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Chemistry Innovation Drives Chemistry Growth Strategy

...Chemistry Innovation contributes to a new report to demonstrate economic impact of chemistry to policymakers

Chemistry Innovation News, April 2013

Influence...

02 www.chemistryinnovation.co.uk

Chemistry underpins a wide range of traditional manufacturing sectors including pharmaceuticals and home and personal care products. Many sectors which are integral to the UK’s economic regeneration use chemical products and applications to develop and manufacture their products. Despite the far-reaching influence of the UK’s chemical and chemistry-using companies, until now, the industry has had no co-ordinated strategy with which to guide future development and to educate politicians and wider society on the value chemistry adds across the supply chain.

The Chemistry Growth Strategy is a document being developed by members of a high-level industry strategy group, led by the Chemical Industries Association (CIA) and Chemistry Innovation KTN, to demonstrate the value of the UK’s chemicals and chemistry-using industries. The report will guide future development for the community by showing new markets they could access and new products and improved technologies that they can offer customers. It is hoped that this will encourage more companies to source their products from UK-based suppliers and foster job growth.

Chemistry impacts industries from aerospace to automotive and construction to energy. The Strategy Report will focus on the topics which demonstrate the impact of chemistry on the UK economy, each led by an industry member or body.

There are two top priority areas:• Innovation • Energy and climate change

With vital cross-cutting areas in:• Value-chains• Trade• Access to finance• Skills • Regulation

Chemistry Innovation is responsible for the innovation theme and is currently collaborating with partners to ensure that all other topics are underpinned by a strong focus on sustainability which is fundamental to the continued success of the industry. The report will be completed in May and launched with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) alongside other sector-strategies, as part of a move to enable government to view the contributions of different industries to the UK economy in a holistic way.

“The decision to align ourselves with other industrial sectors is a key part of the Chemistry Growth Strategy Group” says Dr Steve Fletcher, Director of Strategy, Chemistry Innovation.

“To ensure that the completed strategy receives consistent direction and applied action, we’re hoping to form a chemical industry council, much like the high-level industry bodies that other sectors use to represent their members and gain a direct voice into government.”

The Chemicals Growth Strategy Report will be a key topic of discuss at Chemistry Innovation’s annual stakeholder event taking place on 25th-26th June 2013. For more information contact: Steve Fletcher steve.fletcher@ciktn.co.uk

Chemistry Innovation Drives Chemistry Growth Strategy KTN contributes to a new report to demonstrate economic impact of chemistry to policymakers

Contents

2. Chemistry Innovation Drives Chemistry Growth Strategy

3. A Smarter Approach to Catalysis Capability

4. Setting the Stage for Chemistry’s Finest Hour

4. Helping the UK Formulation Sector Access their Slice of Global Success

5. Industrial Biotechnology – doing it well

6. Leading IB: A UK Showcase takes Westminster by storm

7. Promoting Innovation in Bio-based Products – How the European Commission is supporting Small and Medium Enterprises

8. Business Support for Innovation

8. Innovation for impact event

David Willetts MP, with Colin Tattam and Ian Shott

Chemistry Innovation News 03

A Smarter Approach to Catalysis CapabilityA new £13 million project will consolidate catalysis expertise across UK academia and industry to build on our world-leading market offering

Catalysis – used to increase the rate of chemical reactions – is heavily applied across most chemical industries and the UK enjoys strong expertise in the area - the nation sits within the top five for catalysis R&D worldwide. Despite the UK’s ability to compete on a global level, coordination of catalysis research and expertise remains dispersed across academia and industry. This fragmentation could affect the UK’s ability to develop catalysis processes to address global challenges including energy efficiency and environmental problems. To tackle this, EPSRC (the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) launched the Catalysis Hub at the start of 2013.

The initiative will provide £13 million funding over a five year period to pull together catalysis expertise from academia and industry across the UK, linking it into the Hub. The model is based on a successful institute in The Netherlands that brings together nationwide catalysis activity and encourages academia and industry to interact with one another. The Catalysis Hub will focus predominantly on fundamental science with an emphasis on processes that will impact industry and contribute to the UK’s economic growth. The Hub’s programme is built around four research themes, each with a lead Principal Investigator (PI):

1. Catalyst Design led by Richard Catlow, UCL/Harwell

This theme will focus on the fundamental knowledge of structures and mechanisms to promote innovation, including underpinning processes and applications such as computational modelling.

