SusChem starts Horizon 2020 project prep!

SusChem started its preparations for Horizon 2020 with a brokerage event that attracted almost 200 participants to the Crown Plaza Le Palace Hotel, Brussels yesterday (October 23). Horizon 2020 is scheduled to kick-off on 1 January 2014 and SusChem, as the most prominent European Technology Platform (ETP), is ready to support the programme and ensure it achieves its goals of boosting competitiveness, jobs and growth in Europe.

Following on from briefings on the scope of the new European Commission programme, delegates spent the brokerage day outlining project proposals, describing their skills and experience, and meeting in 150 scheduled one-to-one meeting plus more informal and spontaneous networking.

Commenting on the event Jacques Kormornicki, SusChem Programme Manager at Cefic (left) said: "I want to thank all the participants for their involvement in this active participation from the industry which is key in the future success of Horizon 2020."

"We are now focusing on turning this success into the building of consortia to submit proposals when the calls come out in December 2013," he continued. "We will be organizing either webinars or another brokerage event in January 2014.

The final decision on this will be taken when the calls are out and based on the feed-back from participants. The new Grant-iT tool, which is designed to help SusChem stakeholders to participate to the calls and find partners will also be ready end 2013."

The event continued the atmosphere of intense collaboration and innovative zeal that had been evident at the SPIRE PPP brokerage event on 22 October and is typical of the vision and innovation leadership that SusChem has shown since its foundation in mid-2004.

SusChem success
SusChem board member Prof Rodney Townsend got things started with an outline of SusChem’s achievements. He praised the dedicated support work of SusChem’s national technology platforms (NTPs) that have mobilised stakeholders in 12 Member States and he welcomed SusChem Switzerland as our latest NTP.

He noted the success that SusChem had achieved in FP7 with an estimated €300 million of EU public funding per annum for projects that aligned with the SusChem strategic roadmap. He looked for similar achievements in Horizon 2020. He said that SusChem had been actively engaged in discussions on Horizon2020 since 2011 to ensure that sustainable chemistry and industrial biotechnology remain a major part of it, to successfully work with key European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), and in particular to help launch two public-private-partnerships in Horizon 2020: SPIRE and the BioBased Industries JTI.

SusChem was also actively involved in identifying areas in the Future Emerging Technologies theme for sustainable chemistry and biotechnology. The full scope of SusChem activities is illustrated below.

The starting point for the brokerage activities was the draft Horizon 2020 work programme for the first two years. With the first calls to be published in December it was now time to start preparations! And there was also a need to think about calls for 2015. Rodney wished everyone a fruitful meeting and indicated that, if stakeholders required it, SusChem will organise another brokerage event early in 2014.

Prominent ETP
Soren Bowadt of the European Commission DG Research and Innovation also praised SusChem for its success with major projects such as the F3 factory project and its ability to set up two PPPs for Horizon 2020 describing SusChem as “the most prominent of the ETPs.”

He then outlined the Horizon 2020 programme with its emphasis on innovation and demonstration activities. A key part was the deployment of Key Enabling Technologies (KETS) that were strategic technologies that could drive competitiveness and growth based on knowledge.

He described the Commission’s wish for an impact orientated approach and their likely focus on Technology Readiness Levels (TRLs) in the range 3 - 8 for projects to be funded under Horizon 2020. A set of definitions of TRLs to be used under Horizon 2020 is given below.

In Horizon 2020 KETs would be used to address the whole innovation chain from research to TRLs preceding commercialisation. He said that the PPPs would be important. It was important to promote the involvement of industry and also ensure synergies between research and industry. The PPPs would be used to implement KETs in many areas.

He concluded by thanking SusChem for its contributions to the development of the work programme saying: “this would not have been possible without the vision of SusChem and your intense and constructive collaboration with the Commission.”

Impact
The plenary briefing session was completed by Jacques Kormornicki. He also praised SusChem’s impact, for example, SusChem priorities were found in 30% of the NMP calls in FP7 and SusChem also had significant impact in two other fields: KBBE and Energy.

In addition to SusChem’s energetic direct activity in EIPs (Water, Smart-Cities and Communities, Raw Materials) and the SPIRE PPP, it was supporting the Bio-Based Industries JTI and the Energy Efficient Buildings PPP. There was also strong activity in Materials Technology along the “value chain” including membership of the umbrella Alliance for Materials (A4M). SusChem had also taken up the role of promoting innovation early on and had been heavily involved in the formulation of the KET concept that is the basis of the Horizon 2020 pillar on Industrial leadership.

Jacques showed an analysis of the draft Horizon 2020 work packages from its societal challenges and industrial leadership pillars (see below). Some 200 work packages already mapped onto SusChem priority areas.

This showed the opportunity in Horizon 2020 said. Jacques. Delegates had the full analysis ‘matrix’ of the Horizon 2020 work programmes versus SusChem priorities and a full list of participants and presentations in today’s meeting – it was now up to participants to identify relevant topics and find partners for fruitful collaborative work.

Brokerage bonanza
Esther Agyeman-Budu of Cefic outlined how the various brokerage activities during the day. A first plenary set of project presentation was made before lunch and then three parallel sessions were organised after lunch on Materials, Resource and Energy Efficiency, and Water and Biotechnology.

In total 45 Project Idea or Areas of Interest presentations were made including 12 presentations from the chemical industry including two made via through SusChem NTPs.

After project presentations an intense session of ‘speed-dating’, one-to-one meetings and other networking opportunities took place.

To complete the day and wrap up proceedings Jacques Komornicki described the likely process and the tools available to SusChem stakeholders to assist project formation.

He highlighted the SusChem – PNO ‘matrix’ tool to check for relevant Horizon 2020 call topics and the revised GRANT-IT service for Horizon 2020 that would be launched at the end of 2013. This would be freely available for the whole SusChem community following registration.

