SusChem responds to Horizon 2020 Interim Consultation

SusChem has submitted a position paper and a completed questionnaire to the Horizon 2020 Interim consultation. The results of the consultation will feed into planning for Horizon 2020’s successor programme (currently with the working title ‘FP9’) for 2021 and beyond. The Commission will publish a summary of views from the consultation by mid-2017.

The SusChem position paper has three key messages for the Commission:

PPPs are important for impact

The paper states one of the main aspects in Horizon 2020 is the drive for Innovation. It notes that Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), such as SPIRE and BBI, are important instruments that promote competitiveness, participation of partners along the value chain and foster a networking balance between SMEs and large industries. SusChem believes that this combination of SMEs, public partners and large companies is critical to cross the “technology valley of death” and this combination should be targeted as a long term committed initiative for Horizon 2020 and its successors.

Key Enabling Technologies (KETs) are key

The chemical industry provides sustainable and innovative solutions (KETs) that address the Societal Challenges identified by the European Commission under Horizon 2020. SusChem believes that innovative technologies and processes are the way to overcome the growth stagnation of European Industry. The platform thinks that National Technology Platforms (NTPs) have a fundamental role positioning their geographical strengths and needs to build a strong European technological and political network.

Project Success Rates can be improved

SusChem notes the almost halving of the success rate for project proposals in Horizon 2020 compared to FP7. SusChem believes this can be improved by more accurate call definitions with funding focused on a short list of major breakthrough innovation topics, with higher funding for more high quality projects. More precise call definitions will also enable better quality reviews of proposals.  

In addition the SusChem Position Paper highlights support for the two-stage call approach in Horizon 2020 and but highlights intellectual property (IP) concerns with the move to an Open Science approach as too hasty publications may hinder IP protection and therefore value creation.

The paper also stresses the importance of attracting a mix of SMEs and large industries to participate in Horizon 2020 and its successors seeking a continuation of the balance of public funding for SMEs and large chemical companies that is crucial to improve competitiveness in Europe.  

The paper argues that Improved Time to Grant for project funding is critical to maintain and increase industrial participation in Horizon 2020. In addition appropriate funding levels for projects is required with higher funding needed in particular to bridge upfront technologies and processes over the ‘valley of death’. Higher funding for innovation projects (TRL 6-8), demonstration and flagship actions is necessary. The paper also highlights that administrative costs for project consortia formation have increased in Horizon 2020.

SusChem recommends
SusChem’s position paper includes with the following specific recommendations:

• A substantial coverage of topics in lower TRLs (Technical Readiness Level 3 – 5) and few topics at demonstration and pilot levels (TRL > 7) with appropriate levels of funding is required.
• Strengthen the Public Private Partnership concept as a long term committed initiative; increase their attractiveness for large industry by higher funding for more flagship-oriented projects.
• Focus the Horizon 2020 programme on fewer/bigger topics related to Europe’s strengths that can receive more funding to enable mission focused Flagship Project(s) for the chemical industry.
• Focus on fewer topics but fund at least four high quality proposals, allowing a holistic approach for a specific scientific challenge.
• To achieve a better participation balance in Horizon 2020 between large industries, SMEs, academia, and Member States (EU-13 and new Member States) an improvement of call topic selection is strongly required.
• Earlier publication of call topics allowing possible partners to align themselves with their business planning is desirable
• All the calls for proposals should be based on a two-stage process: this would allow a simplification of the workload of the involved consortia. Criteria: (i) the time for evaluation of the first stage should be faster with a shorter deadline between stages one and two; (ii) the coherence between the evaluations in both phases can be improved.
• Better and more precise feedback for rejected projects is highly desirable.
• Horizon 2020 is an important R&I funding mechanism, but overall may represent only a portion of total R&I funding/support available in the EU through other programmes and/or member state instruments. A better integration between different funding mechanisms is highly desirable.
• High-level support in the Member States and the European Parliament is required to achieve the rejuvenation of the process industry in Europe.

SusChem impact
The SusChem Position Paper concludes by discussing the preliminary impact of selected FP7 and Horizon 2020 projects by highlighting a range of SusChem inspired projects in five relevant fields covering sustainable chemistry contributions in process industries, circular economy, and energy efficiency amongst others. The fields highlighted are:

• Water Management 
• Catalysis and Processes
• ICT/Digitisation and Processes
• Sustainable Bioeconomy
• Materials for Energy

You can download the full SusChem Position Paper here and SusChem’s completed questionnaire here. For more information on SusChem activities visit the SusChem website or email the SusChem secretariat.