2. Catalysis for Energy led by Chris Hardacre, Queens University Belfast

This theme will explore the use of fundamental science and engineering to develop practical solutions for current and future energy needs, including gas to liquid transformation; synthesis and utilisation of biofuels; process integration and intensification for efficient energy storage.

3. Chemical Transformations led by Matthew Davidson, University of Bath

This theme aims to promote the prosperity of the UK manufacturing base in fine and bulk chemicals, polymers and pharmaceuticals by enhancing the selectivity and sustainability of existing processes. This may include synthesis gas conversion; renewable polymers; catalysis in confined environments; transition metal free catalysis; biocatalysis for new chemical transformations.

4. Environmental Catalysis led by Graham Hutchings, University of Cardiff

The fourth and final theme will explore the potential of catalysis to make the world a better place, such as improving atom efficiency to eradicate waste and making bio-renewable resources to reduce the impacts of CO2.

How will the Hub work in practice?

The long term goal for the Hub is to capture and record all academic research in catalysis taking place across the UK, regardless of where its funding comes from. With this in mind, the Hub will not be associated with any one single academic institution; instead it will

be physically located at Harwell, because of its leading facilities and neutral position between academia and industry. Graham Hutchings will act as Director of the Hub until 2016 and it will be run on a day-to-day basis by a Management Group consisting of the four PIs and a project manager.

The funding from EPSRC will be directed towards universities and academic research that aims to improve fundamental catalysis understanding and institutions will have the opportunity to submit project proposals to the Hub in a bid to access a slice of the £13 million pot. Proposals will be reviewed by a Hub Steering Group - one of three groups that will be tasked with supporting the management and coordination of the Hub. Other groups include:

• An Industrial Advisory Panel (IAP) chaired by Bob Tooze, Director of Sasol Technology;

• An External Advisory Board (EAB) consisting of eminent academics from outside the UK.

Chemistry Innovation is a member of the Hub Steering Group and will play a crucial role in assessing projects to consider their industry relevance and whether its applications could eventually be used in a commercial environment. “At Chemistry Innovation we’re always trying hard to promote more efficient and sustainable chemical processes for use in industry” says Dr Steve Fletcher, Director of Strategy, Chemistry Innovation and representative on the Steering Group.

“Our role within the Catalysis Hub provides the opportunity to steer research towards industry relevance across each of the four themes, but also encourage companies to realise the potential uses of catalysis to transform their processes. We’d eventually like to see industry members engaging with academia to suggest projects and get actively involved with pioneering research.”

For more information contact: Steve Fletcher steve.fletcher@ciktn.co.uk

Photo from EPSRC, Research complex at Harwell

04 www.chemistryinnovation.co.uk

Helping the UK formulation sector access their slice of global successThe Technology Strategy Board launches £6 million funding for formulation sector following success of the Formulation Special Interest Group (SiG), led by Chemistry Innovation

The Technology Strategy Board has recently announced that it will be offering £5 million funding for collaborative R&D projects in the area of formulation.

Following recommendations from the Formulation SIG, a TSB initiative led by Chemistry Innovation, the call will look for projects that are highly collaborative such as cross-sector or supply chain partnerships to address common technical challenges. The EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) will also contribute a total of £1 million across projects that

of alternative energy sources to consolidate our position in the global economy; demonstrating to the construction industry that chemistry can be the solution to many of their challenges in the retrofit of our buildings and designing better functionality of our products through our leading edge capability in formulation. Highlighting the potential here in the UK will create more investment in local companies, stimulate a climate of innovation and contribute to the rebalancing our economy.

The collective approach being taken towards the strategy is an important turning point for the chemistry industry. Each partner involved is sharing their individual expertise to shape the strategy, and Chemistry Innovation is focused on what we do best – demonstrating the importance of innovation in creating and capturing value. Innovation is a critical component for the industry leaders who are responsible for driving success and the researchers always searching for the next opportunity

Now, more than ever, is a hugely exciting time to be part of the chemical and chemistry-using industries. As a community, we are uniting to develop a strategy that will create and capture the value chemistry creates for the UK

economy and help government see the enormous potential of our industry.

For years, chemistry has supported UK business throughout the value chain and now is the time to communicate this economic contribution, including the future potential value outside of our industry. We need to capture the attention of our automotive and aerospace manufacturers about the ways chemistry can help develop the lighter and stronger components they want. This includes exploring the potential

Setting the Stage for Chemistry’s Finest Hour

demonstrate the need for fundamental research.

