE brokerage event held on 22 October 2013, the initial SPIRE calls under Horizon 2020 were published on 11 December 2013. The 23 May event will look at future calls under the theme of: ‘Outlook and perspectives in the forthcoming Horizon 2020 work programmes.’

The brokerage event will be held at the the Sheraton Brussels Hotel. The event is free of charge, but participation is subject to registration and restricted to members of A.SPIRE aisbl: the body that coordinates industrial contributions to the SPIRE PPP. Membership of A.SPIRE is open to all organisations with an interest in research and innovation activities for improving resource and energy efficiency in Europe.

Due to limited capacity and to ensure fairness the number of representatives from A.SPIRE  members will also be restricted to two each from A.SPIRE industry and research members and one each from A.SPIRE associations members and associate members. Registration will close on 25 April and it is strongly recommended that coordination takes place between representatives within member organizations before registration.

Agenda 
Soren Bowadt of DG Research and SPIRE’s R&D chair Ignacio Calleja of Tecnalia will open the brokerage proceedings with some feedback on the first 2014 SPIRE calls in Horizon 2020 and give a presentation on the upcoming 2015 calls.

There will then be parallel sessions of potential project ideas for 2015 in SPIRE’s Key Component areas: PROCESS, APPLICATIONS, FEED, WASTE2RESOURCE, and HORIZONTAL. The deadline to receive project idea submissions for presentation is 8 May 2014. All project presentations must be submitted via the SPIRE website.

After lunch the discussion will move on to the first ideas for 2016 and 2017. This will include work on the evolution of the SPIRE strategic research and innovation roadmap, discussion of gap analysis and presentations on the outcomes of recent Working Group days.

Attendance at the brokerage event will allow participants to exchange the latest information on relevant 2015 calls of Horizon 2020 in the areas of resource and energy efficiency. It will allow participants to present innovative project ideas to potential partners and to meet prospective partners and start building consortia involving both industry and academia. And the event will allow A.SPIRE members to present and exchange ideas about what technologies could inspire the development of 2016-2017 call priorities.

More information
For more information, including how to become a member of A.SPIRE, please contact the SPIRE secretariat or visit the SPIRE website.

E4Water Newsletter out!

The third E4Water newsletter has just been published. The newsletter covers news and events from this important FP7 project including progress and results from some of the six case studies that are at the heart of the project.

The first feature is on the case study at Dow Case Study where the pilot plant at their Terneuzen, The Netherlands site was successfully started and officially opened in November 2013. The E4Water project consortium will meet on site in April to discuss progress in the project and link this with learning gained through the pilot site.

The second feature is the SolVin case study where project partners are working on technologies for a treatment train concerning the loop closure in the PVC production plant at Martorell in Spain. Following development and optimization of technologies the first part of the pilot plant is already under preparation and planned to start soon.

The final case study featured involves the treatment and reuse of process wash water at affordable costs. The partners from this Procter & Gamble case study are working on the development of a technology train with several tests ongoing. Selected technologies need to be optimized before building up, starting and running a test pilot in a real plant. This is scheduled for the end of this year.

The newsletter can be downloaded from the E4Water website, which also gives further details on the project and on upcoming events related to Industrial Water Management.

What is E4Water?
With the chemical industry providing the highest potential to demonstrate increased eco-efficiency in industrial water management, the FP7 project ‘Economically and Ecologically Efficient Water Management in the European Chemical Industry’ (E4Water) addresses a range of crucial process needs to overcome bottlenecks and barriers to a fully integrated and energy efficient water management system.

The project’s main objective is to develop and test integrated approaches, methodologies and process technologies. There are six industrial case study sites at the core of E4Water that are expected to achieve a reduction of 20-40% in water use, 30-70% in waste water production, 15-40% in energy use and up to 60% in direct economic benefits. In addition to the chemical industry, the project is actively seeking opportunities for cross-fertilization with other industrial sectors.

The project consortium brings together large chemical companies, leading European water sector companies and innovative research and technology development centres and universities. The partners are also involved in the Water supply and sanitation Platform (WssTP) and SusChem, the European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry, and actively collaborate with water authorities in different European countries.

