EFIB 2015: Is the Chemical Industry catching up with Biobased?

The European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy (EFIB) is the market leading annual event in Europe for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy. And the 2015 event on 27-29 October promises to be better than ever. The eighth EFIB takes place at The Square in Brussels and will welcome some 90 industry experts and over 700 delegates from the leading sectors in biobased value chains and address the future of the bioeconomy in Europe. SusChem and Cefic are organising a dedicated session on biobased chemical value chains as part of EFIB2015.

Industrial Biotechnology is currently worth €23 billion – this represents just 6% of sales in the overall worldwide chemicals market. However, the sector is significantly out-performing the overall chemicals market at an impressive 20% annual growth rate. and it has the potential to become the dominant technology of tomorrow’s chemicals industry representing a huge future opportunity.

Delivering on this opportunity will require significant investment, innovation and value chain development and, most importantly, new collaborations across the sector. In addition the chemical industry is faced with important challenges posed by high energy prices, the impact of the shale gas boom on the development of biobased chemicals markets and the ongoing need for predictable, coherent and supportive policy in the EU.

A biobased Chemical Industry?
In order to understand and overcome these challenges and prosper in the industrial biotechnology market, industry experts throughout the vibrant and innovative biobased community are coming together to discuss the key issues at EFIB2015.

The Cefic session at EFIB2015 takes place on the morning of 29 October and will be chaired and introduced by Pierre Barthélemy, Executive Director Research and Innovation at Cefic. The view of the European Commission DG GROW will be given by Reinhard Buescher, Head of Unit for Chemicals Industry.

Insights from industry will be presented by François Monnet from Solvay,  Dr. Henrike Gebhardt of Evonik Industries AG, Dr. Stefan Lundmark of Perstorp AB, and Dr Marcel Wubbolts from DSM. The presentations will be followed by a group discussion.

SusChem and the bioeconomy
The SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) has a dedicated chapter on ‘A Sustainable and Inclusive Bioeconomy’ and SusChem is an essential link between the chemical industry, industrial biotechnology and stakeholders in the bioeconomy.

The platform is actively involved in two large and relevant PPPs between the European Commission and industry launched in 2014:

• The Joint Technology Initiative ‘Biobased Industries’ (BBI) that brings together research and industry partners along the whole value chain of biobased products and focuses on innovation for products from biobased feedstock.
• The PPP ‘Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency’ (SPIRE) that provides a solid basis for academia, SMEs, and multinational companies to collaborate on cross-sectorial initiatives in these areas.

SusChem contributes to the alignment of both initiatives. The interface between BBI and SPIRE is the provision and use of biobased platform chemicals. In addition, both PPPs may support projects using biotechnological conversion processes and specific improvements of biotechnology processes may be eligible for funding through either PPP. SusChem will enable the coherence of ongoing and future funding initiatives and the deployment of flagship projects that demonstrate technological leadership and that Europe is a globally competitive location to invest in the bioeconomy.

More information on EFIB
Delegates to EFIB2015 will receive a comprehensive update on the status and outlook for the biobased industries in Europe and globally. EFIB is proud to foster engagement between policy makers, a broad range of stakeholders connected with the existing biobased value chain and seeks to reach out to, and include, new interlocutors. EFIB2015 is the only meeting to combine high-level discussions on business and policymaking.

If you book by 8 August you can save € 300 on your registration.

The conference kicks off with a set of pre-conference Workshops on 27 October with the full conference on 28 October and 29 October. You can request a full conference brochure here.

Nominate your European CTO 2015!

The nomination process for the European Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of the Year 2015 award is now open. And you have until 18 September to make your suggestions. Who is the most inspiring, innovative and foresighted technology leader you know in Europe?

The CTO of the Year award is given to an outstanding technology leader of an innovative European company from any industry sector: a person who is an inspiring leader, a foresighted technology manager, and who contributes to the development and sustainability of his/her industry as well as to society at large.

The award aims to promote the importance of technology and innovation for growth and competitiveness in Europe, and to find the people who can act as role models and promote the importance of technology leaders in companies of different sectors and locations.

EC recognised
The CTO of the Year event has been recognised by the European Commission. Mr. Robert-Jan Smits, General Director, DG Research and Innovation endorsed the award saying: “Europe needs to celebrate those who advance technology and innovate. Initiatives like the ‘CTO of the Year award’ are very welcome as they lead to role models and further strengthen innovation in Europe.”