The GRANT-IT tool will provide a searchable database of relevant funding programmes, project searching for partners, the ability to search for past and present European projects, and the opportunity to ask for personalised advice on a project idea. There will also be a facility for interaction via forums and comments as part of a brokerage process to develop some sound project ideas and consortia.

Further details of the GRANT-IT tool and how to access it will be covered by the SusChem newsblog when it is ready for launch.

Jacques reiterated that a second brokerage event could be organised in January 2014 if there was demand and in addition, again if there was a perceived need, SusChem could also organise webinars on specific programme areas.

Get involved!
SusChem stakeholder who wanted to get more involved with the brokerage activities around Horizon 2020 should contact either Jacques Komornicki and Pádraig Naughton at Cefic or Ron Weerdmeester at PNO Consultants. And watch out for announcements on the SusChem website and SusChem News!

BioBased Industries Initiative at EFIB 2013

The European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology 2013 (EFIB 2013) took place last week from 30 September to 2 October in Brussels and the SusChem inspired Bioeconomy PPP was centre stage. This sixth edition of EFIB, organised by SusChem founding partner EuropaBio, was by far the biggest yet and underlined the remarkable expansion of interest in industrial biotechnology across Europe and globally in recent years.

EFIB 2013 took place in The Square conference facility in central Brussels and was one of the highlights of European Biotech week. Over 600 delegates attended and an extensive biotech market place saw more than 45 exhibitors and 20 technology showcase presentations. And, of course, two whole days of conference sessions.

Biobased Initiative
The BioBased Industries Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) is seen as a major opportunity for European biobased industries and an essential element to achieve a sustainable chemical sector. The initiative is one of the new JTIs that will be established under Horizon 2020 and was explicitly mentioned in the Communication on the Industrial Innovation Package published in July.

The Biobased Industries JTI, previously known as the BRIDGE 2020 public-private-partnership (PPP) proposal, has the primary aim of developing new and competitive biobased value chains that can replace the need for fossil fuels and also have a strong impact on rural development in Europe.

A dedicated session on the BioBased Industries JTI at EFIB 2013 was chaired and introduced by Marcel Wubbolts of DSM and a SusChem board member (on left of photo below). He described a biobased market that could be as large €200 billion by 2020 with the potential to create one million new jobs in Europe on the same timescale.

The role of the JTI is to demonstrate the production of innovative and sustainable biobased chemicals and materials that would be made using locally sourced biomass. The JTI will examine five value chains with each using a flagship project to provide validation at at least demonstration level.

The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) is the body that will be tasked with establishing the JTI once the formal go-ahead is given by the European Commission. Membership of the BIC is growing with 48 full members (mostly industrial), 57 associate members (including research and technology organisations and universities), 8 EU trade or sector associations and 3 European Technology Platform members including SusChem.

Wubbolts explained that the BioBased Industries JTI was currently presenting its strategic innovation roadmap to Member States and preparing initial research and innovation calls. If all goes to plan, the JTI will formally start in 2014 with the first calls out in mid 2014 and initial projects commencing in Q3/ Q4 2014.

Perspectives
Barend Verachtert, acting Head of the Biotechnologies Unit at the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation (in centre of photo) gave the Commission’s perspective on the Biobased Industries JTI declaring that: “Worldwide the bioeconomy race is on!”

But while third country investments had largely focused on food the EU focus was on integrated biorefineries – one of SusChem’s original visionary projects from 2004. The target was to produce at least 30% of EU chemicals from renewable sources by 2030, compared to around 10% today, Verachtert stated.

He also emphasised the strong regional potential for biobased industries and this raised a significant challenge to organise at both EU and national / regional level.


The BioBased Industries JTI was needed as a catalyser to create new value chains involving cross-sectorial collaborations between previously unrelated sectors. Verachtert highlighted the need for large-scale demonstration facilities and activities to help market uptake of biobased innovations and the notion of establishing a circular economy where waste (for example from agriculture) was transformed into value (such as chemical products).

He also was hopeful of final decisions on the JTI before end of 2013. Horizon 2020 should be officially adopted 10 December and this will allow the BioBased Industries JTI to start for real on 1 January 2014.

The view of a Member State was given by Jose Manuel Gonzalez of the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (on right in photo). He indicated that the JTI was extremely well aligned with Spanish national biorefinery objectives: a sector with huge industrial potential.

In a question and answer session Marcel Wubbolts reiterated that the Consortium was looking for the JTI to be realised as soon as possible. But at the same time there was a need to manage the portfolio of proposed projects to ensure synergy and maximum impact.

BIC information
For more information on the BioBased Industries JTI visit the website or contact the BioBased Industries Consortium secretariat.

SusChem at Ecochem

The Ecochem Exhibition and Conference on Smart and Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering taking place on 19 – 21 November in Basel, Switzerland will feature an all-day SusChem session. In addition the various conference streams will include presentations from many SusChem personalities.

The SusChem technical session will take place on the first day of Ecochem (Tuesday 19 November) after a plenary opening session by Hubert Mandery, Director-General of Cefic.

SusChem coordinator Jacques Komornicki will open the special day-long session that will include contributions on the two SusChem inspired public private partnership initiatives SPIRE (from Pádraig Naughton of Cefic) and BRIDGE (from Ulrich Kettling of Clariant).

Many other streams across the three-day event will be of interest to SusChem stakeholders including sessions on ‘bio-based chemicals’, ‘clean synthesis and process intensification’, ‘industrial biotechnology’, ‘opportunities and challenges in sustainable chemistry’ and ‘financing sustainable chemistry’ amongst many others.

Eight streams
In total eight session streams are available during each day of Ecochem of which five (including the SusChem session) are free to register for. The other three streams comprise a comprehensive Strategy Summit on Sustainable Chemistry and Engineering that requires separate registration.

For more details on Ecochem visit the event website or download the Event brochure. Details on registration for the event can be found here.

