Step into the future

BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology editionMontréal | July 2017

Official media partners with

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Canada is in celebratory mood this year as it marks the 150th anniversary of confederation with a range of events at home and abroad. The country’s

Innovation150 initiative is naturally a favourite with everyone at Innovators Magazine. This year-long project is on the road now promoting the power of ideas by engaging with young Canadians, families and communities through a mix of mobile science exhibitions and innovation festivals.

We’re delighted then to be distributing this special edition - in Canada’s sesquicentennial year - at the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Montréal.

Andrew Casey, President and CEO, BIOTECanada, writes for us about the strength of the country’s innovation in biotechnology which, he says, is “delivering game-changing solutions to the global marketplace”.

We also shine a spotlight on the buoyant biotech ecosystem in Scotland, which is being spearheaded by the Glasgow-headquartered Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC).

Staying in Europe, we look ahead to next year’s ACHEMA trade show in Frankfurt, Germany. Discover how this international showcase for the chemical industry - held every three years – is recognising the growing influence of biotechnology.

A little south of here, Roberto Jaguaribe, President of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency - Apex-Brasil, gives us the lowdown on the country’s sustainable agriculture developments.

And in our innovation economy roundup, we feature a few of the autonomous technologies transforming the logistics industry; and also get the inside track from the frontline of innovation, in our Q&A with Katherine Manuel, Senior Vice President, Innovation, Thomson Reuters.

Iain RobertsonEditor

Editor’s word

Iain Robertson - EditorIan Monk - Design

Ryan McFadyen - DigitalGillian Greig - Operations

Susan Robertson - Partnerships Front cover image credit: istockphoto.com

Newsdesk: editorial@innovatorsmag.com Advertising: advertising@innovatorsmag.comReception: +44 (0)141 570 0029150 Central Chambers11 Bothwell St | Glasgow | Scotlandinnovatorsmag.com | @innovatorsmag

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INNOVATION ECONOMY ROUNDUP

4 Q&A with Katherine Manuel, Senior Vice President, Innovation, Thomson Reuters

6 The logistics industry gets on board with the autonomous revolution

8 What’s next? We ask industry leaders for their views on where innovation is taking us

10 Glasgow to host inaugural Global Game Changers awards

WORLD CONGRESS ON INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY 2017

13 A welcome from Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President, Industrial & Environmental, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

INDUSTRIAL BIOTECHNOLOGY INNOVATION CENTRE (IBIOIC) - SPECIAL FEATURE

14 What to expect at IBioIC’s fourth annual conference in Scotland

16 Fostering a culture of entrepreneurialism

18 Collaborating with real spirit

20 In conversation with an IBioIC member

INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

23 Why should you visit one of the world’s biggest trade shows for the chemical industry?

24 Andrew Casey, President and CEO, BIOTECanada, writes about the strength of Canada’s biotechnology ecosystem

26 Roberto Jaguaribe, President of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency - Apex-Brasil, on the country’s sustainable agriculture developments

31 Dr Scott Collins - President and CTO of TeVido BioDevices - talks about how the company is accelerating its R&D

32 Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO, Stora Ensa, is rethinking wood

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CONTENTS

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What does your role involve?

I’m responsible for driving the shift in culture that sup-ports, enables and drives innovation across Thomson Reuters. While this sounds fairly broad, I’ll break it down. Traditionally, Thomson Reuters was a company that grew through acquisition. Several years ago, our CEO changed course and wanted to focus on growing in the segments where we could make a real impact. When an organization decides to grow organically, innovation is essential to fuel that growth.

To change the culture we’ve worked hard to break down barriers between business units and brought together senior leaders from across the company to share learn-ings and best practices. We democratized the process, launching an Idea Track tool that captures ideas submit-ted from all across the organization and started a seed fund that any employee can apply to with a great idea and executive support. Last, we host global challenges and innovation workshops to bring together teams of employees from across business units to collaborate and drive the new ideas we need to thrive.

How does Thomson Reuters harness the opportunities of constant change?

We’re living in the age of acceleration. Thomson Reuters is a data and information company, and transforma-tional technologies are evolving at a rapid pace. It’s essential that we keep up and remain ahead of the curve in order to best serve our customers. To harness the opportunities of constant change, we’re opening platforms and working with customers, universities, startups and other partners to experiment, co-create and innovate.

Specifically, we have a global labs network, with labs strategically located in global innovation hotspots around the world, to attract top talent, rapidly proto-type and validate solutions using data science and lean techniques. We recently opened a technology centre in Toronto, bringing 1500 jobs to the ‘tech corridor’ with the goal to attract and retain key technology talent to collaborate with our business units and customers. Also, our cognitive computing centre focuses on applying machine learning to products and solutions targeting professional markets. One great example of this is our Reuters Tracer product which is a tool that enables journalists to spot and validate real news in real time on Twitter. The Tracer presentation was called the coolest demo at Strata, something we were very proud of given the breadth of talent at the conference.

What level of importance do you give to nurturing intra-preneurship?

I’m laughing a bit to myself because cultivating our intrapreneurs is pretty much my whole job so I’d say I consider it extremely important. We are a workforce of

Katherine Manuel

Senior Vice President, Innovation, Thomson Reuters

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45,000 people in over 100 countries around the world. Our employees know their professional markets inside and out. Not only do they provide our customers with the tools and information they need to do their jobs well; they are a trusted resource and partner for customers and they know the challenges and opportunities that are the most significant.

Allowing our employees to experiment and try new approaches that they think will delight customers, streamline processes or improve methods is extremely important. We conduct and sponsor lean experimen-tation and design thinking workshops across the globe that give people the tools and grant people permission to experiment constructively. We have woven innovation into our company-wide training programs to ensure that employees know it matters and they feel invited to participate. Additionally, as I mentioned earlier, we’ve created a seed fund, called the Catalyst Fund, to provide financial support and mentorship to our intraprenuers. The oversight committee meets once a month and our CEO attends every meeting to hear the progress of each of the teams. We understand that our employees are our most valuable asset and we want them to feel empowered in their roles.

What practical initiatives do you have for fostering a culture of innovation?

I love thinking about the strategy and market dynamics implicit in forcing change. However, the hardest part is getting the people who are the real power behind the change to embrace it and feel a part of the turn. Because of this, it is incredibly important to provide people on-the-job learning to encourage innovation and build confidence. It is important to use many different tactics and methods to attract people with different mindsets and interests. Because of this, we use a wide variety of approaches.

We have innovation champions that act as ambas-sadors for their areas of the company to spread the messages and provide us a window into what matters for them. We leverage crowd-sourced solutions by sharing broadly a customer challenge or business opportunity not yet solved, and ask our employees for their best solutions. We take large, emerging technol-ogies and bring together external experts with internal go-getters to ideate the use cases and then invest in these new opportunities. We fund employees’ ideas if they can show the value and corral enough interest for their idea. We have hackathons and unconferences and innovation gatherings all over the world hosted by teams with passion on different topics. I could go on and on. The worst thing we can do is possess the mindset that innovation is owned by any one team or one function. We need to encourage smart innovation everywhere.

How do you support the innovators of tomorrow?