The winner will be selected by a high level jury from the suggestions collected by the open call. Professor Yrjö Neuvo, former CTO of Nokia and a jury member, explains: “The European CTO of the Year Award was launched in 2014 and immediately created a lot of interest. It is given to a CTO who is both an inspiring leader and a competent technology developer. The winners are awarded in two categories in order to highlight that both SMEs and large corporations are needed to support technology-based growth in Europe. We look forward to broad participation and believe that this contest has a significant role in strengthening cross-sectorial learning and cooperation across European industries”.

In 2014, the award was given to Prof. Richard Parker of Rolls-Royce in the large companies’ category based on his personal leadership, long career in technology innovation and significant efforts in partnering with the outside world. In the SME category Dr. Gert-Jan Gruter of Avantium was the winner due to his and the company’s impressive work, focus on innovation and strong partnerships combined with the company’s future potential – and its sustainable chemistry in particular its work on advanced catalytic research.

Nominate
How can you nominate your candidate in this contest organised by Spinverse and EIRMA, the European Industrial Research Management Association? Your nominee can be any European technology leader driving technology-based sustainable growth not only in his or her company, but also in Europe and globally. Find more information and submit your nomination by 18 September here.

For more information contact Terhi Marttila at Spinverse.

Connecting with Chemistry

The latest issue of Horizon 2020 Projects: Portal features an interview with SusChem coordinator Dr. Jacques Komornicki. In the article (see below) Jacques talks about the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).

The article outlines the societal challenges that the SusChem SIRA addresses. Jacques also discusses the overall impact of Horizon 2020 and how SusChem is contributing to its evolution and helping to encourage the greater participation of industry in the research and innovation programme.

You can access the article directly here.

Horizon2020projects
Horizon2020projects.com provides up-to-the-minute information on the Horizon2020: European Commission’s latest and largest ever research and innovation framework programme.

The Horizon2020projects.com web portal is dedicated to providing information for the many hundreds of thousands of interested parties. No area of Horizon 2020 is left unexplored and feature news articles and web interviews are used to cover every aspect of the framework programme, with contributors from every sector involved.

For more information contact the editorial staff.

Innovation across Regions: Shaping Solutions for Resource Efficiency in Europe

To mark the end of the successful three-year SusChem-inspired FP7 project Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency (R4R), the project team will be presenting its final findings and recommendations on 30 September in Nice, France. The R4R closing event will be part of the major ECCE10 + ECAB3 + EPIC5 conference.

The combined 10th European Congress of Chemical Engineering, 3rd European Congress of Applied Biotechnology and 5th European Process Intensification Conference is the perfect venue to present the R4R findings.

The R4R workshop will gather policymakers, regional experts, captains of industry and academia to hear the key learnings from the project and provides an excellent discussion forum to exchange and discuss ideas on how chemical and related industries along their various chemical value chains can be transformed into eco-efficient, high-technology solution providers – and a key enabling element of the circular economy.

At the R4R workshop you can:

• Learn about the role of regions in promoting resource efficiency
• Discuss with policy makers, industrial players, entrepreneurs and academia during our networking breaks
• Engage in discussions during dedicated panel debates with mentors from R4R's four flagship initiatives to implement recommendations for a resource efficient Europe
• Hear about resource efficiency success stories with keynote speeches from representatives from R4R's six European regions
• Explore our exhibition space
• Shape future prospects for the R4R flagship initiatives including topics such as industrial symbiosis, education and bio-based SMEs.

A complete overview of the workshop will be available soon, but the draft agenda is available now.

Register now!
To register for the R4R workshop you need to register for the entire ECCE 10 + ECAB 3 + EPIC 5 conference that takes place from 26 September to 1 October. A special Early-Bird rate is offered for the first 150 persons who register at this link! The discount code is: ECCE-CEFIC1

The full ECCE 10 + ECAB 3 + EPIC 5 conference programme can be accessed here.

For more information, please contact Jacques Komornicki, Cefic Innovation Manager. We look forward to seeing you in September in Nice!

About R4R
Under the Chemical Regions for Resource Efficiency (R4R) project, launched in late 2012, six complementary European chemical regions came together to overcome fragmentation and create a platform for international collaboration on resource efficiency. A Joint Action Plan was developed comprising tools and best practise to improve the triple helix collaboration between the participating regions involving industry, academia and public sector.  Find out more at the R4R website.