F3 Factory Project: The Case Studies

The SusChem-inspired F³ Factory was a FP7 funded collaborative research project on fast, flexible, modular process technology for the future chemical industry. At the heart of the project were seven industrial case studies that covered a range of processes challenges. Details of these case studies have now been published.

Launched in 2009 the €30 million F³ Factory project was a major public-private sector initiative under FP7 that sought to define and demonstrate a new paradigm in modular sustainable chemical production technology.

At the project’s final presentations to the SusChem Stakeholder event on 14 May SusChem Chairman Dr Klaus Sommer said: "It was a privilege and an honour to be involved with this project that has not only produced excellent new scientific knowledge, but also shown how to bridge the innovation gap and with a consortium including many major companies working very effectively together."

The fruits of this ground-breaking project will feed into future major SusChem programmes such as the SPIRE and BRIDGE 2020 public-private initiatives during Horizon 2020.

Case studies
Seven major European Chemical Companies (Arkema, Astra Zeneca, BASF, Bayer, Evonik, Procter and Gamble and Rhodia-Solvay) worked collaboratively in the project demonstrating that large scale, pre-competitive collaborative research is both manageable and potentially highly fruitful.

The case studies spanned a broad range of process industry sectors including pharmaceuticals, chemical intermediates, specialty polymers and consumer products and aimed to:

·                     demonstrate the F³ Factory modular concept at industrial scale for commercial applications 

·                     realise an open access backbone plant for modular continuous production 

·                     validate new intensified and simplified continuous processes 

·                     design and validate new/enhanced reactor technologies 

·                     establish of design guidelines and standards for modular, container-based production units.

The establishment of standardised modular equipment was a significant achievement for the project. The smallest interchangeable unit is the process equipment assembly (PEA) a number of which would be integrated within the standard process equipment container (PEC): a standard EU 20-foot ISO norm container (see example below).

The seven case studies are:

1. Water Soluble Speciality Polymers
2. Continuous Processing for Pharmaceuticals
3. Continuous Production of Chemical Intermediates
4. High-Volume, Biomass-based Intermediate Chemicals
5. Active Pharmaceutical Intermediates
6. Intensified Reaction Technology for Surfactants
7. Highly Viscous Polymers

Click on the links to find out more about each case study.

Overall results

For business the F³ Factory project demonstrated increased investment flexibility, potential capital expenditure reduction up to 40%, potential operating expenditure reduction up to 20% and the potential to deliver a much faster 'time to market' for new products - a major competitive advantage.

The potential impact of the project could be very significant. Just looking at capital expenditure, it is estimated that such expenditure in the chemical industry ‘in western Europe’ (EU-15 plus Norway and Switzerland) was ~€ 39 billion in 2011.

If the F³ Factory could save up to 40% on capital expenditure for projects that equates to a maximum annual saving of €15.6 billion. Even at a conservative 10% take-up of the project concepts this still represents a potential annual saving of more than € 1.5 billion in Europe in the chemical industry alone.

From an environmental and resource efficiency point of view the project has demonstrated reduced energy consumption up to 30%, solvent reduction up to 100%, footprint reduction up to 50% and the potential to reduce or eliminate transportation by enabling local or point of use production.

In addition the project has successfully validated new intensified and simplified continuous processes that have demonstrated process intensification up to a factor of 500, increased space-time-yield up to a factor greater than 100, increased capacity greater than 20%, increased production yield greater than 20%, reduced equipment need of more than 60%, reduction of reaction/processing time by a factor of 10 and through these simplified processes achieved reduced reaction and processing steps of up to 30%.

And finally, the project has realised an innovative open access backbone plant (INVITE) facility for modular continuous production – a resource for European process development that will have continuing value for many years to come.

SusChem is an ETP 2020!

Coinciding with the official publication on Friday (12 July 2013) of a European Commission document on a 'Strategy for European Technology Platforms: ETP 2020' SusChem has been confirmed as a European Technology Platform for Horizon 2020. The ETP 2020 strategy seeks to maximise the impact of European Technology Platforms (ETPs), such as SusChem, on Europe’s competitiveness and sustainability.

This important achievement was conveyed in a letter from the Director-General of the European Commission’s DG Research and Innovation, Robert-Jan Smits, to SusChem Chairman Dr Klaus Sommer, and SusChem Coordinator Dr. Jacques Komornicki.

“Since 2004 SusChem has been making a very significant contribution to European sustainable chemistry research and innovation programmes. SusChem has been a pioneer in terms of stimulating cross-sectoral and value chain initiatives and we look forward to continuing and enhancing our contribution through Horizon 2020,” said Jacques Komornicki.

“SusChem’s involvement in FP7 has been profound for sustainable research in Europe,” said Dr. Klaus Sommer. “Now we are looking forward to truly fulfil our potential also in the area of innovation through Horizon 2020 especially with our involvement in major EU programmes such as public- private-partnerships (SPIRE and BRIDGE), future emerging technologies and key areas such as water, raw materials, key enabling technologies and skills. We are ready to make a real impact economically and ecologically all over Europe through projects that generate great research results and true innovations to bridge the gap between invention and relevant business success.”

ETP 2020 landscape
A new landscape of Commission recognised ETPs is now in place following an assessment against revised criteria for recognition defined in the ETP 2020 Strategy (see below).

ETPs span a wide range of technology areas and many, like SusChem, have played an important role in developing joint visions, setting Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas and defining research priorities that have been pursued in FP7.

As part of Horizon 2020 ETPs will:

• Develop strategies and provide a coherent business-focused analysis of research and innovation bottlenecks and opportunities related to societal challenges and industrial leadership actions
• Mobilise industry and other stakeholders within the EU to work in partnership and deliver on agreed priorities
• Share information and enable knowledge transfer to a wide range of stakeholders across the EU.