The future of innovation is paramount to our success as a business, but more importantly a society. As we look at the data, it becomes clear that we are not educating our children for the jobs of tomorrow. There are massive amounts that we can do by encouraging corporations to partner with non-profits, educators and government organizations to shift this change. We work closely with organizations like Coder Dojo, Girls Make Games and Apps for Good to leverage our employees’ passion and talent to help expose children to the tools that help them express their natural innovative minds.

Thomson Reuters has relationships with universities where we partner on idea development, scholarly research and the recruiting of bright talent. Personally, I am on the board of Duke University’s business school’s Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. I also sit on the board of SOAR Triangle, a non-profit focused on increasing investment in women-led start-ups in North Carolina.

Tell us a little about your work advancing opportunities for women in STEM?

I believe strongly that we are not marketing to girls the value and opportunities inherent in a strong background in technology. Because of this, the number of women in technology is too small for an increasingly impor-tant driver of our economy. In 1984, 37% of computer science graduates were women, compared to only 18% today. Think about that. In the world where the hot topics are self-driving cars, drone-delivered packages, artificial intelligence, cryptocurrencies, high-quality online education and computerized medicine – how is it that women are missing out on the creation stage, and only expected to be consumers?

On top of that, these are the fields where not only attention and resource is placed, but wealth is created. How can we encourage our girls to dive in and earn a proportionate share of the wallet? The analogy that always drives home for me is Rosie the Riveter in World War Two. The United States used a massive market-ing campaign to ignite the belief that women could do traditionally what was considered a man’s work in order to support the homeland. This encourages millions of women to gain new skills and millions more to enter the workforce. How can we now ignite a similar movement to encourage more girls to study STEM and women to take careers in STEM fields in order to improve the future of innovation and fill these much needed jobs?

The opportunities are endless if we can expand

our vision of what an innovator looks like and sounds like.

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Being kinder to the planet is of paramount importance to the innovative companies transforming the logistics industry - check out these three...

A new direction

LandEinride is the exciting young company behind the T-pod: a driverless, emission-free, cargo truck.

“The big companies behind long haul trucks keep building bigger trucks to increase efficiency, which ultimately means even more emissions. We are changing that by creating a secure solution that is, not only cost-effective, but dramatically minimises the negative environmental impact of the transportation industry,” said Filip Lilja, COO at Einride.

A full-scale prototype was unveiled in Sweden this month. Einride plans to carry out testing on it throughout this year.

Robert Falck, CEO of Einride, added: “We don’t believe our work is done when we’ve achieved carbon neutrality. Our design process is driven by our goal to have a net positive impact – whether that’s improving the lives of transport workers or reducing road traffic accidents, every element of our system aims to have a measurable positive impact on the planet.”

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of travel

Sea AirA partnership between agricultural producer, YARA, and technology giant, KONGSBERG, will deliver the ‘world’s first fully electric and autonomous container ship, with zero emissions’ next year. YARA will begin using the ‘YARA Birkeland’ vessel to ship its products in late 2018, from its production plant in Porsgrunn to Brevik and Larvik in Norway.

The Norwegian headquartered companies announced details of the project in May, and said the new ship will take the equivalent of ‘40,000 truck journeys’ off the road.

“As a leading global fertilizer company with a mission to feed the world and protect the planet, investing in this zero-emission vessel to transport our crop nutrition solutions fits our strategy well. We are proud to work with KONGSBERG to realise the world’s first autonomous, all-electric vessel to enter commercial operation,” said Svein Tore Holsether, President and CEO of YARA.

US-based startup Natilus brings together a top team of aircraft designers and military drone specialists. It is developing a large amphibious aircraft drone, which has the potential to radically transform the global transportation of goods industry. On the advantages of it being amphibious, the company said: “The ability for Natilus drones to take off and land in the water means that the drones do not require long airstrips and other restricting infrastructure to function.”

Natilus claims to have found a ‘sweet spot’ between sea and air freight. According to its calculations, the drones would slash 50% off the cost of delivering goods – compared to the price of a Boeing 747 – and transport it 17 times faster than a standard cargo ship. Slower flying speeds and the early adoption of electric engines would, it estimates, reduce fuel burn by 50%.

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What’s next?For a bit of fun, we asked a couple of influencers from the biotech industry - and two leaders from the wider economy - where they think innovation is taking us.

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Technological change has the ability to advance the rights and opportunities of children. UNICEF’s Venture Fund: unicefinnovationfund.org invests in emerging technologies which we believe show great promise for humanity. Data science and machine learning can tell us where an epidemic is spreading but also, potentially, diagnose malnutrition from a child’s photograph.

Drones will soon be delivering the first vaccines in a set of controlled trials in Vanuatu. Crypto-currency and distributed ledgers and blockchains can provide immutable, non-sovereign records of a young person’s identity, education, or health needs.

UNICEF has always focused on ensuring the rights of children, particularly the most vulnerable – and we will have an additional role in the next decade to ensure that, as these tremendous technological advances move forward, we create systems for algorithmic equity, neutrality of data sets, and services that benefit the world’s poorest and least-connected citizens.

By 2050, based on OECD estimates the earth will be 30% more populated and GDP will be more than doubled giving more purchasing power to more people. Conversely, we will be using a lot less fossil fuels, electricity will be largely from renewable sources, buildings will be much more efficient at retaining heat (in the winter) and cool (in the summer), ground transportation (trains, buses, cars) will be primarily electric. Carbon-based fuels and materials will still be required for aviation, chemicals and polymers however more of these products will be from sustainable sources using Industrial Biotechnology rather than traditional fossil fuels. By the end of the century, the use of fossil fuels will be history.

Big Data is breaking ground to reconciling cities with nature. Smart lighting, energy use, traffic, waste valorization, all aspects and flows of the circular city of the future are promises that can be kept by harnessing Big Data through analytics.

Transportation in the industrial revolution was revolutionised by roads, river traffic, steamboats, canals and railroads. Now it’s the turn for integrated transport systems, new delivery and drone technology, biofuels, driverless and electric vehicles, sharing platforms and mobility-as-a-service, among others, to lead the transition towards circularity in cities.

Paradoxically, circular cities will need to cater for an increase in density and an increase in quality of life. Public places and structures will learn from MIT’s ‘reprogrammable apartments’ so that they are built with multiple uses in mind to ensure that we can use them with different purposes at different times.

By 2050, in a world with a population in excess of nine billion people - that’s going to create a lot of pressures on society, and our environment. It’s a social imperative that’s leading to a business opportunity. Canada’s leadership role in the development of key health, industrial, agricultural and environmental biotech innovations will have greatly improved the way we live, grow and manufacture.

With great scientists, researchers and an impressive array of early stage biotech companies in all sectors, it will be incumbent for industry to lead the move from aspiration to implementation. If we get it right, a world under stress from population growth and environmental change awaits our solutions.

Christopher Fabian, Principle Advisor, UNICEF Ventures, Office of Innovation

Andrew Casey, President and CEO,BIOTECanada

Roger Kilburn, CEO, Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC)

Anna Tarí, Founder, Circular Economy Club (CEC)

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Global Game Changers Awards launchedBy Iain Robertson

Innovators Magazine is delighted to announce the launch of the Global Game Changers Awards in part-nership with The Herald Scotland newspaper.