Projects will be accepted across five themes:• Radical formulated product design• Formulation for delivery• Radical formulation process design• Formulation for stability• Formulation for sustainability

The competition represents the first major investment from the TSB in formulation since recently being identified as a strategic competency in the national High Value Manufacturing Strategy.

The Formulation SIG activity will draw to a close in April 2013 and has made serious headway in the development of a joined-up UK formulation innovation agenda and community. Through a series of project-buildng workshops, companies began to get their project consortia together long before the competition could formally be announced.

“This investment is a significant step in the right direction to exploit the innovation and growth opportunities across the formulating sectors and importantly is directly aligned to the needs identified through the SIG process” says Darren Ragheb, Product Design and collaborative projects manager, Chemistry Innovation. “Building on this, there

for chemistry to create something ground-breaking.

There is no better opportunity to bring this strategy to life than our annual Stakeholder Event. Taking place this June, Innovation with Impact will bring together the community to demonstrate the value of our industry to the UK – encouraging new industries and policymakers to take note. We will be launching our new Innovation Strategy, providing greater depth on the innovation theme as set out in the Chemistry Growth Strategy and celebrating the industry’s greatest success stories.

The stage is set for chemistry to drive important economic and industrial conversations and deliver growth – your continued support and participation will make sure our voice is heard.

Carol Boyer-Spooner, CEO, Chemistry Innovation KTN

is now real momentum with industry and government to invest in this area and we look forward to working with the community on the next step – creation of a £14m national open-innovation formulation centre.”

Chemistry Innovation is now actively supporting companies interested in submitted a proposal to the CR&D competition. “The Formulation SIG was created to prepare the community to engage in partnerships and develop innovative research proposals, in the event of funding opportunities. The launch of the new Formulation Collaborative R&D call is the chance we’ve been waiting for and we look forward to helping companies to take advantage of this opportunity” says Ragheb.

For more information contact: Darren.Ragheb@ciktn.co.uk

Strategy...

Chemistry Innovation News 05

Industrial Biotechnology – doing it wellNew report sets mandates to ensure Industrial Biotechnology reaches its environmental and economic potential

A new report, Sustainable Returns: Industrial Biotechnology Done Well, highlights that Industrial Biotechnology (IB) represents a huge opportunity for sustainable growth in the UK, and lays out a list of policy and industry mandates to ensure it achieves this in an environmentally sound way.

The report, authored by Jonathon Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future and was launched at Leading IB: A UK Showcase. It reviews the current status of IB in the UK, opportunities to do IB well, and challenges to achieving its potential. The report sets out ten guiding principles for industry and government to ensure IB meets both its growth and carbon reduction potential. They are:

• Aim to achieve substantial societal and environmental benefits, as well as business benefits

• Support regulatory and governance structures that put public interest on an equal footing with private gain

• Avoid adverse impacts on food security and affordability

• Secure demonstrable and substantial reductions in emissions of greenhouse gases

• Commit to production systems that optimise conditions for biodiversity and healthy ecosystems

• Commit to manufacturing processes that maximise the value of all feedstocks (eg closed-loop systems)

• Place no additional burdens on the availability of scarce water supplies

• Avoid any risk of gene transfer in the open environment

• Pose no threat to human health• Achieve the highest standards of

health and safety both for workers and surrounding communities

Jonathon Porritt says “When people talk about the Green Economy, they usually limit themselves to energy efficiency, renewable

energy and waste management. But industrial biotechnology could have an equally dramatic impact, if it’s done well. IB is a young industry and there are still barriers to meeting its full potential, but a big part of overcoming those barriers is to ensure that IB, in all its many manifestations, meets the highest possible sustainability standards.”

Industrial Biotechnology is at the heart of an increasing move towards bio-based production of energy, transport fuels, chemicals and related materials to meet sustainable needs of 21st century. The IBLF is working with a wide range of IB organisations to help develop IB processes, bring IB products to market and grow the industry rapidly. It does this by forging connections with investors, academics and business partners, and customers, and helping communicate the value of IB to each.

The report will provide the IBLF with vital guidance in its work to ensure that industry becomes efficient in that way it uses IB, develops lean and robust supply chains, reduces greenhouse gas emissions – and grows to meet its potential.

Porritt concludes: “Industrial Biotechnology already plays an important part in the UK economy, and the potential for the future is enormous. We are investing in growth and are poised to deploy IB on a much more significant scale. This is exactly the right time

to establish a set of sustainability principles to help guide companies – ensuring a win both for the UK economy and for a more sustainable, low-carbon future.”