The objectives of ETPs will be achieved through a broad portfolio of activities many of which SusChem has been pursuing for a number of years. These include:

• Developing Strategic Research and Innovation Agendas
• Encouraging industry participation in Horizon 2020 and helping widen participation and build capabilities within Member States through cooperation with networks/partnerships in Member States
• Identifying opportunities for international cooperation and developing the necessary understanding to facilitate future collaboration
• Providing networking opportunities including with other ETPs to address cross-sectorial challenges and promote the move towards more open models of innovation
• Facilitating the formation of new partnerships that utilise ETP expertise.

Revised criteria
To date, one of the main benefits of the ETPs has been their ability to provide coherent, strategic advice. Moving forward, the Commission has defined criteria that must be met for the recognition of an ETP. These criteria are:

• Alignment with Europe 2020 priorities and objectives – this could either be in terms of their ability to effectively address a Horizon 2020 societal challenge and/or develop sustainable industrial capability in a priority sector or emerging area;
• Scale of the market opportunity – this must represent a sizeable proportion of a current or potential future market and be seen to contribute to the global value chain benefiting Europe;
• EU added value - the EU's capacity, capability and skill-base to research, develop and exploit the technologies and/ or innovations in the proposed field;
• Transparency and openness – the ETP must be representative of its field, transparent in its activities and be open to new members;
• Scope – the extent to which the ETP reaches beyond a niche area and fosters interdisciplinary and cross-sector work without duplication;
• Leverage – the level of engagement and commitment of industry and Member States to the ETP, the ETPs ability to deliver on its proposed agenda and its collaboration with other ETPs on achieving common objectives.

European Technology Platforms are industry-led stakeholder fora that develop short to long-term research and innovation agendas for action at EU and national level that can be supported by both private and public funding. SusChem was formed in 2004 as one of the first ETPs and has consistently been a model example of the format.

ETPs will be a significant part of the external advice and societal engagement effort that the Commission needs to successfully implement Horizon 2020. ETPs are a key element in the European innovation ecosystem and an essential element to transform Europe into a true Innovation Union.

The Commission is planning to hold a cross-ETP workshop in the near future to discuss, amongst other issues, how the new ETP 2020 strategy can be best implemented and how relationships between the ETPs and the Commission can be further strengthened.

BRIDGE and the Commission’s Innovation Investment Package

Today (10 July), the Biobased Industries Consortium, a cross sector group of 48 large and small companies, has joined forces with the European Commission to set up an unprecedented Public Private Partnership worth €3.8 billion to accelerate the deployment of biobased products in Europe by 2020 and boost growth and jobs in Europe via the ‘biobased economy’.

The Biobased Industries PPP also known as ‘BRIDGE’ (Biobased and Renewables Industries for Development and Growth in Europe) is set to boost growth and jobs, especially in rural areas, as it invests in new and sustainable ways to organise the economy.

‘Biorefineries’ are at the heart of the biobased economy. Unlike conventional fossil refineries, biorefineries use various sources of sustainable biomass and waste to produce everyday products such as food, feed, chemicals and fuels.

These biorefineries allow not only the replacement of petroleum-based products by their biobased equivalents but also the development of novel products with entirely new and innovative functionalities and potential for new and existing markets.

To realise this potential, the PPP will capitalise on Europe’s innovation and technological leadership to bring biobased solutions to commercial scale. Sectors will be brought together to optimise and create new value chains, connecting farmers and foresters directly to consumers. Demonstration and deployment projects will be rolled out across EU Member States that will benefit from the new growth and jobs opportunities.

The Biobased Industries PPP is part of the European Commission’s Innovation and Investment Package of thirteen new and existing PPPs that was released today. The package is intended to stimulate the European economy, create jobs and tackle major societal challenges through research, innovation and deployment.

BRIDGE open
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science commented on the launch of the PPP: “The emerging bio-based industry sector is set to be the game-changer for stimulating smart, sustainable and inclusive growth in Europe. By finding commercially viable ways of generating fuel and other products from plants and waste, it will significantly reduce our dependency on oil, help us meet climate change targets, and lead to greener and more environmentally friendly growth. Europe must develop technology leadership in this sector, which is why the EU and industry are backing this new Joint Technology Initiative.”

Prior to the launch of the Innovation and Investment Package, José Manuel Barroso, President of the EC, Neelie Kroes, Vice-President of the EC in charge of Digital Agenda, and Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, Member of the EC in charge of Research, Innovation and Science, received a delegation of CEOs from the sectors involved in the proposed JTIs (above). Berry Wiersum, CEO of Sappi, Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO of Novozymes and Guy Talbourdet, CEO of Roquette Frères represented the Biobased Industries Consortium.

Berry Wiersum, CEO of Sappi said: “This is a unique partnership that places sustainability at the heart of all economic, social and industrial activities. It is about realising the untapped potential of biomass and waste, to deliver sustainable growth in Europe.”

Peder Holk Nielsen, CEO of Novozymes commented: “The Biobased Industries PPP is important for Europe to remain competitive in the global bioeconomy race. It is an opportunity for reindustrialisation and for reversing the investment trend currently going to other regions of the world.”

Guy Talbourdet, CEO of Roquette Frères said: “The Biobased Industries Initiative comes at a critical time for European development of the bioeconomy. Such a PPP will accelerate the market entry of new biobased products “made in Europe” in the so-called biorefineries. The use of locally grown biomass will not only enable growth and jobs in rural areas across European regions, but it will also reduce the EU’s reliance on fossil or proteins imports.”

Feike Sijbesma, CEO of Royal DSM stated: “This is the start of a promising future for Europe. The development of biobased industries at the crossroads of agriculture, chemistry and energy will enable new value chains and translate the R&D potential into new, innovative and sustainable biobased products and markets serving society."

About BRIDGE
BRIDGE is the Biobased Industries Public Private Partnership and stands for ‘Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe’. It is the joint entity that to be established between the European Union and the Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC) to realise the biobased economy vision.