RESIDE gets Results

The heating and cooling of buildings contributes around 30% of the gross energy demand in Europe. Although new buildings follow more stringent energy efficiency standards, the existing and extensive estate of old buildings with poor energy rating is significant. Around 35-40% of Europe’s building stock was built before 1960 and 45-50% of the remainder before 1991. The density of old building stock varies extensively by regions, but the vast majority of Europe’s built environment more than 25 years old. In order to meet its emission and energy consumption reduction targets, Europe needs to urgently target and refurbish these older buildings in a cost-effective way.

Launched in December 2013 the SusChem-inspired FP7 project RESIDE aimed at supporting the implementation of EU Strategies to boost demand for innovation in the buildings refurbishment market by:

• Adapting and applying of a promising emerging scientific approach, Technology Innovation Systems (TIS) for an extended localised market assessment
• Defining, implementing and monitoring multi-level strategic roadmaps for Demand Sides Policy Measures (DSPM), based on the TIS market assessments, and
• Proactive engagement of all target groups in the whole process

CEFIC was a partner in RESIDE together with CiaoTech (Italy), Bax & Willems (Spain) and the University of Utrecht (NL)

RESIDE has assessed the market and set up a baseline scenario of the EU refurbishment sector with a focus on three EU regions (Lombardia-Italy, Catalonia-Spain, Noord Brabant-The Netherlands), using the TIS methodology to identify the interactions among different parts of the system.

The main results of RESIDE, in particular from the TIS analysis and confirmed through direct discussions with the regional stakeholders, are that the three regions have clear targets and comprehensive plans for building refurbishment and that the main barriers to implementation are not the existence of financing schemes or refurbishments technologies from construction companies but are more due to:

• Lack of knowledge of existing schemes
• The speed of market formation
• Resource mobilisation issues

Smart cities
The final results of the eighteen-month RESIDE project were presented to the General Assembly of the European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities (EIP SCC) at the Metropolitan Solutions conference in Berlin on 21 May 2015.

RESIDE representatives attended the plenary session of the EIP Smart Cities Conference, chaired by European Commissioner for Transport Mrs. Violeta Bulc and European Commissioner for Digital Economy and Society Mr. Günther H. Oettinger. The conference attracted more than 450 representatives of EU organisations and communities including Mayors, CEOs and High-level speakers from all around Europe. The RESIDE project displayed a poster as part of the EIP event within the Berlin “Metropolitan Solutions” fair along with other 20 EU-funded projects on similar topics.

The RESIDE work raised high interest with the stakeholders present. In particular, Commissioner Bulc (see above Commissioner Bulc centre with Laszlo Bax on left from RESIDE) showed high interest in the RESIDE methodology and the three regional case studies, asking for more feedback on project’s results.

In the afternoon sessions, Laszlo Bax, the RESIDE project coordinator, presented the final results of the project to the EIP SCC’s Action Cluster “Sustainable Districts and Built Environment”. The Action cluster, chaired by Mrs. Rinske van Heiningen of Akzo Nobel and the Action Cluster leader, gathered about 40 people, all experts with multidisciplinary background and experience including architects, representatives of various EIP SCC commitments, entrepreneurs, university professors specialising in urban planning and energy efficiency in building, among other disciplines.

Finally, RESIDE partners participated to the break-out sessions on “Business Models for Sustainable Districts” and “District Regeneration” where representatives of the Action Cluster further discussed these topics and links and synergies with the EIP SCC in general, including the next steps for follow up.

RESIDE received several expressions of interest for future collaborations and was included in the list of projects on which the Action Cluster wants to push for a follow up within the EIP SCC community.

Helsinki Chemicals Forum 2015 and SusChem

Every year since 2009 in late spring, a meeting takes place in Helsinki that is of major relevance to chemicals manufacturers and their customers. And not just those whose businesses operate mainly in Europe.  The annual Helsinki Chemicals Forum (HCF) is hosted by the European Chemicals Agency, a body which was set up by the European Commission to manage the ongoing implementation of the EU's Regulation, Evaluation and Authorisation of Chemicals legislation (REACH). SusChem board member Prof Rodney Townsend is a regular presenter at the meeting and here he reports on the 2015 meeting for SusChem News.

This year the Helsinki Chemicals Forum met at the end of May. All of the five main discussion topics had very much in mind the stated  aspiration of the planned 2020 World Summit on Sustainable Development, which is to achieve by 2020 a minimisation of 'the adverse effects of man-made chemicals on human health and the environment'.  An emphasis that ran through the whole meeting was the proposed Transatlantic Trade Investment Partnership (TTIP) between the EU and USA and what the implications of this might be in terms of harmonisation of regulations for chemicals between the two trading areas.