The inaugural awards will be held in Glasgow, one of Europe’s top innovation hotspots, later this year. It will recognise the innovation economy’s importance in delivering a sustainable future for all, particularly those making an impact in relation to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

The awards will celebrate the key elements that under-pin the innovation economy. The categories relate to: women in innovation; intrapreneurship; social innovators; corporates doing good, startups working in the sharing economy, collaborative initiatives; STEM education; young pioneers; and the circular economy.

Councillor Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council and City Convener for Inclusive Economic Growth, told Innovators Magazine: “Glasgow is a perfect choice for this event given our centuries-long tradition in innovation. From the steam engine to the fridge to ther-modynamics and the ultrasound, the city has long been synonymous with new discovery and invention.

“We continue that work today, with two innovation districts in the city tied to the University of Glasgow and the University of Strathclyde conducting world-leading research in the life sciences, stratified medicine, and quantum technology. These districts are committed to looking for the next breakthroughs and their work has the support of the City Government that I lead.

“We are delighted that Glasgow is to host these awards as the city continues to be a global game changer itself.”

Law firm Bond Dickinson and City of Glasgow College are supporting the awards.

Speaking to The Herald, John Ralph, Partner at Bond Dickinson, said: “We are delighted to be sponsoring the Collaboration For Change category at the Global Game Changers Awards.

“As a firm, we embrace innovation and constantly strive to maintain our exceptional levels of service by devel-oping new ways of working with our clients. We were recently ranked in the top five firms for innovation in the Best Legal Adviser Report for 2016-17 and our current national campaign, Close Encounters: The Power Of Collaborative Innovation, reflects our interest in the way businesses find different ways of working together.”

While the Principal and Chief Executive of the City of Glasgow College, Paul Little, said the college is “delighted to support“ the event.

One of Innovator Magazine’s partners, Knowledge4Inno-vation, who run the annual European Innovation Summit in Brussels, also praised the new awards platform.

Roland Strauss, Managing Director at Knowledge4In-novation, added: “This is an exciting addition to the innovation economy. It’s great to see our partners at Innovators Magazine collaborating with Newsquest International to host the first Global Game Changers Awards in Scotland. Collaboration is a vital component of the innovation process. The awards will recognise those pioneering companies and individuals that are working to build a sustainable future by contributing to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. We look forward to providing input into this inaugural event. And with it being the 10th anniversary of the European Inno-vation Summit here in Brussels next year, who knows, we may well be welcoming the Global Game Changers Awards to the Belgian capital in 2018.”

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Welcome to the World Congress Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President, Industrial & Environmental, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO)

Over the past decade, the industrial biotechnology sector has made huge strides in commercializing unique environmental solutions to produce renewable chemicals, biobased products and biofuels from sustainable biomass, and many companies have premiered their solutions at the annual BIO World Congress. Companies have achieved quantifiable improvements in biomass sustainability, energy efficiency and carbon re-utilization. Their innovations illustrate the potential for sustainable manufacturing growth – which generates jobs and economic opportunity – while minimizing the environmental impact of industry.

Industrial biotech companies contribute to economic prosperity in Europe, Asia and North America, generating sustainable economic growth along with environmental solutions. Many of the companies who are making significant contributions in this arena will be presenting at the 2017 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, making it an occasion to recognize milestones for the industry’s accomplishments in environmental sustainability. These accomplishments realize the unique potential for industrial biotechnology to improve the life cycle sustainability of manufacturing consumer goods.

At the same time, researchers continue to develop new applications that were not envisioned just a few short years ago. Industrial biotechnology continues to hold unique potential to generate environmental benefits that include carbon reductions, reduction of waste and energy use, and displacement of fossil fuels. With dozens of educational tracks and hundreds of speakers, the 2017 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology is the perfect place to learn more. Look for BIO’s new white paper, ‘Industrial Biotechnology: A Unique Potential for Pollution Prevention,’ premiering at the Congress.

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Duration: 25th & 26th January 2018Delegates: 450Destination: Glasgow, ScotlandVenue: Technology & Innovation Centre“IBioIC’s annual conference has truly showcased the impact of the IB industry in Scotland and beyond. Scotland is a leading region for the bio-economy and IB, and opportunities to hear from and speak to key local actors, as well as international stakeholders have been plentiful.”

Agnes Borg, Industrial Manager, EuropaBio

Now in its fourth year, the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre’s (IBioIC) annual conference is fast building a reputation as one of the most important UK based industrial biotechnology meetings in the calendar, attracting key players and influencers in the UK and global bioeconomy. As a specialist in the Industrial Biotechnology (IB) sector, IBioIC was set up to stimulate the sector growth in Scotland to £900 million by 2025 through connecting industry, academia and government; facilitating collaborations; providing scale-up capabilities; and developing skills within the sector to ensure economic growth.

This event delivers on IBioIC’s aims by bringing together a unique mix of academia, biobased professionals and supporting organisations under one roof, to hear about and explore the potential opportunities for IB in Scotland as well as the global landscape of the industry.

Held in Glasgow, the city is ranked by the Mercer Cost of Living Survey as one of Europe’s most cost-effective cities. It is served by three international airports with direct flights from over 175 destinations and boasts the largest rail network in the UK outside of London.

From five star hotels to budget accommodation, there are over 18,000 rooms available within close proximity of conference venues, restaurants and cultural attractions, making it an easily accessible location for bringing together the IB community.

For 2018, the organisers have great ambitions to reach our global network and invite you all to join us in Scotland for an event you will not want to miss.

Key highlights of the conference will include:

• Plenary sessions around biorefining, policy, challenges and barriers to IB

• Parallel tracks focussed around Technical and Commercial themes

• Conference partnering to facilitate new collaborations

• Bustling exhibition area featuring companies and universities from across the UK & further afield

• Civic Reception hosted by the Lord Provost welcoming delegates to the City of Glasgow

• Networking conference dinner with awards ceremony and guest speakers

With an ambitious target to transform the competitiveness and sustainability of industries through the innovative use of industrial biotechnology, Scotland as a nation, is well on its way to becoming a key influencer in the industry on a global scale and we hope you are available to join us in January and find out more.

A call for abstracts will launch on Monday 23 July at the BIO World Congress, Montreal. To find out more about IBioIC, how to submit an abstract for a speaker opportunity and or poster, please go to: www.ibioic.com or pop by stand number 339 to meet the team and receive further details.

Key information

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The Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre’s (IBioIC) vision is to bring growth to the Scottish economy through developments and collaborative working in the industrial biotechnology (IB) sector. To achieve this, the Centre bridges the gap between government, academia and industry, forging networks, providing funding and nurturing the commercialisation of industrial biotechnology concepts. IBioIC works with companies of all sizes, from multinational corporations, through to sole traders and independent consultants. However, there is a strong need for new start-ups to form, to address future IB possibilities. So what IB initiatives are out there to help entrepreneurs?

The variety of initiatives developing IB entrepreneurs is extensive, and they provide opportunities to support and encourage both individuals and organisations regardless of what stage they are at. Whether you are at school, university or working in a business, there are IB initiatives that are propelling individuals towards entrepreneurship and thus developing the future of IB.

Supporting talented students through iGEM

The iGEM competition is a competition for teams of students to develop projects in synthetic biology. A hackathon of sorts, it brings together groups of students – from secondary school to postgraduate levels, to formulate future business ideas based on synthetic or industrial biology and progress the idea to prototypes or full business plans.