BRIDGE is a major public and private effort involving:

• €3.8 billion investments in biobased innovation from 2014-2020 (Horizon 2020)
• €1 billion of EU funds leveraging €2.8 billion of private investments 

BRIDGE’s key objectives are to:

• Leverage Europe’s biobased research and technology
• Develop the under-utilised potential of agriculture and forestry residues
• Replace oil-based chemicals and materials with biodegradable and biobased ones
• Generate new industries, revitalise others, and create thousands of jobs
• Diversify and grow farmers’ income.

BRIDGE focuses on three main areas:

• Feedstock: Fostering a sustainable biomass supply and building new value chains
• Biorefineries: Optimising efficient processing through R&D and upscaling in large-scale demo/flagship biorefineries
• Markets, products and policies: Developing markets for biobased products and optimising policy frameworks

BRIDGE will connect the feedstock to products by:

• Building new value chains based on the development of sustainable biomass collection and supply systems with increased productivity, and improved utilisation of biomass feedstock (including co- and by-products), while unlocking utilisation and valorisation of waste and lignocellulosic biomass
• Bringing existing value chains to new levels, through optimised uses of feedstock and industrial side-streams, and offering innovative added value products to the market, thus creating a market pull and reinforcing the competitiveness of EU agriculture and forest based industries
• Bringing technology to maturity through research and innovation, and through upgrading and building demonstration and flagship biorefineries that will process the biomass into a range of innovative biobased products

The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC)
BIC is an association that was established in 2012 to collectively represent the private sector partners in the Public-Private Partnership with the European Union. The Consortium started with 40 European member companies (large and small) and has grown since then. It also includes associate members comprising research and technology organisations (RTOs), universities and European trade associations. It is host to a unique mix of sectors including agriculture, agro-food, technology providers, forest-based sector, chemicals and energy.

You can read the Biobased Industries Vision paper here and access the Biobased Industries Strategic Innovation and Research Agenda here. For more information on BRIDGE visit the website or contact the BIC secretariat.

SPIRE and BRIDGE: Working together for a Sustainable and Competitive Europe

With the publication today (July 10) of the European Commission’s communication on the ‘Innovation and Investment Package’ with its package of 13 proposed and existing Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) SusChem News examines how the two ‘SusChem inspired’ initiatives featured in the Package will work together. 

Both the SPIRE and BRIDGE PPPs have their own identities and cover distinct and far reaching fields of activity and both enjoy extensive industry participation with a considerable degree of overlap in terms of their respective stakeholder communities.

The two PPPs have published their own strategic innovation and research agendas (SIRA) or roadmaps that look to deliver considerable benefits and improvements to their respective industry sectors, the environment and the European economy. And there are extensive areas that will benefit from their complementary approaches and their ability to add value to each another’s deliverables.

You can access the Bridge SIRA here and the SPIRE SIRA roadmap here.

“The autumn will be busy,” says Loredana Ghinea (below second from right), Executive Director of A.SPIRE the organisation coordinating the private consortium behind SPIRE. “We will be preparing the official launch of the SPIRE PPP as well as consulting with and preparing our eight industrial sectors for the start of the first phase of Horizon2020 (2014-2015) based on the Key Actions and components from our Roadmap. This will also involve extensive communication with other PPPs - especially with BRIDGE - and European Innovation Partnerships to ensure we are ready to implement our ambitious work programme and add value to the EU innovation package.”

Common Goals
Both SPIRE and BRIDGE will work for improved sustainability of the manufacturing sector in terms of global competitiveness, ecology and employment in Europe. And both will focus on collaborative efforts between research organisations, SMEs and industry and also look to involve wider society.

These common goals will be approached from two complementary angles:

• SPIRE will comprise projects that radically improve aspects of resource or energy efficiency in a variety of established manufacturing sectors (see below); 
• while BRIDGE supports the establishment of a brand new biobased-industrial sector in Europe (see below).

This complementary approach also defines the interface between the two PPP initiatives: the provision and use of biobased platform chemicals. The work of SPIRE and BRIDGE is likely to be highly collaborative especially in terms of process and products or feedstock.

Joanna Dupont-Inglis (above, left), Director of Industrial Biotechnology at EuropaBio agrees: “The main input from BRIDGE to SPIRE will be to provide SPIRE with potential biobased building blocks and intermediates.”

While it is a potential outlet for some BRIDGE projects to produce and market biobased platform chemicals to the industry, SPIRE projects will include biobased platform molecules as potential starting points for downstream value-generation steps.

Projects within SPIRE could provide the enabling technologies required to realise BRIDGE process objectives. “For example SPIRE could build on work undertaken in the FP7 F3 Factory project on distributed modular conversion processes to enable 'on farm processing' that will be the foundation of BRIDGE’s new value chains,” says Pádraig Naughton (above right), Innovation Manager at Cefic.

“Where the two PPP initiatives meet they will support and complement each other in developing the future chemical and processing industries in Europe,” concludes Loredana.

SusChem’s role
As a coordinating European platform, SusChem will be working with and supporting both PPPs to ensure coordination mechanisms are in place to allow the two PPPs to work in a harmonised and complementary way to maximise their combined impact and create a truly sustainable future for Europe.

What is SPIRE?
The Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency (SPIRE) PPP will develop enabling technologies and solutions to achieve long-term sustainability and resource and energy efficiency in the process industry. Better use of feedstock, more efficient production processes, smarter materials, reduction and valorisation of waste, development of high-value skills are some key elements of the SPIRE strategic roadmap. The A.SPIRE association is the driver behind the SPIRE proposal, building upon the collective expertise of eight major existing process industry sectors: steel, cement, water, engineering, non-ferrous, ceramics, minerals, and, of course, chemicals.