2016 SusChem End of Year Message

Dear colleagues and members of the SusChem community,

The year 2016 represented a significant milestone for SusChem. Together we defined five main priority areas for our research and innovation activities in sustainable chemistry -  Sustainable bio-economy, ICT for processes, Water, Catalysis and Processes, and Materials for Energy  -  and developed a comprehensive plan for following up other important topics.

During the year a number of SusChem inspired projects delivered significant results, most notably the E4Water project, that demonstrated the very tangible impact of our research and innovation agenda. 2016 also saw SusChem act to facilitate enhanced collaboration and cooperation between the two SusChem inspired Public Private Partnerships: the BBI Joint Undertaking and SPIRE.

We successfully held our annual Stakeholder event in June, as usual in Brussels, and a very successful Brokerage event in Seville in September during the 6th European Chemical Congress. New Working Groups were created and substantial and significant input, based on the needs of our sector, was gathered, delivered to the European Commission and well received by them. Moreover, our network of National Technology Platforms expanded to include a record number of fourteen Member States.

Towards the end of the year we launched our new SusChem identity at a reception in the European Parliament. This rebranding campaign will continue into 2017 including a revision of the SusChem website.

But above all, the greatest success factor for SusChem in 2016 was YOU! Your commitment, trust and involvement strengthened SusChem and motivated the platform in its mission to represent the significant sustainable chemistry research and innovation efforts of the Chemical Industry within the chemical science community, to the European Institutions, and beyond.

On behalf of the SusChem Board and the SusChem secretariat, I would like to thank you for your continuing engagement and we wish you all very happy and relaxing holidays and a healthy, happy and “sustainable” New Year. 2017 will be another important year for SusChem and we look forward to working with you on new SusChem inspired initiatives over the next 12 months.

Best wishes,

Dr Klaus H. Sommer
Chairman of the SusChem Board

SusChem 2016 Brokerage in Seville breaks records!

The SusChem 2016 Brokerage event took place in Seville on 13 September and was attended by some 100 participants including SusChem Board Member Fernando Moreno who presented the introduction to the event and Soren Bowadt Programme Officer at DG Research and Innovation who is SusChem’s primary contact in the Commission. At the start of the Project Ideas Session Anne Chloe Devic, the Coordinator for SusChem National Technology Platforms, welcomed the speakers to the first SusChem European brokerage event ever organised outside of Brussels. 

The Brokerage event was hosted in Spain thanks to SusChem Spain, in conjunction with one of the biggest events of the year for the chemical community: the Sixth European Chemistry Congress. Our thanks to Cristina Gonzalez, the secretary of SusChem Spain, who was the prime mover in organising the event and acted as the chair of the meeting.

In the opening presentation, Fernando Moreno stressed the importance of such brokerage events and recalled the essential role that SMEs are playing in the formation of new projects. Soren Bowadt reviewed the policy context for the Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Advanced Manufacturing and Processing, and Biotechnology (NMBP) programme in Horizon 2020 and stressed the importance of the SPIRE and BBI PPPs, with which SusChem is very much aligned.

He made an overview of those projects that succeeded in obtaining grants in the 2014-2015 calls, gave an indicative overview of funding by the Commission for the last remaining years of Horizon 2020 and then detailed the 2017 calls, which were the main subject of the event. Soren also gave some hints on how to prepare a good project proposal.

Record-breaking

The event continued with the presentation of 22 proposals, out of which 19 were from companies - including from 13 SMEs. This is a record in terms of the proportion of industrial participation and specifically participation by SMEs.

Another record that was broken at the event was the number of bilateral meetings requested on the Connexme application, which reached 100!

And last but not least, a lively speed-dating session took place that continued right up to the closing of the event. We hope that the event will lead to the birth of many new and successful projects!

You can now download all the authorised presentations from the event, including the ideas presentations, here.

Horizon 2020: 2017 work programme announced!

This week (25 July) the European Commission unveiled its updated Horizon 2020 work programme for 2017. The packages announced by the Commission confirmed that in 2017 Horizon 2020 will support a range of SusChem relevant initiatives including Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€325 million) to develop strong and sustainable economies; Green Vehicles (€133 million); and Smart and Sustainable Cities (€115 million) to better integrate environmental, transport, energy and digital networks in the EU's urban environments.

Don’t forget you can find out more – and start building your project consortia for 2017 Horizon 2020 calls – at the SusChem Brokerage event on Tuesday 13 September in Seville.