Teams must be registered in the spring, usually work on projects over the summer, then come together in Boston, US, to present ideas at a jamboree attended

by over 5,000 students. The teams are usually made up of individuals with different backgrounds, for example designers, computer scientists, biologists, artists and engineers, to create the best skill set and they raise their own funding, together, to compete.

Participation in the iGEM programme is a great addition to the CV of anyone looking to pursue a career in IB, it shows that someone has good entrepreneurial spirit and embraces the multidisciplinary challenges and opportunities in this sector. Additionally, the ideas and commercial concepts that come out of the programme can lend themselves to the creation of start-ups in the industry. Because of this, IBioIC supports Scottish teams taking part in the competition – providing some financial support, meeting spaces and mentorship during initial development. IBioIC also supports the teams in becoming part of the wider IB community. In 2016, two of the teams under the Centre’s mentorship spoke at IBioIC’s Annual Conference, where member companies – that could become future employers or collaborators – were introduced to them.

For more information visit: igem.org or contact Ian Archer, Technical Director at IBioIC - Ian.Archer@Ibioic.com

Encouraging entrepreneurship in Industrial Biotechnolog

iGEM team creates bug to overcome water purity issues in Asia Arsenic biosensor to screen drinking water – a previ-ous winning team developed a biosensor that changes colour in water if there is arsenic present. Designed to tackle this common water purity issue in Bangladesh, the team are currently seeking EU approval for their bug to be fully commercialised. arsenicbiosensor.org

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More Business Acumen (MBA)

Run in association with SynbiCITE, IBioIC’s MBA course is designed to nurture the IB leaders of the future. Ideal for PhDs, those looking to set up their own business or those in the early stages of their business. The interactive course guides you through the strategies required to establish, build and manage a biotechnology company, with particular focus on intellectual property (IP), set-up and funding.

A 50/50 experience of lectures and practical exercises or workshops, the course encourages the creation of working groups to put learning into practice. Many of the ideas and inputs from the course could develop into real businesses and are helping to inspire academics to spin companies out from universities.

For more information on More Business Acumen and other business support events, contact Rachel Moir, Skills Programme Manager at IBioIC, Rachel.moir@ibioic.com

Network enablement for entrepreneurs

IBioIC’s support system enables start-ups and emerging businesses by connecting them with key partners for growth. These networks provide opportunities for funding, collaboration and knowledge sharing. By introducing these collaborative networks, IBioIC supports value chains rather than individual sectors or sub-sectors, increasing

cross-sector collaboration and entrepreneurship.

For more information on networking and collaboration,

please contact Ian Archer, Technical Director at IBioIC - Ian.Archer@Ibioic.com

Further support for entrepreneurs in Scotland

• GlobalScot Network – GlobalScot is a worldwide network of business contacts who are experts in their field and driven to help Scottish companies develop, expand and thrive in a competitive international market. Whether it’s identifying new business leads, getting local market information or accessing key contacts in major organisations, their network of experts and business leaders can help. For more information, visit: globalscot.com

• Scottish Enterprise – SE offers up to £200k and a number of support systems to help take an idea from concept to commercialisation.

There are a number of different grants on offer, for

more information visit: scottish-enterprise.com/services/

support-for-entrepreneurs

• The Royal Academy of Engineering Enterprise Hub – The Royal

Academy of Engineering’s Enterprise Hub offers funding, mentoring and training

to budding entrepreneurs across the vast array of engineering and technology disciplines, including

bioengineering, synthetic biology and industrial biotechnology. They

have a series of awards and programmes for applicants. For more information, visit:

enterprisehub.raeng.org.uk

• The Royal Society of Edinburgh Enterprise Fellowship - RSE Enterprise Fellowships support the development of STEM researchers into entrepreneurs. They provide funding, expert training and mentorship, enabling awardees to focus solely on their business idea. For more information, visit: rse.org.uk/awards/enterprise-fellowships

IBioIC helps start-up member MiAlgae strengthen its market propositionMiAlgae is developing a unique approach to converting food and drink by-products into feed pellets for animals. Connecting the team to key contacts and facilitating collective working, IBioIC helped to provide easy, credible routes to industry collaboration.

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INTRODUCTION

Humans currently derive around 20% of their protein from animal-based products, however with an increasing global population, there are real questions around global food security and sustainable protein sources. If we, as a society are to maintain a healthy and varied diet, then protein fortification in food and beverage is key to meeting global nutrition challenges. However, these recovery processes need to be profitable, both economically and environmentally; so new approaches need to be considered.

Horizon Proteins, based at Edinburgh’s Heriot-Watt University, specialises in the transformation of underutilised resources from the food and drink industries in to higher value, quality products. The company has developed a patented technology for the recovery of proteins and other macromolecules present in the by-products from whisky manufacturing for use as ingredients in animal and fish feeds, which need sustainable protein sources.

The method involves recovering protein from pot ale – a liquid residue left after the malt whisky-making process. Using innovative techniques, this

extracted protein is then used to replace traditional proteins used in animal feed, such as those sourced from soya bean or fish meal. By adapting techniques more commonly applied for high-value pharmaceutical products Horizon Proteins has developed a cost effective process for recovering proteins from distillation by-products. This technology adds significant value to a traditionally underused by-product, while the removal of protein from pot ale also improves performance of distillery processes, therefore also adding wider benefits when integrated with distilleries.

Initially the organisation’s focus is on the synergies between whisky and aquaculture; specifically converting the proteins in distillery by-products into a sustainable and nutritional protein feed ingredient for salmon.

HELPING A NEW MARKET

Over 570 million litres of alcohol are produced annually by US whiskey distilleries, yielding 121,000 tonnes of protein in the corresponding by-products. For American whiskies, there is a single by-product from distillation - wet distillers grains (WDG). WDG or distillers dried grains with solubles (DDGS) are generally used as a lower value livestock feed. Also American whiskies can be made from a range of grains (corn, rye, barley and wheat) adding to the variability of by-product composition. As this by-product is quite distinct from pot ale from Scottish malt whisky distilleries, a different strategy is required for separating out the valuable components. With support from the Industrial

IBioIC case study

HORIZON PROTEINS Addressing the global need for protein using next generation by-products

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Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC), the project aimed to adapt Horizon Proteins’ technology to by-product streams from US grain whiskey distilleries.

IBioIC was set up to bridge the gap between education and industry and this project highlights this specialism. Horizon Proteins is an industry partner of IBioIC, while Heriot Watt University is a higher education partner. Through its Exemplar project, IBioIC’s support enabled Horizon Proteins to collaborate with experts at Heriot Watt University and accelerate research into American whiskey by-products. The project allowed the company to work closely with academics in the International Centre for Brewing and Distilling (ICBD) and Institute of Biological Chemistry, Biophysics and Bioengineering, with a research scientist employed full time at the university to develop the technical aspects of the project.

The project built on an established collaboration between Horizon Proteins and the ICBD. The Centre has an international reputation for research and excellent facilities for the production of fermented beverages, and their subsequent distillation. A key part of the project was access to by-products similar to those from American whiskey. Through the ICBD, a range of distilled spirits, conforming to different American whiskey categories (including rye whiskey, bourbon and corn whiskey) were produced and the associated by-products were made available for the project.