What is BRIDGE?
The Biobased and Renewables Industries for Development and Growth in Europe (BRIDGE) PPP is led by the Biobased Industries Consortium and aims to lead the transition towards a sustainable alternative to the fossil-fuel economy. BRIDGE will establish the basis for a new bioeconomy in Europe, from biomass harvesting and logistics via efficient conversion processes to the manufacture of bio-based products. The Biobased Industries Consortium comprises major companies from a variety of sectors including the forest, agricultural, paper, chemical, energy, fuels and biotechnology sectors.

Commission announces multi-billion Innovation Investment Package

Today (10 July) the European Commission presented a multi-billion Euro investment package to boost research and innovation in sectors that are crucial to Europe's economy and society. The package is anchored by a portfolio of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in crucial economic and industrial sectors and includes two PPPs that are of significant interest to SusChem: SPIRE and BRIDGE.

Views on the Innovation Investment Package (IIP) from both BRIDGE and SPIRE can be found in two related SusChem blog articles. These two ‘SusChem inspired’ partnerships will work closely together to support each others objectives wherever possible.

José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, said: "The EU must remain a leader in strategic global technology sectors that provide high quality jobs. This innovation investment package combines public and private funding to do just that. This is a perfect demonstration of the leverage effect of the EU budget for growth and jobs."

Overall, a proposed €8 billion investment from the next EU research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, will secure around €10 billion from industry, and close to €4 billion from EU Member States.

Announcing the package European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn (pictured left with Neelie Kroes, Commission Vice-President in charge of the Digital Agenda) said: "These initiatives not only strengthen our economy, they are an investment in a better quality of life. Working together will enable us to tackle issues that no one company or country can deal with alone."

Chemistry crucial

Several of the PPPs put strong emphasis on innovations in the chemical sector as the basis for keeping and creating jobs and growth in Europe. This goes hand in hand with several billion Euros of investment from the private sector. Areas such as new processes, increased use of renewable feedstock, recycling and re-use, new applications like new materials for ICT and mobility and the integration of various Key Enabling Technologies are at the centre of their strategic agendas.

Gernot Klotz, Cefic executive director for research and innovation, said: “The Commission initiative is a major step forward sending a clear positive signal for the process industries to establish innovative approaches that will spur European competitiveness. We take pride in being founding fathers of both PPPs [SPIRE and BRIDGE] that have now strong strategic research and innovation roadmaps and are ready to start. I believe that they will demonstrate the commitment of our industry to create added value for Europe; the commitment that the public sector is showing today paves the way for a more confident European environment for investment and growth.”

Working on new solutions to promote competitive bio-based value chains with a strong impact on rural development is part of the Bio-based industry PPP: BRIDGE (Bio-based and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe).

The Sustainable Process Industry PPP: SPIRE (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency), brings for the first time together innovative companies from eight industrial process industry sectors committed to innovate not only within their current frames but also to explore synergies between them in areas such as energy use, water, renewable feedstock and process optimisation that are essential for their efficiency and competitiveness.

Klotz added: “These new PPPs set as top priority the need to cross the valley of death from research to the marketed solutions our society needs. We must jointly act fast and efficiently to face the challenges of global competition and sustainability goals.”

IPP background
Funding from the next EU research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020, will look to leverage additional money from industry and EU Member States through partnerships that can provide solutions to major challenges to society such as reducing carbon emissions, improving resource and energy efficiency or providing new sources of the materials and fuels that we need.In total the IIP represents some 22 billion Euros of investment over the next seven years.  These PPPs will also help increase the competitiveness of EU industry, including SMEs, and create new jobs in fast growing and emerging sectors.

The Innovation Investment Package (IIP) also includes proposals to pool resources with EU Member States to develop new treatments against poverty related diseases; to development measurement technologies for industrial competitiveness; to support high technology SMEs; and to provide solutions for the elderly and disabled to live safely in their homes.

The importance of PPPs has been clearly identified in the Innovation Union and Industry Policy flagship initiatives, and the legislative proposals for Horizon 2020. Some public-private partnerships, called Joint Technology Initiatives (JTI), were introduced under FP7.

New legislative proposals were needed for these to be established under the next EU research and innovation programme: Horizon 2020. The proposals will now be submitted to EU Member States and the European Parliament in the context of the overall proposals for the Horizon 2020 programme.

EFIB 2013 – Get your Brochure now!

The European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased Economy 2013 (EFIB2013) takes place in Brussels from 30 September to 2 October at the Square conference facility. A full brochure for the event is now available – get your copy now!

With over 1,000 biotechnology professionals expected to attend, a growing exhibition hall with 50 exhibitors, over 14 hours of one-to-one networking available and a brand new Technology Showcase Theatre the EFIB has clearly continued to evolve for 2013.

"EFIB is the most important event on the calendar for the biobased economy," says Ian Hudson, President of DuPont EMEA and a member of the executive committee of Cefic and a board member at EuropaBio – joint organisers of the event with Smithers Rapra.

Diverse agenda
The new brochure shows the wide range of activities on offer at EFIB 2013 including:

• Choose the conference agenda to suit your interests with 8 dedicated conference sessions focused on policy, finance, innovation and including a dedicated session on BRIDGE: the SusChem supported  proposal for a €3.8 billion Public Private Partnership (PPP) for the biobased industries
• Be the first to witness the latest innovation and product development at the ‘new for 2013’ Technology Showcase in the Exhibition Hall
• Take part in CEO Question Time and put your questions to the ‘movers and shakers’ in strategic positions to move the industry forward
• Visit over 50 exhibitors and see for yourself first-hand what the European and wider industrial biotechnology industry has to offer
• Take advantage of the one-to-one Partnering at EFIB2013 to make efficient use of your networking time, during over 14 hours of active partnering sessions

Get the brochure
Find out more about EFIB2013 in the brand new event brochure including the full programme, workshop agendas, exhibition floor plan, Technology Showcase Theatre agenda, one-to-one Partnering, prices, event highlights and travel information.

SusChem Stakeholder: Presentations are online now!