In addition it was announced by Commissioner Moedas that for 2017 open research data will be introduced as the ‘norm’ for all new Horizon 2020 calls: projects funded under the programme will be required to offer free online access to all scientific data produced. The Commission believes that this move will boost competitiveness by accelerating innovation and collaboration, improving transparency, and avoiding duplication of efforts.

However, the Commission is aware that there are cases where research data cannot be open. Projects therefore have the possibility to opt out of the scheme, provided a valid justification is given such as protection of intellectual property.

A further new element in Horizon 2020 will be the use of Data Management Plans (DMPs), detailing what data the project will generate, whether and how it will be made accessible for verification and re-use, and how it will be curated and preserved. The use of a DMP is required for projects participating in the Open Research Data Pilot. Other projects are invited to submit a DMP if relevant for their planned research but only funded projects are required to submit a DMP.

See an infographic on how this will work in practice here, find out more on Open Research Data here and more on the proposals for Horizon 2020 Data Management here.

2017 key priorities

The Commission wants the 2017 Horizon 2020 work programme update to support competitiveness through open science. The calls and other actions under the current work programme updates have a budget of €8.5 billion. All the calls and related information are published on a single portal and build on the success of Horizon 2020 to date.

The Horizon 2020 Work Programme is directly aligned with the agenda of the Commission. It will contribute to the Jobs, Growth and Investment Package helping to strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness through innovation to create new and sustainable jobs and promote growth.

The 2017 announcement highlighted six priorities:

• A new Boost for Jobs, Growth and Investment - Research and innovation investments will cover both the immediate need to engage the re-industrialisation of Europe as well as the longer-term objective of building solid knowledge needed for the next wave of innovative breakthroughs. This includes around €1.45 billion of funding for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including €438 million through a dedicated instrument which should benefit over 1 000 highly innovative SMEs.
• A Stronger Global Actor, Towards a New Policy on Migration, and an Area of Justice and Fundamental Rights Based on Mutual Trust – this demonstrates the flexibility of Horizon 2020 to address topical issues including an €11 million package of migration actions and €49 million to assist research on the Fight against crime and terrorism. 
• A Resilient Energy Union with a Forward-Looking Climate Change Policy – to ensure that Europe has secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy including initiatives to close the water cycle gap, by reconciling water supply and demand in both quantitative and qualitative terms with a budget of €10 million in the 'Greening the economy' call and research to support the future development of a production base for next generation Lithium battery cells or post-lithium battery cells under the Green Vehicles cPPP.  In total the 2017 energy calls dedicate more than €84 million for developing energy storage systems improving the flexibility of the energy grid to integrate an increasing share of renewables.
• A Deeper and Fairer Internal Market with a Strengthened Industrial Base – this priority includes a call on Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€225 million) which will contribute to boosting and renewing Europe's industrial capacities while ensuring sustainability and a call on personalised medicine (€332 million).
• A Connected Digital Single Market – to address existing barriers that access and providing innovative digital solutions including in electronics, computing, networking, robotics, photonics and cybersecurity.
• Cross-cutting and other features - supporting a range of cross-cutting initiatives in 2017 including Industry 2020 in the Circular Economy (€325 million) and Smart and Sustainable Cities (€115 million).

Research Integrity

The EU's Horizon 2020 research funding programme has now a more specific set of rules on research integrity to be followed by beneficiaries. The revamped model agreement provides more clarity on previously general requirements contained in Article 34 of the agreement. The article now explicitly calls for beneficiaries to respect the principles of honesty, reliability, objectivity, impartiality, open communication, duty of care, and fairness and responsibility for future science generations.

The European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity has recently been revised in a process led by All European Academies (ALLEA), and once updated, in January 2017, the new code together with the revised Article 34 will constitute an effective mechanism to promote adherence to the highest standards of research integrity across Europe.

European Parliament Safeguards Horizon 2020 Funding

Meanwhile earlier this month the European Parliament adopted an own-initiative report that calls on the Commission and the European Council to support the report’s proposal to safeguard Europe’s research and innovation budget in the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF).

In its report, the European Parliament “regrets that the portion of the EU budget dedicated to research and innovation has often been the first to be affected by any cuts in the budget” and demands an increase to the ceiling of the competitiveness heading of the MFF in order to compensate for European Fund for Strategic Investments (EFSI) related cuts.

More information

More details on the work programme update are available at here and on the Horizon 2020 website and Participant portal.

The SusChem Brokerage event will also outline SusChem relevant work package details and help participants to find project partners and start their Horizon 2020 journey! Register today! 