INNOVATION OVERVIEW

The project included both technical and commercial innovation. The technical side focused on characterising the by-products and developing a process for converting the by-products into valuable

products. The commercial applications were investigated by matching feed sectors with their nutritional requirements and identifying the impact of grain inputs on by-product composition and feed application.

INNOVATION OUTCOMES

A detailed characterisation of by-products for model American whiskies was produced and enabled the development of strategies to separate the protein components and maximise their use as feed ingredients. The system is also scalable and transferable, therefore flexible in its use across diverse American whiskey production systems.

The project has delivered:

• Production and characterisation of by-products representative of those produced by the US whiskey industry

• Design and testing of a laboratory scale process that separates the protein component of American whiskey by-products

• Extensive proteomics identifying specific proteins of interest and impact of whiskey type on protein profile

• Dissemination via presenting at the IBioIC 3rd Annual Conference and paper submitted to the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference1

• Article on characterisation of American grain whiskey by-products in preparation

The technology is now at Technology Readiness Level 4, meaning validation at laboratory scale has been successful and is consistent with the requirements of potential applications. The success of the collaboration has been enabled by the support of IBioIC with Jane White, Director of

R&D Horizon Proteins saying, “the support of IBioIC, both in terms of research funding and also help in accessing equipment and development space, has enabled Horizon Proteins to invest in research, progress innovation and widen technology applications to new by-product streams.”

NEXT STEPS

The work developed in this project was presented to the whisky industry at the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference in May 2017. A paper on the characterisation of American grain whiskey by-products will also be published. The next step is to translate the research and learning outcomes of this project to the equivalent by-products from Scotch grain whisky. Scottish grain whisky is made from wheat or maize with similar by-products, containing both the yeast and grain fractions. The team is currently assessing integration of the protein separation technology with Scotch grain whisky processes with a holistic approach to add value across the distillery by-product chain being developed.

An additional outcome of the project was identification of specific proteins in the by-products and variability with grain input. This has led to a new research area with characterisation of these proteins and their potential to be used as functional protein ingredients being part of new Horizon Proteins research collaborations.

REFERENCE1. ‘The composition of co-products produced during distillation of whiskies derived from grists composed predominantly of maize and rye’, CP Holmes, A Diallo, JS White, J Traub, NA Willoughby & DL Maskell. Presentation at the Worldwide Distilled Spirits Conference May 2017 and paper to be published in conference proceedings

IBioIC case study

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Can you tell us a little about your company?

We are a UK contractor providing industrial maintenance using suction and jetting technologies and work across multiple sectors providing innovative approaches to the management and removal of material. We have received a UK patent for our fluid transfer system which serves to remove silt from under a head of water, leaving the water in situ. This has potential implications across waste water treatment works, canals and nuclear decommissioning providing one option for managing material on site in a more circular manner.

What challenges are you particularly interested in tackling?

I am particularly keen to see mass adoption of circular economy practices on a local level and being taught from early years up. Regardless of individual gain we should be encouraging everyone to look at ways of partnering and collaborating and providing both economic growth opportunities as well as educating on the damages we do by not delivering in a circular manner.

What is your involvement with the IB sector?

I am a chartered civil engineer and have spent my career within the waste management sector, therefore the IB sector is part of the design core for a large proportion of the work I have done and now the clients we do work for. Many of our clients, for example within the anaerobic digestion sector,

experience operating issues and we strive as a company to network and share industrial advances and technology with many of them. This information is also shared in a translatable manner to our operators which allows them to visually observe changes to the material status when undertaking confined entry tank cleans. It provides information with regards to any process failures in the treatment options, allowing us to deliver supplementary information to our clients.

Why did you join IBioIC?

I joined for two reasons, as above to provide access to technology that may have an impact on the development/support to our clients and to gain a greater knowledge base which I can share with schools and colleges as part of the STEM work that I undertake.

Q A&

IBioIC special feature

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Both critical in educating and sharing some very simple solutions on managing waste streams as circular opportunities, once you understand the constituent make-up of each resources stream.

How do you connect with new ideas at a national/international level?

I am also a member of other trade organisations and ensure that I stay connected with all social media channels and publications, from IBioIC and others; as well as attending seminars and events across the UK. As our patent has potential export potential across Europe and further afield I use as many vehicles as possible. Although I believe by networking across multiple sectors and simply listening and then joining dots

from sector to sector provides creative pragmatic solutions to many challenges globally.

You have written about your passion for the circular economy – what will it take to achieve it?

Education, simple effective messaging that allows it to be delivered at early stages in children’s development. Greater media uptake on the many large-scale schemes across the world as well as all the smaller community-based approaches to allow engagement with all corners of society. Mass adoption with local and national government levels in their procurement process is also necessary, although I believe this will fall out of the drive from business and other organisations influences such as IBioIC.

How are different sectors learning from each other in Scotland?

IBioIC recently held an event, entitled ‘IBioIC meets water’ and this was very insightful as the two sectors had many common challenges and success and it was clear that there is the start of the triple helix approach to maximising the economic, environmental and community benefits of any schemes. There is also a Scottish Circular Economy Business Network, where there is an extremely diverse range of business ranging from micro SMEs to large international organisations sharing information on implementable schemes and trying to identify obstacles.

kcpltd.net

Q A&

Wendy Pring, Managing Director at

KCP – an IBioIC member

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11 – 15 JuneFrankfurt / Main

› World Forum and Leading Show for the Process Industries

› 3,800 Exhibitors from 50 Countries

› 170,000 Attendees from 100 Countries

BE INFORMED. BE INSPIRED. BE THERE.

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Isn’t ACHEMA all about stainless steel, high pressure and world-scale plants? It surely is – but it’s so much more.

For one thing, biotechnology has arrived in the chemical industry, there‘s no doubt about that. Succinic acid for example is only one of many prod-ucts where microbial production is about to replace chemical synthesis and no one wants to look back. ACHEMA is the trade show where both worlds meet.

“Biotech for chemistry”

The focal topic “Biotech for chemistry” puts the spotlight on this interface. Like a common thread it runs through all of the eleven exhibition groups:

• Research and innovation hosts companies and institutions presenting brand new findings about how to harness even more microbes for chem-istry. Are bacteria still the way to go for succinic acid or do yeasts offer more effective path-ways?

• In the laboratory and analytical techniques exhi-bition group you will find not only the furniture for your lab, but also the equipment to look into the last atom of your acid.

• The engineering exhibition group is especially interesting for all those who take the step from pilot scale to full-size. This group offers anything from 3D simulation software to service pro-viders where you can commission a turn-key factory.

• Fancy a separator for biomass or a distillation unit to purify the succinic acid? The thermal and mechanical processes group is where to look. And of course you won‘t be left alone in your search for techniques and equipment to process the acid into the polymer of your choice.

Trade show plus congress

Other than the leading trade show for the process industries, ACHEMA is also a major congress. Choose between more than 600 presentations ranging from biorefineries, reaction technology, energy supply and analytics to process design.

By the way: the call for contributions to the congress program is open to anyone and effective until 22 September 2017.