The presentations from this year’s SusChem Stakeholder event are now online! The event which took place in Brussels on 14 and 15 May was the Technology Platform’s eleventh stakeholder event and demonstrated how SusChem is already working hard to engage with Horizon 2020 – the European Commission’s next major Research and Innovation Framework Programme.

The theme of this year’s SusChem Stakeholder event was ‘The root of EU Growth and Jobs: Innovative Materials and Processes’ and the meeting was held at the Sofitel Europe Hotel on Place Jourdan at the heart of Brussels’ European Quarter.

The presentations available include those given in the main plenary session as well as contributions to the parallel workshops on:

• Material Technologies / Smart Cities
• Resource Efficiency (SPIRE and BRIDGE PPPs)
• Critical Raw Materials
• Water

A selection of photos from the event are also posted on the website.

Next events

Over the rest of 2013 SusChem will be building on this work to be ready for the launch and first calls of Horizon 2020 in 2014. To support brokerage for the initial Horizon 2020 calls SusChem will look to provide a three step process:

• Defining strategic SusChem innovations via SPIRE and BRIDGE PPPs and other road mapping initiatives
• Stimulating project generation including the use of SusChem webinars to inform stakeholders on call content and possible areas of interest
• Full brokerage and proactive project follow-up. 

A first SusChem Horizon 2020 Brokerage event will be organised during Q4 2013 when the final timetable for the launch and initial calls is known.

Keep an eye on the SusChem website, news blog or follow SusChem on Twitter for announcements on these forthcoming events. For more information you can always contact the SusChem Secretariat by email.

SusChem: ready and set for Horizon 2020

The clear message from the SusChem Stakeholder event that took place in Brussels on 14 and 15 May is that the Technology Platform is already working to engage with Horizon 2020 – the European Commission’s next major Research and Innovation Framework Programme. Over the past year SusChem stakeholders have been contributing to the development and launch of a range of exciting European initiatives that can help stimulate competitiveness, growth and jobs in the European Union. SusChem looks forward to continuing to support the European chemical, industrial biotechnology and process communities in pursuit of sustainability and competitiveness as a ‘model’ ETP 2020.

The theme of this year’s SusChem Stakeholderevent was ‘The root of EU Growth and Jobs: Innovative Materials and Processes’. The meeting was held at the Sofitel Europe Hotel in Brussels.

Welcoming almost 200 delegates on the first day Dr Klaus Sommer of Bayer Technology Services and Chairman of the SusChem Board outlined SusChem’s achievements over the year and the challenges it faced in the near future.

He stated that SusChem is vital for promoting competitiveness and growth in Europe – and cited the F³ Factory results as clear proof. SusChem is also leading the two Public-Private-Partnerships (PPPs) - SPIRE (Sustainable Process Industry through Resource and Energy Efficiency) and BRIDGE (Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe) and is heavily involved with the European Innovation Platform (EIP) on Raw Materials, the Smart Cities and Communities EIP, and the EIP on Water.

This widespread involvement not only showed the critical role of sustainable chemistry in many key areas but also the value of SusChem to the successful implementation of Horizon 2020. Dr. Sommer noted that added value proposals from SusChem were found in 30% of NMP calls in 2007-2011 for FP7 and there was a very high participation in FP7 from SusChem members.

F³ - creating the future of production

Just prior to the SusChem Stakeholder meeting the F³ Factory project held an event to mark the end of this important FP7 project. A report of this event is here and more details of the project itself can be found on the F³ Factory website.

The methodology and outcomes of the F³ Factory is of great interest to the SusChem community and the wider chemical and process industries as we enter Horizon 2020. In essence the project demonstrated that large-scale collaborative projects involving multiple large industrial enterprises can be successfully run in a pre-competitive environment and demonstrated that ideas can be quickly moved from laboratory to demonstration stage.

Further details of specific case studies will be released over the summer but the potential impact of the project is clearly huge. For example analysis of preliminary results show that capital expenditure can be reduced by up to 40% by implementing F3 Factory results. According to Cefic facts and figures capital expenditure in the chemical industry in western Europe (EU-15 plus Norway and Switzerland) alone was US$ 50.4 billion (€39 billion) in 2011.

EU Industrial Policy

A series of presentations relating to EU industrial and research policies followed Klaus Sommer’s opening presentation. Bonifacio García-Porras from the European Commission DG Industry and Entrepreneurship gave an overview of Industrial Policy in particular the Task Force on Advanced Manufacturing. The priorities of the task force were chosen in terms of the impact they could have on the current economic crisis.

Paul Rübig MEP (above) made the case for growing the manufacturing base in Europe. He stated that an additional target should be added to the EU 20-20-20 target – to boost the industrial manufacturing contribution to the EU’s GDP to 20%. He called for new ideas from business to stimulate policy and politicians to create jobs and growth as well as protect our environment.

Waldemar Kütt from the Cabinet of MáireGeoghegan-Quinn Commissioner for Research,Innovation and Science also talked about the economic crisis, Horizon 2020 and the need to invest, reform, and transform to maintain and enhance the EU’s competitive position. He argued that the need to produce more with less required innovation – and SPIRE would be a great help here.

Some of the research policy priorities of the Lithuanian Presidency of the EU were outlined by Osvaldas Šmitas from the Permanent Representation of Lithuania to the EU. Lithuania will hold the presidency of EU in the second half of 2013 and the work of the Competitiveness Council will be an essential priority.

The view of a successful SME was given by SusChem board member Fernando Moreno of Solutex. Fernando believes that there is an urgent need for a policy of reindustrialisation based on knowledge in Europe. He stated that a strong SusChem ETP can help as an extraordinary tool to enable SMEs to rise to a high innovation level.

Debate in the Valley of Death

The afternoon was concluded by a panel debate involving figures from the European Commission, Industry and Academia moderated by Tim Reynolds of Inta Communication Ltd. Tim is editor of the SusChem News blog.