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: Bioeconomy focus

This year’s SusChem stakeholder event takes place on 16 June in Brussels. One of the areas for discussion at the stakeholder event will be SusChem and the sustainable bioeconomy. In this blog Flavio Benedito, SusChem secretary and Cefic Innovation Manager (pictured below) responsible for this SusChem priority area, outlines the field, its many areas of innovation for sustainable chemistry and how you can participate in the discussion on the sustainable bioeconomy at #suschem16.

A sustainable bioeconomy is one of the five SusChem priority areas for innovation. The European Commission sees the bioeconomy as Europe's response to the key environmental challenges that the world is facing today. Promoting the bioeconomy will help to reduce Europe’s dependence on natural resources, transform manufacturing, promote sustainable production of renewable resources and encourage their conversion into food, feed, fibre, biobased products and bioenergy, while growing new jobs and industries.

Over the coming decades, the world will witness increased competition for limited and finite natural resources. A 70% increase of the world food supply will be  required to feed the nine billion global population by 2050.

A transition will be needed towards an optimal use of renewable biological resources. We must move towards sustainable primary production and processing systems that can produce more food, fibre and other biobased products with fewer inputs, less environmental impact and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

Managed in a sustainable manner, the bioeconomy can help build a more competitive, innovative and prosperous Europe by:

• sustaining a wide range of public goods, including biodiversity and ecosystem services,
• reducing the environmental footprint of primary production and the supply chain as a whole
• increasing competitiveness,
• enhancing Europe's self-reliance, and
• providing jobs and business opportunities.

SusChem and the bioeconomy
A sustainable bioeconomy features in the SusChem Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA) encompassing the production of renewable biological resources and the conversion of these resources and associated waste streams into value-added products such as feed, food, biobased products and bioenergy.

Integrated biorefineries are central to the development of the bioeconomy and were one SusChem’s original flagship innovation concepts. They can deliver new sources of chemical building blocks that are either structurally similar to fossil-based feedstock or new with novel functionalities and improved properties. In order to unlock the full potential of a sustainable biomass supply, it is essential to consider all possible sources including second generation biomass and waste streams (such as municipal wastes). The bioeconomy can improve resource efficiency and is a key element in achieving the broader concept of a circular, integrated, renewable economy.

Innovation is also a key solution provider for the transition to a more Circular Economy and the development by the chemical sector of innovative advanced materials and process technologies is essential to enable a better use of existing resources along the whole life cycle, to develop new production and recycling paths.

SusChem – an essential link
SusChem is an essential link between the chemical industry, industrial biotechnology and stakeholders in the bioeconomy and is actively involved in two large and relevant PPPs between the European Commission and industry that were launched in 2014: the ‘Biobased Industries’ (BBI) Joint Undertaking that brings together research and industry partners along the whole value chain of biobased products and focuses on innovation for products from biobased feedstock; and the ‘Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency’ (SPIRE) PPP 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 and recently participated in the successful BBI Info Day.

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 is working to ensure the coherence of on-going 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.

Stakeholder discussions
A highly interactive debate is expected at the Stakeholder event on 16 June and your questions and expectations on the outcomes for the panel debates, in particular on water treatment, reuse and management, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is now open. This dedicated registration website includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels - the venue for the event.

You are invited to submit your questions and comments and also your expectations for outcomes as part of the registration process. You can submit your questions and comments when you register and there will also be a link for question submission sent with the registration confirmation email.

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: Sustainable Water Solutions

This year’s SusChem stakeholder event takes place on 16 June in Brussels. One of the areas for discussion at the stakeholder event will be Water. In this blog Henk Pool, Cefic Innovation Manager responsible for this SusChem priority area, outlines the field, its many areas of innovation for sustainable chemistry and how you can participate in the discussion at #suschem16.

Water is was one of the five SusChem priority areas for innovation. The European Commission’s action plan for ‘Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy’ translates literally to the realm of the chemical industry and its customers. Development of technologies enabling closing of water loops are highlighted in the two SusChem inspired European PPPs - Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and energy Efficiency (SPIRE) and Bio-Based Industries (BBI) – and are working to enable industry to seize the opportunities offered by water innovation programmes.

In the spring of 2016 SusChem set up a working group of water experts from industry to identify and develop the SusChem ‘Water Innovation Agenda’ at a European level and to build the base for future funding calls, projects and collaborations.