For more information about SusChem involvement with water issues, please contact Antonia Morales-Perez at Cefic, or visit the water priority page on the SusChem website.

Raw Materials launch University Days, KIC

The European Commission has recently launched a communication campaign entitled ''Raw Materials University Day'' within the framework of the European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Raw Materials. In addition the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has launched a selection process on February 14 to set up a new Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), with partners from higher education, research and business in the area of raw materials.

One of the main challenges to the successful implementation of the EIP on Raw Materials is to communicate on the challenges and issues around the sustainable supply of raw materials to various audiences. Although Europe boasts many universities with a long tradition and excellent programmes in the raw materials sector, knowledgeable and skilled professionals are still highly in demand. Therefore, the European Commission wishes to promote skills and employment in the raw materials sector to boost competitiveness and sustainable growth while showing the huge potential of European raw materials research, development an innovation.

The aim of the Raw Materials University Day is to attract young people that are choosing what to study in further education or future graduates and inform them about the study and working opportunities in the raw materials sector.

A series of events in various Member States is planned, with University Days scheduled for four times per year between 2014 and 2020. To date 21 universities from 16 Member States have expressed their wish to take part. The next event will take place on 12 May 2014 in Darmstadt, Germany.

Speakers sought
The European Commission is seeking people from industry, research organisations and academia who are willing to participate in these events either as a speaker or in the event workshops. The purpose of the workshops, which usually take place in the afternoon, is to give students an opportunity to come closer to their future employers, and get a clearer picture of the working environment in the field of raw materials. In parallel an exhibition might be organised, where participating organisations could promote their activities.

Below is a video ''Raw Materials – the stuff that dreams are made of'', which was shown by European Commission Vice-President Antonio Tajani at the initial University Day event at Sapienza University in Rome on 6 December.

Vice-President Tajani said at the event in Rome: "Innovation in raw materials – be it in mining, processing, recycling, or substitution – holds the key to future growth and jobs. We need our young people to take up the challenge help to create a sustainable supply and use of raw materials in the EU".



For more information on the University Days events, the point of contact at the European Commission is Marcela Válková. The video is also available German, French, Spanish, Polish and Italian.

Raw materials KIC
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched a selection process on February 14 to set up two new Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), with partners from higher education, research and business. One of the two KICs will focus on raw materials – sustainable exploration, extraction processing, recycling and substitution. The application process is open until 10 September.

"This is the first step in our expansion of the EIT, with five new KICs planned over the next seven years. We're looking for great innovators and entrepreneurs with the drive to tackle concrete challenges and deliver results. I hope that many organisations will respond to this call and join us in this exciting journey," said Androulla Vassiliou, the European Commissioner responsible for the EIT.

Following an independent evaluation of the proposals, guided by specific selection criteria, one KIC in each field will be designated.

The KICs are autonomous public-private partnerships which bring together top-class higher education institutions, research centres, companies and other organisations committed to tackling societal challenges through, among other means, the development of products, services and processes.

The partnership for the new KICs must consist of at least three organisations, established in at least three different EU Member States. It must include at least one higher education institution and one private company.

Barriers and bottlenecks to water innovation

What is hindering the development and uptake of innovations in the water sector? Do legal, technical and political barriers and bottlenecks exist? And how can they be addressed? These issues are tackled in a report just published (13 February) on the EIP Water website that was produced by an ad-hoc group of the EIP Water Task Force led by SusChem, the European Water Platform (WssTP) and an Industry Expert Group.

The findings of the report were presented to a meeting of the High Level Steering Group (HLSG) of the EIP Water on December 6 in Brussels, including European Commissioners Potocnik and Geoghegan-Quinn, by SusChem board member Gernot Klotz.. As well as identifying the main barriers and bottlenecks to innovation in the water sector, the report proposes and prioritizes a range of interventions to remove or mitigate them.