The panellists were Jose-Lorenzo Valles of DG Research, Prof. Ulrich Schubert from the Technical University of Vienna and President of EuCheMS, Frederique Backaert from Ghent University and leader of the European Young ChemistsNetwork, Jose Cubillo Capuz of construction materials group AccionaInfraestructuras, and Paul-Joel Derian from Suez Environnement and former chair of the SusChem board.

The debate ranged widely over issues such as perceived skills gaps, our perceptions of the innovation problem and society’s view of risk and benefit balance in terms of innovation. A range of views and inputs came from the audience too.

Networking cocktails

An evening cocktail reception concluded the first day of the stakeholder event. Over drinks and canapés delegates heard from Edit Herczog, MEP, (pictured below) who praised the economic and environmental record of the chemical and process industries in the European Parliament but called on the chemistry community to put more “fizz” in their communications and engage more with society and citizens.

Andreas Förster, Managing Director Process Net DECHEMA and a representative of SusChem National Technology Platforms (NTPs) concluded the formal presentations with a discussion of the role of NTPs into the future.

Day 2: Horizon 2020, PPPs, Education

At the start of day two Ron Weerdmeester of PNO Consultants took the audience through what is known about Horizon 2020, the likely timetable to the launch of the programme in January 2014 and how SusChem would be supporting consortium building.

To support brokerage for the initial Horizon 2020 calls SusChem will look to provide a three step process: Defining strategic SusChem innovations via SPIRE and BRIDGE PPPs and other road mapping initiatives, stimulating project generation including the use of SusChem webinars to inform stakeholders on calls and possible areas of interest, and full brokerage and proactive project follow-up. A first SusChem Horizon 2020 Brokerage event would be organised during Q4 2013 when the final timetable for the launch and initial calls was known.

BRIDGE and SPIRE

A joint presentation by the two SusChem-inspired PPPs: SPIRE and BRIDGE highlighted the complementary nature of these important innovation initiatives and their synergies.

Joanna Dupont-Inglis from EuropaBio (pictured below left with fellow presenters Christophe Luguel of IAR, Loredana Ghinea of A.SPIRE and Pádraig Naughton from Cefic) stated that the main objective of BRIDGE was to effectively create value from waste and to develop a competitive biobased economy that has clear benefits for rural and underdeveloped areas of Europe.

A number of the value chain programmes would benefit from SPIRE activities and, similarly, developments in the availability of biobased feedstock was a key outcome from BRIDGE that would influence SPIRE. The PPPs have areas of common interest that may even result in joint calls and both have synergies with other EIPs and PPP initiatives in the SusChem portfolio and beyond.

Clearly the two PPPs are working closely together for mutual benefit. Developments pioneered by SusChem like the modular, low impact process systems coming out of the F³ Factory project are providing common foundations for success for SPIRE and BRIDGE.

EIP initiatives

Parallel sessions on other European initiatives also showed the tremendous amount of work going on across a range of societal challenge areas in preparation for Horizon 2020.

The session on Water was let by Gernot Klotz of Cefic and focused on advances in the ChemWater and E4Water FP7 projects that are contributing to fulfilling a number of the EIP on Water’s objectives. A key issue is how to replicate and deploy best practise and most appropriate technologies in water management across European manufacturing. There is a need to combat risk adversity and ensure that a clear direction is established to ensure actions now.

Robert Schröder from the European Commission discussed progress in the EIP. Its main aims are to identify barriers and develop policy recommendations while developing concrete and useful tools such as an online market place to be launched in August. Proposals for some 64 actions groups had been received and were being analysed. The EIP will hold its annual conference in November.

Renata Koerfer described the ChemWater FP7 project that is creating synergies between process industry and water industry. Its fifth workshop will be held on September 3 in Stockholm during World Water Week. Christina Jungfer described the E4Water project that is looking at six case studies in the chemical process industry with the overall idea to link tools and expected impact.

The session on Raw Materials was led by Antonia Morales of Cefic. This is a critical area for Europe as the EU is very dependent on raw materials. SusChem is working with the EIP on Raw Materials with the aim of removing barriers to innovation in this last area. The EIP seeks to reduce the import dependency of the EU on raw materials and a Strategic Implementation Plan (SIP) will be finalised in June and should be approved by the end of the year.

The session on Materials Technologies and Smart Cities was led by Jacques Komornicki of Cefic. The workshop discussed the revised priorities for Materials Technology in Horizon 2020 and the EIP on Smart Cities and Communities. The focus of discussion was on two recent reports: a SusChem Materials Working Group document proposing a number of priority topics for early Horizon 2020 calls and a SusChem / Cefic report highlighting currently available ‘Innovative Chemistry for Energy Efficiency of Buildings in SmartCities’.

Education: key factor

Concluding this year’s stakeholder event presentations, the Educate to Innovate project described progress in this initiative to use outcomes from FP7 projects – in particular the F³ Factory – to inform higher education.

Michaël Matlosz of University of Lorraine talked about the need to ensure students obtained a skill set that was appropriate for a more innovative and entrepreneurial work force. A pilot project was being undertaken with the F³ Factory project. This was a very bottom-up approach working with selected teaching staff from European universities to ‘show and tell’ the sort of knowledge and experience coming out of an FP7 project and see what they thought could be usefully adapted for student content.

Sue Fleet of Britest Ltd gave an overview of a recent two-day industry / academic meeting and workshop at the INVITE facility in Leverkusen with twenty “hand picked” teaching academics. The exercise had been very fruitful with the academics evaluating F³ Factory innovation themes and identifying suitable targets for translation into learning resources for specific academic outcomes. The project was now developing flexible and exciting learning resources that will be rich in content and easily accessible.

Summing up the Eleventh SusChem Stakeholder event Gernot Klotz of Cefic described SusChem as the “best technology platform in Europe” and looking at what has already been achieved and what the platform is planned for the future it would be hard to disagree!