Water and Sustainable Chemistry
Water is a scarce resource and a critical element for the development of our society and economy. The continuing increase in urbanisation and agricultural production combined with new demands from the development of biobased and eco-industries and the need to preserve biodiversity and the natural ecosystem put high demands on water management. The chemical industry is a user of water but it is also an important solution provider of innovative products, technologies and services which can enable more sustainable water management. On this front, SusChem and the chemical industry are very active in the European Innovation Partnership Water (Water EIP).

Water is used in the chemical industry for many purposes including processing, washing, diluting and heating, cooling, and transporting product. The chemical industry aims at near-zero discharge of water by using closed-loop systems. The control of impurities in closed water systems needs a combination of real time monitoring tools and sensors, highly selective separation processes and new water treatments to prevent fouling and corrosion.

Water efficiency measures are also aligned with targets to reduce energy consumption: energy consumption is a critical indicator when developing new technologies for water management and water treatment.

Water symbiosis and delivery of ‘fit-for-purpose’ water are considered as key elements to ensure and enable the optimal and integrated (re)use of water not only for the chemical industry but also in collaboration with other sectors including urban and agricultural use.

Focus on Water Innovation
The new SusChem working group is currently completing its efforts and formulating recommendations, but broad areas for water innovation programmes already identified include:

• Water sources & availability Sources of water which have not been widely used, are now increasingly considered as important sources including desalination, re-use of treated wastewater, rainwater harvesting and gas humidity condensation (such as cooling tower blowdown). Different technical options are in development to access these sources with their specific implementation strongly dependent on local conditions. Development of ‘tailor-made’ system solutions and scale up testing for robust industrial processes will be required.
• Water treatment, reuse & resource recovery, and cross industry symbioses. ‘Fit for Purpose’ will become the driving force in water treatment and management. Developments required for full scale implementation of this new paradigm include:
• Development of new chemical additives for water treatment to facilitate reuse. 
• Economically effective solutions to remove and recover salts from industry water.
• Development of advanced membrane technologies to increase selectivity, reduce energy use and reduce maintenance operations (fouling resistance).
• Resource recovery (“circular economy”), development of novel highly selective and energy-efficient separation technologies to recover specific resources (e.g. phosphorous) from industry wastewater.
• Water analysis including online analysis & process development. Making the next steps forward in closing loops in industry water systems will require development of water monitoring systems and tools that are able to analyse water quality and quantity constantly. These analytical tools combined with process control will allow the closing of the water loops. Specific attention to the development of analytical instruments capable of determining the level of water disinfection required (e.g. to tackle legionella bacteria) will be required. Full understanding of the process in combination with advance process control will allow optimised dosing of treatment chemicals. Today these chemicals are added at high levels as a preventative measure. Better monitoring can ensure appropriate, lower dosing.
• Water distribution, in particular loss of water in distribution networks. Fresh water distribution systems can lose up to 20% of their water capacity due to leaks in their pipes and poor maintenance. Replacement of aging distribution infrastructure is expensive and/or impossible. The chemical industry has solutions that it would like to develop with partners along the value chain allowing retrofit leak repair of water distribution systems.

E4Water shows the way
A recently completed SusChem inspired and EU funded project E4Water has shown what is possible in the chemical and related sectors in terms of water management. At the project’s final conference in April 2016, new integrated approaches for efficient and sustainable water management were presented. Each of the six industrial case studies that formed the core of the project illustrated the ability to de-couple the growing economic activity of the chemical industry from actual water use. By carefully selecting the right water treatment and management processes and systems the six examples were able to demonstrate on an industrial scale who the chemical sector can enable water to be reused several times – our goal of near zero discharge of water is getting within reach!

You can download the final results brochure from the E4Water project here.

Water innovation potential
The European industry, led by the chemical industry, clearly has the opportunity to develop knowledge and solutions to radically reduce consumption of water and, as a consequence, reduce energy consumption too.

By developing these sustainable solutions Europe is gaining competitive advantage that can create new high-skilled jobs, while reducing its consumption of resources and energy, increasing its production capacity and continuing to create the innovative products that a changing global society needs.an excellent Moreover it shows how

SusChem inspired initiatives such as SPIRE are helping to make sustainable water use in a wide cross-section of European industries a reality. Close cooperation and alignment in the definition phases of the funding calls available under Horizon 2020 across all PPPs and all levels of stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure that all the needs of the process industries are fully considered.

Stakeholder discussions
A highly interactive debate is expected at the Stakeholder event on 16 June and your questions and expectations on the outcomes for the panel debates, in particular on water treatment, reuse and management, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is now open. This dedicated registration website includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels - the venue for the event.