*This article originally appeared in ‘Going Public’ Magazine

Jonathon Porritt speaking at the Leading IB Showcase event

Connections...

Industrial biotechnology is the harnessing of bio-based inputs for the production of industrially useful products on a large scale. It offers novel solutions through the use of plants, algae, and both macro and micro microbes such as bacteria, yeast and fungi together with waste biomass as non-fossil sources that will benefit many UK industry sectors including chemicals, renewable energy, food, materials, and health. The IBLF estimates the global IB market in 2025 could be worth at least £150 billion and the event represented an important milestone in the UK’s journey towards realising its economic potential – the UK’s share of the IB market could be between £4 billion and £12 billion.

Industry leaders, technology providers and a wide range of other stakeholders from across multiple sectors came together to share details of how they have harnessed IB to drive innovation, often in established industries that typically rely heavily on petrochemical derived chemical processes. Attendees were given the chance to see the novel range of applications IB can support including a fishing rod developed from carrots and a potato-based, fully biodegradable Union Jack.

Successful application of IB was highlighted in the ‘Sustainable Returns: IB Done

06 www.chemistryinnovation.co.uk

Well’ report – commissioned by the IBLF and written by Jonathan Porritt, Founder Director of Forum for the Future – which was launched at the event. The report set out ten guiding principles for industry and government to ensure IB meets both its growth as well as carbon reduction potential and will be used by the IBLF to influence their strategy for UK academic and industrial activities beyond 2015.

Government also played an active role in the event as it continues to recognise the significance of IB and their role in helping UK businesses and academia to access this pioneering enabling technology.

Minister for Universities and Science, David Willetts used the event to announce £40 million of funding to boost research in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy. The funding, from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) and the Technology Strategy Board (TSB), will fund the creation of interdisciplinary networks and foster collaborative research between academia and industry through an IB Catalyst fund offering a channel for sustainable economic growth for the UK. “Industrial biotechnology is a very promising area of science that could provide greener solutions for many

Leading IB: A UK Showcase takes Westminster by stormThis January, the Industrial Biotechnology leadership Forum (IBLF) hosted the UK’s largest IB showcase which brought together business leaders, funders, academics and policy makers from the UK and the EU to share biotechnology success stories.

important sectors, like manufacturing and life sciences. Through investing in research and working with industry we can harness the UK’s expertise in this area to drive growth and create jobs” said Willetts.

Presentations from across the two-day event can be downloaded by clicking here.

David Willetts MP, speaking at the IB Showcase Event

Chemistry Innovation News 07

Promoting Innovation in Bio-based Products – How the European Commission is supporting Small and Medium EnterprisesBy Dr Cynthia Green, Project Manager, and Dr Steve Fletcher, Director of Strategy, Chemistry Innovation Limited

What are “Bio-based products? They are defined as “Industrial and consumer products based on renewable, biological raw materials such as plants and trees” and include new materials such as bio-plastics, bio-lubricants, surfactants, enzymes and pharmaceuticals produced from non-food crops or waste. In these situations the process to convert the starting material to the end product often involves biotechnology, rather than traditional chemical routes. The European Commission (EC) funded BIOCHEM project has helped small companies address the various challenges involved in developing new business in this area.

Small and Medium Enterprises crucial for bio-based products

There are many sustainability reasons why chemical companies should develop products from renewable starting materials, rather than the current petroleum-based feedstocks. And there is a growing market for “green” ingredients in, for example, cosmetic and healthcare products.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly important here. They are crucial for innovation and in FP7 (Seventh Framework Programme) about one tenth of the European research budget has been spent with them – likely to increase when Horizon 2020 begins in 2014. Within the field of biotechnology it is in SMEs that most innovation happens, those companies becoming key links in the supply chains of

larger companies.

For example an SME called Genencor, Netherlands, developed a technology for producing synthetic rubber from corn. This company has since been acquired by the multi-national company Du Pont and Goodyear uses this ‘bio-isoprene’ to produce tyres.

The approach of BIOCHEM

BIOCHEM is a good example of a project targeted at innovation by SMEs in Europe. Co-financed by the EC, BIOCHEM was launched in February 2010 and will conclude in April 2013. It has sixteen partner organisations, which are either national innovation agencies or developers of business support tools, from eight European countries. Its aim is not to develop technology solutions but to provide the tools and assistance to support companies in their endeavours to innovate in bio-based products.

Why do companies need this support? In this area innovation is hampered by a number of inter-related factors such as lack of awareness of industrial biotechnology and its benefits, uncertainty about market demand and lack of confidence to enter a new business involving totally new supply chains.