TTIP and REACH
Dr Klaus Berend from the European Commission’s DG Growth is currently advising the TTIP negotiators regarding REACH-related issues. He gave a summary of the current state of negotiations to the HCF participants and emphasised that under TTIP, neither the EU nor the USA will lower current safety standards.  Indeed, both parties will maintain their right to continue to raise them, but for the TTIP to work, harmonisation of current legislative policies is essential.  A further key issue is that neither party will impose their system on the other.  These negotiation principles have important implications for chemicals manufacturers as they seek to develop more sustainable products, whether their markets are primarily in the EU or USA or span both current trading areas.

SusChem is by its very nature highly committed to sustainable development.  Similarly, implementation of and changes in REACH regulations, or their equivalents in the USA, are critically important to any company committed to sustainable innovation.

SusChem was represented at the HCF meeting by myself (second left above) and Erwin Annys, Director of REACH Chemicals Policy at Cefic (centre above), also attended.  Erwin and I were both directly involved in the fifth Panel Discussion topic, entitled ‘Green Chemistry and Engineering – a Fundamental Breakthrough?’  The Panel discussed the basic tenets of the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry which were first enunciated nearly a quarter of a century ago by Paul Anastas, who currently works for the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Is Green chemistry sustainable?
The Panel and audience (which added its thoughts via tweets and texts) concluded that it was time to review the Twelve Principles because their focus is almost wholly on the activities of chemists and not on the manufacturing process as a whole.

Specifically the following points were made during the discussion:

• 'Green chemistry' is not the same as 'green chemicals'.  This may seem an obvious point, but the Panel felt that it was not one which legislators always appreciated.  It was noted that current legislation in the USA emphasises just chemicals in final products rather than looking holistically at the sustainable manufacturing system.  See for example: http://www.epa.gov/oppt/existingchemicals/pubs/principles.html and https://www.dtsc.ca.gov/LawsRegsPolicies/Regs/SCPA.cfm. 
• Although the environmental imperative is the most critical factor in considering sustainable product design, no future process will be truly sustainable if it is not also societally beneficial and economically viable.  This is a key part of SusChem’s 2020 Strategy and also underpins the Europe 2020 growth strategy.  It is for this reason that SusChem prefers not to present ‘green chemistry’ as the answer per se.
• This holistic thinking must extend along whole value chains; what might seem ideal at one point in the chain may have major implications further along the value chain. This is also central to SusChem’s strategic approach.
• In the light of the recent EU Circular Economy initiative there is a strong need for a rethink issues related to waste disposal and re-use. In particular, Principle 1, which just states: 'It is better to prevent waste than to treat it or clean up waste chemicals', needs a major overhaul.

The general conclusion that was drawn at the HCF was that the time is overdue to update the Twelve Principles of Green Chemistry.  How this should be done and who should do it is not yet entirely clear, but that it should be done is crystal clear.

In line with movements in global scientific and technological developments, holistic thinking across all disciplinary barriers must proceed apace, especially in the light of the enormous changes and opportunities implicit in the coupling of intelligent computing with 'big data'. This matter will be the subject of a further blog article in the near future.

Sustainable Chemistry in Action: A close look at how science can change the world for the better

Science and sustainable chemistry has had an enormous impact on the development of a healthier and more sustainable and prosperous society, yet there is still so much to be done to tackle the world’s most pressing problems such as poverty, hunger, disease and climate change. Every day, scientists across the globe strive to provide answers to these global challenges, going to great lengths and making huge personal sacrifices to develop real solutions.



Dutch chemical and biotechnology company Royal DSM are using the tagline 'Bright Science. Brighter Living' to talk about these challenges and possible solutions. The company is paying tribute to the unsung heroes of our time: the world’s scientists who inspire us by making a positive difference to our society (see the video above).

This campaign aims to start a conversation with the general public, NGOs, governments, businesses and other stakeholders about the importance of science with positive societal purpose. In order to have real societal impact, science should be a truly collaborative effort. Please feel free to share the campaign video that can be found on YouTube  and visiting the dedicated website.

You can also follow DSM on twitter (@DSM) with the campaign hashtag #brightscience, on Facebook, and they have a dedicated YouTube channel too.