You are invited to submit your questions and comments and also your expectations for outcomes as part of the registration process. You can submit your questions and comments when you register and there will also be a link for question submission sent with the registration confirmation email.

SusChem Stakeholder 2016: ICT and #DigitiseEU

This year’s SusChem stakeholder event takes place on 16 June in Brussels. One of the major areas for discussion at the stakeholder event will be advances and issues in information and communication technologies (ICT) in the process industries. Martin Winter, Cefic Innovation Manager responsible for this SusChem priority area, outlines some of the issues up for debate and where your input is sought.

ICT for process was one of the five priority areas for innovation identified at our successful 2015 Stakeholder event. The recent European Commission communication on ‘Digitising European Industry – Reaping the full benefits of a Digital Single Market’ highlighted the role of the SusChem supported PPPs - Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and energy Efficiency (SPIRE) and Bio-Based Industries (BBI) - to help industry seize the new opportunities offered by ICT enabled innovation.

On 10 March SusChem organised a workshop involving around 20 ICT experts from companies and academia to discuss ‘Digitisation’ on the European level and to build the base for future funding calls, projects and collaborations.

SusChem, Process ICT and #DigitiseEU

From new forms of production to innovative business models the process industry is about to experience a revolution enabled by digital technologies.  Digitisation is expected to have a high impact on modernising Europe's production capabilities and can boost European process industries in the race for global competitiveness and sustainability.

The European chemical industry is a strong contributor to the roots of the European economy. Digitisation is already present in all aspects of the sector’s activities as it is essential from logistics, product and process design, planning, plant operations and plant safety to marketing/sales and customer integration.

In addition, smart materials developed by the chemical industry enable new and higher performing  ICT developments in printable-, wearable-, nano-electronics or 3D printing techniques and also allow more sustainable manufacture of new electronic devices avoiding material losses and waste generation.

To remain competitive, future factories will need well-integrated ICT systems as production increasingly uses digital innovations such as data capture, planning and control, modelling and simulation, cloud computing and big data analysis enabled by high performance computers and data connections. Data analytics will allow enterprises to convert data into knowledge, and effectively contribute to more efficient and safer processes with less environmental impact by more efficient management of resources, water and energy.

Focus for chemicals

With a focus on the manufacturing environment, important categories for further development for the chemical industry include:

• Modelling, Simulation and Forecasting: Integration of modelling of single processes into production routes with modelling extended to all levels of automation, including scheduling and management systems as well as on-line decision making processes.
• Real Time Data Availability: Development of hard- and soft-sensors for continuous processes that are reliable, fast, accurate and contact-less for use in intelligent self-optimising measurement systems along the whole production route and fully integrated in the plant automation environment.
• Transformation of ‘Big Data’ into Lean Information: Identifying universal solutions for handling large amounts of data, methods to improve their reliability, techniques to assign them to product performance and explaining their practical meaning to all relevant applications.
• Intelligent Self-learning Systems: Building models based on data and results, which continue to learn and broaden the scope of the models, based on closed loop performance monitoring.
• Condition Based Advanced Maintenance: Developing tools and methods based on models, sensors, diagnosis and data analysis to allow remote control of equipment, prediction and prevention of failures, identification of trends and avoidance of efficiency losses and unwanted stoppages.
• Product Quality Monitoring: Implementing integrated quality control factory-wide systems to monitor the evolution of quality across the production route by calling on information technology to better link process operations and plant logistics to give production flexibility.
• Resource and Energy/ Lifecycle analysis (LCA): Enabling monitoring of environmental targets (energy / water use, CO₂-emissions etc.) in all control systems as an additional set of constraints to optimise the overall sustainable performance.
• Data Privacy: Developing advanced security solutions to prevent misuse of stored data and protect plant control systems or cloud-stored data from malicious attack.
• Human-Machine Interface: Developing intuitive and user friendly interfaces for (plant)-managers, operators etc., information and their interpretation have to be available at all times in all locations.

Digital potential

However, digitisation has even greater potential to improve the European chemical industry. By using the full potential of high speed connectivity, the internet of things, cloud computing and cyber-physical systems in and for manufacturing, Europe can create new high-skilled jobs, reduce its consumption of resources and energy, increase its production capacity and continue to create the innovative products which a changing society needs.

SusChem inspired initiatives such as SPIRE are helping to make digitisation of European industries a reality. Close cooperation and alignment in the definition phases of the funding calls available under Horizon 2020 across all PPPs and all levels of stakeholder involvement is necessary to ensure that all the needs of the process industries are fully considered.