Be part of it

Save the date for your visit: 11-15 June 2018. Book your stand and submit your contribution for the congress at www.achema.de

Follow us on Twitter @ACHEMAworldwide #BioForChem

Why visit a “chemical trade show”?

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› World Forum and Leading Show for the Process Industries

› 3,800 Exhibitors from 50 Countries

› 170,000 Attendees from 100 Countries

BE INFORMED. BE INSPIRED. BE THERE.

24

September 20 – 27, 2017

Celebrating science, innovation and solutions

globalbiotechweek.ca#GBW2017

The global population will increase to almost ten billion by 2050 while greenhouse gas emissions from agri-culture continue to rise. We need to intensify food production while shrinking agriculture’s impact on the environment. Canadian biotechnology is helping farmers produce more food while simultaneously reducing the environmental footprint of agriculture.

Biotechnology is changing the way we grow and consume food. It has brought us drought- and dis-ease-resistant crops, plants that can be grown on marginal land and fruits and vegetables with improved nutritional profiles and visual appeal.

Canadian innovators are creating new sources of energy and industrial applications, while reducing the environmental footprint of existing manufacturing and industrial processes. This sustainable intensification enhances the competiveness of traditional Canadian industries, such as mining, farming, forestry and oil and gas.

One of the promises of biotechnology is that it can help reduce the environmental impact of traditional manufacturing and industrial processes in agriculture, forestry, and chemical and automotive production. It also provides employment to compensate for lost jobs in the natural resources sector. Not-for-profit acceler-ators such as Bioindustrial Innovation Canada support the commercialization of clean, green and sustainable technologies.

BioAmber in Sarnia uses green chemistry to manufac-ture succinic acid from glucose derived from renewable agricultural feedstock. Bio-succinic acid is used to make textiles, paints, food additives and a replacement for petro-ingredients in personal care products.

Linnaeus Plant Science uses genetically modified castor plants to produce castor oil as a substitute for petro-leum-derived products. These plants act as miniature factories to make vegetable-based motor oils, lubri-cants and hydraulic fluids that are biodegradable, renewable and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

CO2 Solutions in Quebec City markets technology it developed for the enzymatic capture of CO2 emissions from large sources such as coal-fired plants and alumi-num refineries. The platform generates high-purity CO2 ideal for reuse applications and reduces costs, which

makes it attractive to businesses as they prepare for the Federal government’s promised implementation of a carbon tax in the near future.

The world sees Canadian biotechnology innovation delivering game-changing solutions to the global mar-ketplace. Recent successes can be found throughout the spectrum of innovation with hundreds of small start-up entrepreneurs striving to bring scientific dis-covery to the global marketplace.

Importantly, biotechnology is becoming more central to supporting the economic and environmental transfor-mation of Canada’s traditional economic cornerstone and job intensive industries, namely: forestry; energy; mining; agriculture; aerospace; manufacturing and resource management. Biotechnology innovation will support these sectors as they transform and compete in the emerging global bio-economy.

To learn more visit biotecanada-ecosystem.com

The strength of Canada’s biotechnology ecosystemAndrew Casey, President and CEO, BIOTECanada

September 20 – 27, 2017

Celebrating science, innovation and solutions

globalbiotechweek.ca#GBW2017

26

in conversation with Roberto Jaguaribe, President of the Brazilian Trade and Investment Promotion Agency - Apex-Brasil

Sustainable Agriculture

How important is the agricultural sector to Brazil?

Over the last 50 years, Brazil has experienced a real revolution in the countryside. The country went from being a food importer to becoming one of the largest producers and exporters in the world. To be precise: Brazil is today the second largest exporter of agri-cultural products in the world and the fourth largest producer on the planet, practicing sustainable agricul-ture, committed to environmental preservation.

This prominent position brings along many responsi-bilities, and does not only result from the fact that the country possesses the largest area of arable land in the world. Productivity gains, management efficiency, research, innovation and technological development have revolutionised the country’s agribusiness sector, which has agriculture as a flagship, but involves a gigan-tic productive chain.

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Supply (MAPA), in 2016 agribusiness represented 45.8% of total Brazilian exports. That same year the trade surplus was quite positive, reaching US$

72.5bn, according to the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA), which expects a 2% expansion in the sector and a 23% GDP share in 2017.

Our challenge is to contribute in a growing and always sustainable way to meet the demands of global food security, alongside governmental partners and the private sector, focused on delivering quality products to a population that, according to the UN, should reach 9bn people by 2050.

And its responsibility towards the planet?

A substantial part of this responsibility is directly linked to addressing global sustainability challenges, espe-cially those highlighted by the Paris Agreement. Brazil is the country that has most effectively contributed to reducing greenhouse gases emissions, and has great solutions to offer the world in the field of sustainability.

In agriculture, in particular, Brazil has advanced to strengthen the sustainability attributes of agribusiness, based on balanced farming-livestock-forest integration. In parallel, it is investing in innovation, with technolo-

27

gies that increase productivity and reduce demand for arable land. Many of these are extremely high precision and aim, for instance, at reducing the use of pesticides and enhancing soil preservation.

Thanks to modern technologies, grain productivity has grown approximately 220% in 40 years, rising from 1.4 tonnes/ha to 4.5 tonnes/ha. In the same period the cul-tivated area increased only marginally, whereas, based on the lower levels of productivity, increasing yields to today’s values would have necessitated the cultivation of over 150m additional hectares.

Diversification and family farmingAgriculture in Brazil is extremely diverse, ranging from small producers to large rural properties. A significant part of Brazilian agribusiness is organised in cooper-atives, especially in the south. Family farming plays a strategic role, producing almost half of the corn crop, to cite only one produce from the immense food basket Brazil offers.

The country counts 851m hectares, of which 67% is

preserved in native vegetation. By comparison, the European Union preserves 37.6% of native or restored forest area, of which only 0.3% represents native veg-etation. What is peculiar and unique about Brazilian agricultural development is that it is compatible with sustainable development and environmental conserva-tion.

Forest CodeIn this sustainability context, the Brazilian Forest Code represents a significant evolution in the legal frame-work that establishes specific standards for sustainable cultivation, determining that the preservation of native vegetation varies with percentages of 20% to 80%, depending on the local biome found in each region.

The new Forest Code has also brought another rele-vant development to the sector: the creation of the Rural Environmental Register (CAR in its Portuguese acronym). This is a mandatory nationwide electronic public record, of all rural properties, registration in which is a precondition in order to obtain rural credit from financial institutions.

By the end of March 2017 more than four million rural buildings had been registered, including 100% of those located in the Amazon region.

What are the biggest challenges for Brazilian agriculture do you think?

The challenges are twofold: production and market. In the first, logistics are the most relevant. In recent years, significant investments have been made in infra-structure, which is still insufficient to meet the needs of Brazilian agricultural production flows, especially for small producers. As previously mentioned, family farming plays an important role in the country’s total production.

Brazil is a country of continental dimensions, which makes it difficult for production to reach our ports for onward export to international markets. It is more costly for farm production to reach the ports than to export it thence to importing countries. The costs accumulate along the entire transportation process within Brazilian territory, and that obviously affects the final price of commodities, rendering our products less competitive.

Currently, infrastructure is one of our priority sectors for federal government investment. We hope to be able to conclude medium-term improvements that, among other advances, will bring effective benefits to exporting producers.