The BIOCHEM project has addressed these barriers by developing a set of resources which can be freely used by SMEs. This includes guidance material, assessment tools and support tools covering a range of topics including:• Sustainable product design• Life cycle assessment• Partnering and open innovation• Development of business models and business plans• Markets and supply chains• Funding, both public and private, to support innovation

This toolbox is backed up by personal advice from experienced consultants from the partner organisations. The Sustainable Design and Life Cycle tools have been particularly popular with companies that are considering changing to new starting materials and processes because they need to be assured that their new process will be “greener” than the old one.

The partnering system has also proved popular. It has over 3,000 organisations on its database – a mixture of SMEs, large companies and academics. This is particularly useful for companies looking for partners, either to develop new business relationships or to engage in collaborative R&D projects.

The “open innovation” opportunity is especially attractive to large companies who are seeking new technologies which they can use within their business; so this facility responds to the trend that larger companies no longer carry out all their innovation projects in-house but look for good ideas from outside their own organization.

The Future

The toolbox is available for use, free of charge at the BIOCHEM homepage. During the lifetime of BIOCHEM the project partners have used the tools and material to assist over 200 SMEs, with each SME receiving a personal development plan and, where appropriate, further assistance in using the toolbox to overcome the more significant barriers that apply to their business situation. After April 2013, the official end of the BIOCHEM project, the toolbox will remain accessible and assistance will be available from the owners and developers of the tools.

In a bid to continue to address barriers to IB development for industry across Europe, the European Commission launched BIO-TIC in September 2012. This three-year project aims to establish an overview of the barriers to biotechnology innovation and design a clear action plan to overcome them. A series of roadmaps are being developed to create a comprehensive set of policy recommendations that can feed into European governance.

Chemistry Innovation KTN will support the development of two of the three BIO-TIC roadmaps – ‘research and innovation’ and ‘non-technological barriers’ - through consultation with their academic and industrial community. In addition, Chemistry Innovation will coordinate a UK workshop, alongside the Biosciences KTN, to identify the hurdles to innovation on a national level.

For further information visit: www.biochem-project.eu and www.industrialbiotech-europe.eu

Funding...

EventsINNOVATION with IMPACT, Chemistry Innovation’s Stakeholder Event 2013

Tuesday, June 25, 2013 at 6:30 pm –Wednesday, June 26, 2013 at 4:30 pmAston Business School, Birmingham, B4 7ET

Chemistry Innovation is pleased to announce details of their annual Stakeholder Event taking place in Birmingham this June. Don’t miss your opportunity to see what has been happening within their network of innovative companies

• Hear about the latest Innovation Strategy to encourage growth for UK chemistry-using industries

• Learn more about the Chemistry Growth Strategy due to be published in May

• Join an event renowned for its innovative style and approach

• Network with key players

Click here to book now http://chemistryinnovation.eventbrite.co.uk/

Business Support for InnovationThe following scheme provides an opportunity for businesses to access new sources of funding and form knowledge transfer partnerships. Chemistry Innovation offers free assistance to businesses for these competitions through advice on competition scope, partner identification and proposal review. For more information contact: Dr Claire Claessen Claire.Claessen@ciktn.co.uk

Collaborative R&D competition in Formulation

The Technology Strategy Board and EPSRC (the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) are investing up to £6m in feasibility projects and collaborative R&D to accelerate the development of new ways of designing, improving and manufacturing complex high-value formulated products in sectors such as pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, detergents, food, agrochemicals, paints, adhesives, lubricants and formulated process chemicals:

• Up to £5m is available for collaborative R&D projects. These must be business-led, include an end user formulating company, last one to three years and will attract up to 50% public funding.• Up to £1m is available for feasibility projects. These must be business-led, may be collaborative or led by single companies, should last six to nine months and will attract up to 75% public funding.• These totals are inclusive of a £1m contribution from the EPSRC for fundamental research• Typical total project size: cR&D £1M; Feasibility £100K

Key dates

Competition opens: Monday 29th April 2013Briefing and consortium event: Wednesday 1st May 2013Stage one deadline: Wednesday 19th June 2013Stage two deadline: Thursday 29th August 2013

For more information:https://connect.innovateuk.org/web/formulation1/funding

08 www.chemistryinnovation.co.uk

Events...

Chemistry Innovation

The Heath

Runcorn

Cheshire

WA7 4QX

United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1928 515662

Fax: +44 (0)1928 515677

Email: enquiries@ciktn.co.uk

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