Stakeholder discussions

A highly interactive debate is expected at the Stakeholder event on 16 June and your questions and expectations on the outcomes for the panel debates, in particular on ICT and process issues, are welcome in advance.

Registration for the 2016 SusChem Stakeholder event is now open. This dedicated registration website includes links to discounted accommodation at the Hotel Bloom in Brussels - the venue for the event.

You are invited to submit your questions and comments and also your expectations for outcomes as part of the registration process. You can submit your questions and comments when you register and there will also be a link for question submission sent with the registration confirmation email.

Meet the Manager – Martin Winter

Martin is a chemist by education and received his PhD on a nanomaterial science topic in 1998 from the Max Planck Society before leaving for postdoctoral study at the Scripps Research Institute in the U.S. He joined Clariant in 1999 managing several innovation projects as Research and Development group leader and focusing on innovation and growth of new businesses. This included setting up external innovation activities through venture capital mechanisms. In addition a marketing and sales responsibility for one of Clariant’s start-up businesses brought him to Asia/Japan for a two year assignment. Since June 2015 Martin has been seconded from Clariant to Cefic in Brussels as an Innovation Manager responsible for driving the innovation agenda for the Chemical Industry.

His main area of responsibility is networking with the industry regarding their research and innovation priorities and connecting them with the European Commission’s funding instruments under Horizon 2020, for example, as the chemical sector’s representative in the SPIRE PPP. His main focus is on ICT, chemical process technologies and catalyst topics.

He likes to spend his free time with his family and is also an enthusiastic skydiver.

BBI launches Third Funding Call worth €189 million

The Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) launched its 2016 Call for proposals at it research and innovation InfoDay in Brussels last week. The €189 million call covers new biobased economy research and support actions, demonstrators and flagship biorefinery projects – a long term SusChem objective – and will deliver across a wide range of biotech topics from waste treatment to marine technologies.

In this third call the BBI JU will provide funding to European biobased industries, researchers and entrepreneurs across a broad range of 27 new topics – including two new flagship topics. The 2016 call encourages collaboration through partnerships that cuts across traditional industry boundaries. Unlike previous BBI JU calls proposals submitted to the call will not have to be linked specifically to specific value chains as defined by the JU’s Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda (SIRA).

The BBI JU programme is designed to support the coherent development of Europe’s biobased economy. Full details of the third Call topics can be found here on the European Commission's Horizon 2020 Participant Portal.

“The 2016 Call appeals to all actors involved in the biobased industries, including small and medium-sized businesses, academia, and new previously unconnected industry,” commented Philippe Mengal, BBI JU’s Executive Director pictured above at the BBI InfoDay. “Particularly as it includes specific emphasis on proposals to tackle issues around better re-use and valorisation of agri-forestry side and waste streams, novel ways to extract value from municipal waste and innovative marine-based solutions to increasing sustainable supplies of new types of biomass.”

Inclusive
The 2016 Call is expected to be more inclusive than ever, as it reaches out to innovators who can turn their research into new and improved industrial processes.  In this regard close cooperation between SusChem, BBI JU and other ‘SusChem inspired’ initiatives - such as the Sustainable Process Industries through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP – will be required to ensure smooth integration of new bioprocesses into existing and new industrial processes and value chains.

“The real added value of the BBI JU is that it brings together different sectors and industries,” said Dirk Carrez, Executive Director of the Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) - pictured above on the left. BIC acts as the private sector partner in the BBI JU. “This leads to the creation of new value chains, with different partners working together within a single project. With this 2016 call, new areas are being introduced such as research using algae and other aquatic biomass, demo projects focusing on industrial crop varieties and novel sources of biomass such as municipal solid waste, or flagship actions addressing waste streams and by-products from the food processing industry.”

Flagship projects
The focus of the BBI JU programme does not stop at the research or pilot plant phase, but continues with demonstration projects, through the creation of small-scale production plants, which can be used to explore elements such as proof-of-concept, sustainability and competitiveness.

These include the flagship projects that will be innovative first-of-a-kind production plants for Europe. For these call topics funding will be made available for the innovative aspects of such plants – rather than for the entire infrastructure. This is an approach that already exists in some parts of the world, but is a new concept for Europe.

John Bell, Director for Bioeconomy at the European Commission DG Research and Innovation – pictured above - commented: “The development of biobased industries, if successful, can bring rewards for many European stakeholders: consumers who get access to new sustainable products based on renewable biological resources, biobased industries that take technological and sustainability leadership and thereby build long-term competitive advantages; enhanced economic growth and new jobs in rural, coastal and industrial areas; and new revenue streams for the EU’s agri-food, forestry and marine sectors.”