When we look at challenges from a market standpoint, two main issues arise: limited access due to barriers, and image. Regarding the latter, the main thing to con-front is the negative image that affects certain Brazilian agribusiness products. Most of the time, such distortion shows up as a mistaken correlation between increased agricultural production and deforestation.

Brazil is by far the most sustainable agricultural pro-ducer in the world, yet we frequently hear complaints

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from those outside the country that Brazilian agriculture is destructive. Apex-Brasil has launched a campaign called Be Brasil, to strengthen the country’s credibility and aid its economic recovery. The defence of the sustainability of Brazilian agri-business and the quality of its products are central elements here.

Be Brasil is a flexible and aggregative promotion platform that will be sustained over the years – through consistent work of commercial intelligence and prospecting, with an emphasis on the value of our products.

Of course, the macroeconomic situation experi-enced by the country in recent times has taken its toll, which has aggravated negative perspectives. But we are out in the field reversing this scenario, emphasising the relevant and positive aspects of agribusiness, such as the work conducted by Brazil with great competence in the areas of technology and innovation, among many others.

Lastly, I must mention that the implementation of the Forest Code, one of our biggest and most challenging tasks at this time, will contribute directly to improving perceptions of the sustainability of Brazilian agriculture, establishing new differentiators in favour of Brazil in the global market.

How is the country faring in the innovation stakes when it comes to farming practices?

Brazil’s broad research network, which includes public institutions, universities and private entities, has led to extraordinary advances. The use of research, innovation and technologies that make the most of the soil ensures high levels of pro-ductivity while preserving the environment. It also reduces the need for agrochemicals and cuts a sig-nificant portion of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

It all started with the green revolution of the 1970s, when the cultivation of Brazil’s large swathes of savannah, also known as Cerrado, was made possi-ble. The acid-rich nutrient-poor soils were corrected through technology transfers and field researches, which suddenly opened up thousands of kilometres of land suitable for agriculture and capable of producing foods usually accustomed to temperate climates.

Since then, various developments have contributed towards Brazil’s increasingly tight regulations to protect the environment. The use of hydroponics for vegetable growing in smaller reserves has enabled high yield productivity usually reserved for large

scale farming, enabling smaller family businesses to compete with larger conglomerates.

What are the latest trends you are seeing in crop cultivation?

As part of our goal to increase productivity using fewer resources Brazil has become a global leader in ‘no-till’ crop production. No-tillage farming follows the logic of forests, where organic material fallen from trees becomes a rich natural fertilizer. In no-tillage farming, decomposed straw from pre-vious crops contributes to soil nutrition, reducing the use of chemical inputs and water consumption, controlling erosive processes and increasing soil fertility.

Another key development in Brazil’s crop cultiva-tion is Brazil’s crop-livestock-forestry integration system. Such projects recover degraded pasture areas and improve livestock forage quality, resulting in lower slaughter age and a significant reduction in methane emissions. In this system, farmers will plant no-till soy in October or November, which the harvest at the beginning of the following year, and then plan corn and pasture (grass). In May-June the corn is harvested, and the grass remains to grow, which is used to graze cattle from July to October.

Brazil’s smart integration of no-till soy, corn and pasturing livestock production across the agricul-tural year means that we can produce more on the same land.

Brazil is the third largest producer of fruit globally, producing around 44m tonnes a year on 2.2m hectares. Brazil has a unique range of climates and soils, which means we can grow a wide variety of fruit and harvest all throughout the year. In the south of Brazil, which enjoys a temperate climate, blueberry and blackberry cultivation is expanding. This area is also known for its vineyards. The state of Espirito Santo, in the southeast, has been able to expand its papaya production to meet increasing international demand. Other tropical fruits such as guava, mango and avocado are also very important crops in Brazil.

Livelihoods in the northeast of the country, a semi-arid region, are being transformed by inno-vative irrigation technologies that allow for the first time for the production of melons, watermelons, mangoes and limes. This has given birth to a new agricultural sector in this region which is bring-ing economic and social transformation to once deprived populations.

29

In addition, the flavours of uniquely tropical Ama-zonian fruits like açai, guarana and graviola are increasingly being discovered by consumers inter-nationally, and this we feel will be a real growth segment of the market.

What’s the latest on Brazil´s biofuel production?

Regarding renewable energies, 44.61% of the Brazil-ian energy matrix is currently based on sustainable sources, among which biofuels are noteworthy, with an expressive presence in the international market. Brazil is today the world’s second largest producer and exporter of ethanol, only after the USA.

Among the competitive attributes that favour Brazil, the broad field of sugar cane bioenergy technol-ogies ultimately enable Brazil to enjoy one of the lowest production costs in the world, combined with its flexibility in productive processes.

From the standpoint of sustainability, the raw material used in the production of Brazilian ethanol has enormous advantages over corn, wheat and beet, predominantly used by the United States and Europe, because sugar cane retains greater amounts of CO² during its growth, which compen-sates for greenhouse gases emissions by cars.

Another relevant point is that Brazil’s industrial sugar cane energy production is also self-sustaina-ble regarding the electricity used in the process, ie all the electrical energy consumed by the sugar and alcohol production plant is generated in its boilers, with the use of bagasse and sugarcane straw. Moreover, the industry also cedes its electricity surplus to the national network.

In 2015, 6% of all electricity generated in Brazil originated in sugar cane plants – half of that in São Paulo State (2016 National Energy Balance). In 2006, 2.5% of the installed capacity for electric-ity generation in Brazil was based on sugar cane processing plants. In 2015, this percentage jumped to 7.5%.

It is important to stress that most Brazilian ethanol manufacturing is first generation, where the purified sugarcane broth is used in fermentation and trans-formed into ethanol after distillation.

Of course, we have a keen eye on the future in terms of the development of second-generation ethanol (2G). I can affirm that Brazil meets all the conditions to exert a leadership in world produc-tion, given the great availability of raw material demanded in the process (pulp, bagasse and sugarcane straw), and the full knowledge of the productive chain’s technologies.

The process of manufacturing 2G ethanol involves the use of enzymes for the extraction of sugars from bagasse and straw, and yeasts in the fermen-tation of the resulting broth, similar to the process of producing fermented alcoholic beverages. In this case, the production of ethanol per hectare is about three times greater, due to the improved use of biomass.

The technology involved in 2G ethanol manufac-turing is recent and, in order to better understand such technology and the bottlenecks for its expansion, Apex-Brasil is supporting research on the study of the Biofuture Platform, a joint action involving 20 countries to promote modern and sustainable low-carbon initiatives. The solu-tions covered range from the transport sector to chemicals and bioplastics, and second-generation biofuels are among the platform’s fundamental components.

Based on all these developments, is the future looking bright for Brazilian agribusiness?

We rely on work continuous work, not miraculous solutions. The future will be brighter as we consol-idate and keep improving sustainable practices in agribusiness. As I mentioned earlier, our image will improve as we continue in our efforts, generating a better future based on further development and our ability of fully meeting global demand for food.

A better future will also depend on greater equity in market conditions: Brazilian producers need to have fair access to export markets, without suf-fering from retention and the adoption of quotas and punitive and unfair tariffs. I understand that limiting policies or closing markets will persist in the global scenario, but demand for food is extraordi-nary. How many countries in the world have Brazil’s capacity to produce?