The ad-hoc group has analysed and prioritised the barriers and bottlenecks to non-technological innovation in the water sector in Europe and abroad. Priority action topics have been identified, and roadmaps for each will be drafted and agreed upon by April 2014. The actions identified include:

• development of fit-for-purpose financial instruments (e.g. revolving funds)
• the establishment of an EU-wide coherent regulatory landscape
• a structured EU coherent approach for Public-Public and Public-Private Partnerships which should also target international export markets
• improvement in  public and investor confidence by showcases and demonstration sites.

The report is now available from the EIP Water Marketplace. To download the report you will need to be registered with the site.

Breaking barriers
“Technological barriers and bottlenecks for water-related topics are tackled through the Research and Innovation programmes, such as Horizon 2020, and this is why the current report focuses on the identification of non-technological barriers,” said Antonia Morales Perez, Innovation Manager at Cefic and SusChem lead on water issues. “To remove or mitigate these barriers needs the cooperation of different stakeholders such as Member States, the European Commission, the European Parliament and Council, as well as the Water sector, Industry, Agriculture sectors and Academia.”

Among the intervention measures proposed in the report, there is a clear priority to establish an EU-wide coherent regulatory landscape that can facilitate the introduction of new technologies to the market, thereby creating the required critical mass to launch them in a competitive way.

The creation of a portfolio of “Showcases” for innovation will help to improve the confidence of public authorities, citizens and investors by demonstrating the added value of innovations in water (both technological and non-technological) and can also be utilized to replicate solutions in other locations both within and outside Europe. In addition new financing mechanisms, which facilitate innovation implementation, including dedicated models for SMEs will be pioneered.

SusChem has been highly engaged in the preparation of the report, together with the EIP Secretariat, and the platform will keep working on the preparation of the roadmaps that are to be developed for each intervention measure and will discussed in the next EIP Water Task Force meeting on April 3.

More information
For more information about SusChem and water issues, please contact Antonia Morales Perez at Cefic.

Join the Innovation Debate at the Innovation Convention 2014

European Commission President José Manuel Barroso will host the second EU Innovation Convention in Brussels on March 10 and 11. Already established as Europe’s leading innovation event, the Convention will bring together a unique gathering of world-class visionaries and innovators, including CEOs from some of Europe's top companies, young innovators and net-entrepreneurs, such as the founders of Prezi and Storify. And, of course SusChem and Cefic will be represented.

The Innovation Convention will explore innovation in all its facets and cover a variety of themes. The convention's programme can be accessed here. More than 2000 visitors are expected to attend the event to hear a range of speakers including: the CEOs of Telefonica, Jaguar Landrover, Airbus, Bayer, Nokia, Safran Group and Sanofi Aventis, Nobel Prize winner Serge Haroche, Professor Athene Donald from Cambridge and Lord Patten of Oxford, amongst many others.

You can watch the promotional video for the event below.

Innovation messages
SusChem board member and Executive Director Research and Innovation at Cefic Gernot Klotz will be taking part in a fringe meeting as part of the Convention on the afternoon of 10 March. The session organised by the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council of the European Union in 2013 and Knowledge4Innovation (K4I) will look at 'Key Innovation Messages from 2013' and follow up the results of the Vilnius Innovation Forum and the Fifth European Innovation Summit.

A main outcome of the Fifth European Innovation Summit was “Five Calls for Action to wake up Europe and make innovation happen." The participants of the Vilnius Innovation Forum focused on “Innovation Drift” and agreed a declaration containing ten principles for shaping European innovation policy. The declaration emphasizes the importance for Member States to continue to increase investments in research and innovation. European countries must also continue to work to create a common and vibrant European Innovation Ecosystem. In addition investment, both public and private, in research and innovation fosters productivity and growth and is a key for job creation. The declaration was delivered to European Commission.

As well as Gernot Klotz speakers at the session will include Lambert van Nistelrooij, MEP, Chairman of the Knowledge4innovation Forum Governing Board.

The Convention has a very varied associated fringe programme - more details can be found here.

More information
To join the innovation debate you can register for free on the event website. And you can also follow the Innovation Convention on twitter and comment using the hashtag #EUIC2014.