InfoDay
The BBI JU 2016 Call for Proposals was fully presented at the BBI JU’s Open Info day on 21 April in Brussels. With well over 500 participants registered this was a very well attended information and awareness event that brought together high-level speakers, programme managers and experts from business and industry.

The morning sessions were dedicated to information about the BBI’s role in developing Europe’s bio-based economy, with key note speeches from Philippe Mengal, John Bell and Dirk Carrez. Information on participating in the 2016 Call was shared and included how to apply, tips and tricks on writing a proposal, BBI Call rules, and how to submit a proposal. The BBI GREENLIGHT project, from the 2014 Call, was presented by Peter Axegård, Vice President (Bioeconomy) for INVENNTIA, who described their experience as a successful consortium and project proposal.

In addition to informal networking during the breaks, the dedicated brokerage event during the afternoon sessions gave attendees an opportunity to expand their contacts through pre-scheduled private meetings. During the afternoon more than 600 face-to-face meetings were scheduled through BBI's Partnering Platform.

In parallel to the brokerage event, BBI invited six different organisations with shared links and synergies to meet BBI stakeholders. These organisations included the Bio-Based Industries Consortium (BIC), European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN), the BioHorizon NCP-network project, the Enterprise Europe Network (EEN) and the European Network for Rural Development (ENRD). And co-hosting a special cross-institutional funding synergies space were the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EASME), the SPIRE PPP and representatives from relevant units from the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation who provided information on synergies with BBI JU funding and other structural funds.

The event was recorded and you can watch proceedings here. Further information and presentations from the event can be found here.

Back to back BBI and SPIRE events in April

Both the BioBased Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI) and the Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP are organising public events in April that will be of interest to SusChem stakeholders.

BBI Brokerage

Registration is now open for the BBI Open Info Day and brokerage event taking place on 21 April 2016 in the European Commission’s Charlemagne Building in Brussels. Registration for the event is free but mandatory with places offered on a ‘first-come, first-served’ basis so to guarantee a place register as soon as possible.

The aim of the 21 April event is to bring together potential participants interested in the BBI JU 2016 Calls for proposals. All potential applicants are welcome including SMEs, large industry and academic and research organisations.

The morning sessions will provide information about the BBI JU initiative and on all aspects of the BBI JU Call process. Details of the 2016 Call topics, more information about the event and an agenda for the day is available on the BBI JU website.

The sessions will give participants useful information about how to participate in BBI JU’s 2016 Call for proposals, including how to apply, tips and tricks on writing a proposal, BBI Call rules, and how to submit a proposal. More information on the 2016 Call topics can be found in the BBI's 2016 Annual Work Plan.

The afternoon will provide an opportunity for participants to hold face-to-face introductory meetings using the BBI JU Partnering Platform. To take advantage of this opportunity delegates will first need to create or update a professional/corporate profile on the BBI JU partnering platform. More information on, and access to, the BBI JU Partnering platform can be accessed here.

In parallel with the brokerage event, participants will also have the opportunity to find out more about the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC), how synergies with other programmes (including SPIRE) are being realised and to meet national representatives from a number of member states. BBI JU programme office staff will also be on hand to answer specific questions about the BBI JU Call process and procedure.

SPIRE projects

The day before the BBI event SPIRE is organising a conference to introduce its current project portfolio. This continues last year’s event “Introducing SPIRE-2014 projects” that attracted a large audience from the SPIRE community and beyond. The event on 20 April will feature SPIRE projects granted funding in 2014 and 2015 and will take place at the Silken Berlaymont Hotel on Boulevard Charlemagne in Brussels.

The SPIRE projects conference will aim to:

• Disseminate the objectives and targets of the current SPIRE projects to the broad audience of SPIRE members, the European Commission, supporters, partners and other stakeholders
• Discuss possible synergies and actions that can support the projects deliver on their objectives as well as future uptake of their deliverables

The meeting agenda will be organised around specific technological areas allowing representatives of various projects to learn about approaches and innovations in other projects, to exchange experiences on common issues and discuss new ideas.

The agenda for the 20 April event can be accessed here and information on current SPIRE projects can be accessed here. Registration for this event is open now, but closes on 31 March.

The fourth SPIRE Brokerage event looking at SPIRE 2017 calls will take place on 15 June 2016.