According to the World Food Organization (FAO), Brazil is the world’s second largest supplier of food and agricultural products, and has the largest commercial herd in the world. Brazil supplies inter-national markets with fruits, nuts, corn, rice and processed foods, and is already the world’s leading exporter of sugar, green coffee, beef, chicken, soy and orange juice. Brazilian exports of food and agricultural products reach 200 markets, with China currently being the main destination for Brazilian agricultural products. Nothing can stop the growing demand that we see today, and Brazil will be ready to meet this demand with quality, creativity and competence.

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3D Printing the Future

TeVido BioDevices is developing cutting edge 3D bioprinting techniques for living human cells for use in reconstructive and cosmetic surgery for patients with vitiligo, and nipple areola reconstruction for breast cancer survivors.

Jessie Parker, marketing operations manager at PatSnap.com sat down with Dr. Scott Collins (left), President and CTO at TeVido BioDevices to discuss how the company is working to accelerate its R&D.

What are your R&D objectives?

There are two key focuses for our R&D. One is nipple areola reconstruction to rebuild the nipple after mastectomy. And the other is replacing the pigment of skin after it’s lost due to conditions like vitiligo and scarring trauma. We want to bring these therapies to patients in a clinical setting as soon as we can.

3D Bioprinting is an emerging technology. What are the biggest challenges you’re facing?

The biggest challenges really come from the regulatory landscape. You have to fully complete your product design before starting clinical trials. Clinical trials cost millions of dollars and can take years – so you have to make sure you have it right early, and we’re doing everything we can now to accelerate development, and reduce risks around regulatory approval.

Bioprinting patent applications (last 10 years and predicted trend. Source: PatSnap)

What R&D improvements are you working on?

We’re always looking to improve the process, to increase the speed with which we’re able to iterate. For example, we created our own bioprinters - we developed them completely from scratch because the market didn’t have what we needed.

That allowed us to iterate faster, then by building new functionality and increased resolution we were able to move faster with both the research and the quality of our results.

If we had waited for the market to deliver that technology we would be several years behind where we are now.

You’ve been using the PatSnap R&D platform for over a year now. How does it fit into your work?

We look at our R&D from two directions. One is “where is the technology taking us?” the other is “where is the market driving to?” then we have to consider how to fit the two together. PatSnap helps us to understand where the market is, and how we should position our technology within that landscape. It also alerts us to new developments in our technology area.

Before PatSnap, we were using Google patents. That would give me an idea if a certain idea or process already exists, but it wouldn’t give a sense of the breadth of the intellectual property in that technology area or space.

Why is this project so important to you?

One of the biggest things that personally drives me is what we’re doing with nipple areola reconstruction. A fundamental limiting factor of tissue engineering is growing tissues beyond 1 millimetre of thickness - grafts beyond that typically will not survive once implanted. We are working on adding structured vascular and pre-vascular components to these thick tissue grafts.

We’ve made amazing progress. I hope to take these new therapies to the clinic, and allow other researchers to utilize them. It would then help rise the tide for all tissue and organ engineering projects out there.

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Timber, paper, cardboard. That roughly captures the material possibilities offered by a tree. If there was more to it, we’d have figured it out by now, no?

Well what if I told you that every fossil-fuel derived material can be made from a tree?

And that, even today, forestry-products are being used in new and imaginative ways?

It’s a new approach to materials, but one that will become

more pressing as we look to meet climate change targets and reduce waste.

The theory

Trees are made from three polymeric carbohydrates: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Where we don’t use wood itself, we tend to break it down into these constituent parts to make paper and fibre products. Of these, the traditional pulping process is intended to take out the cellulose fibres and the rest is usually burnt to provide electricity to pulp operations.

However, all three parts of the tree can be valorised to make new products through mechanical or chemical processes. You can further process the cellulose part into many applications in textiles, pharmaceuticals, food and cosmetics.

This isn’t science fiction – it’s already proven. Lignin has already been turned into carbon fibre, and nanocellulose is already being used to create stronger and lighter packaging. Yet widespread roll-out is still to come.

So, on the one hand, we are using a fraction of wood’s potential as a material. On the other, we are using a fraction of its raw material bulk and burning much of the rest. There are still pieces of the puzzle to find before wood can become a full-fledged fossil-material challenger, but it’s clear that the puzzle is solvable.

The practice

What about right now though? What are the uses for wood products that might surprise you?

There’s building for a start. And I don’t mean log cabins or timber as a supplementary or cladding material. I mean high-rises and skyscrapers that have traditionally required the strength of steel frames and concrete.

Architects are beginning to be more ambitious with wood as a building material using, for instance, cross laminated timber (CLT) and laminated veneer lumber (LVL) solutions. Recent examples are the multi-storey CLT office block in Sydney and Paris’ wooden apartments by the Seine. By reducing use of

carbon-intensive steel and concrete, countries can move the forest into the cities and as a result mitigate climate change.

But it’s not just buildings. Lignin is already used as a replacement for oil-based phenolic materials in adhesives. Fluff pulp is used by the hygiene industry for absorbent products such as tampons, protective pads and nappies.

Even clothing is being made from wood. Dissolving pulp is used to produce viscose fibres and has a low environmental impact compared to other sources: lower water requirements compared to cotton, a sustainable advantage over oil-based polyester and lower land requirements than wool production.

The future

What next for wood-derived materials? The sky’s the limit.

No, seriously. The carbon-fibres produced from trees are suitable for the bodywork for aeroplanes. Also cars, wind turbines, boats – whatever calls for strong and light materials.

Biomaterials from wood can also create alternatives to plastics that could revolutionise our societal approach to waste. Did you know that, with the amount of plastic bottles we consume in a year, you could build a tower to the moon? 25 times!

European Bioplastics, a trade association, predicts that by 2018, 6.8 million tonnes of bioplastics will be produced globally that are at least partly derived from plants. Admittedly, annually in the EU alone – but it’s still huge growth in a short time frame.

Many companies are actively looking for ways to introduce renewable materials. For example, renewable-non-renewable hybrid materials called biocomposites are being developed and could become a real game changer.

The point

But what’s the point of all this?

The answer is of course: the environment.

Dependence on fossil fuels is environmentally destructive. Whether it’s the damage done during extraction, the contribution to global warming, or the waste we are producing, few would agree that the status quo is the way to go.

Trees, by contrast, improve our environment and wellbeing. They remove greenhouse gases from the air and are completely biodegradable. You might think then that cutting them down is environmentally harmful. However, sustainable forestry takes a ‘cut one, plant two’ approach that can mean reforestation rather than deforestation. Moreover, younger, growing trees remove more carbon from the air than mature ones.

And of course, trees won’t run out – they’re a truly renewable resource.

So is it time to rethink wood? Let’s stop limiting our imaginations to items we traditionally think of as wooden. After all, fossil fuels are biological matter – is it any wonder that we can create the same products from our forests? In many cases we can. In others, we are close. In all cases we should.

Rethinking woodBy Karl-Henrik Sundström, CEO, Stora Enso

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July 23 – 26, 2017 | Montréal, Canada

205247_BIO_WorldCongress_full_Ad_A4 2.indd 1 6/30/17 11:25 AM