Integration of Chemistry and Biotechnology for Biorefineries of the Future

Transcription

1 Integration of Chemistry and Biotechnology for Biorefineries of the Future SUSCHEM IB Strategic Research Agenda Marcel Wubbolts; Chairman IB Core Group Vega Workshop 24th March 2009, Paris A European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry

2 Policy Support in the EU

3 Industrial Biotechnology Penetration Source: Ceasar, Industrial Biotechnology, March 2008

4 Industrial Biotechnology Segments DRIVER Source: Ceasar, Industrial Biotechnology, March 2008

5 Industrial Biotechnology Trend towards Cellulosics Expected recurring high crude oil prices will promote the use of renewable resources for chemicals and biofuels manufacturing. Second generation biorefineries (based on waste biomass, 2 nd generation) for chemicals and fuels production are crucial to cope with crude oil shortages and avoid (perceived) food competition. Intelligent use of biomass is needed to address issues: - Land use - Food versus Fuel - Water consumption - Sustainability certification for Biomass Innovations needed to make this happen - Higher efficiency in agricultural productions (globally) - Efficient use of biomass - New (and existing) biobased products

6 Oil-Refineries vs Bio-Refineries Step Up in Efficiency Required Oil-refinery: Crude oil (finite) as input Established technology Very efficient use of raws Bio-refinery (1 st generation): Starch / Sugar (renewable) as input Technology established Efficient use of feedstock Bio-refinery (2 nd generation): Biomass (renewable) as input Technology partly established (biogas, biomass gasification), but predominantly in development (LC enzymes, fermentation organisms, product recovery, catalysis in aqueous systems) Logistics? Byproducts?

7 Global Developments: a Selection Food vs Fuel: oil, food and NGO s argue that 1 st generation ethanol and biodiesel should not expand; manufacturers on the defense. Global financial crisis impact: the global credit crisis and financial problems with bank/funds has reduced speculative investment in sugar/ethanol around the world. As result of this many projects are expected to be delayed. Commodities prices: following reduced speculative investment and falling oil prices, prices of many agricultural commodities have retreated from their 2007/2008 highs. For example, USA corn fell from 280 USD/mt past summer to 150 USD/mt in Nov Biofuels US: EPA sets 2009 blending target: to comply with the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, EPA mandates an increase in bioethanol mixed in gasoline from 7.76% in 2008 to 10.21% in China drive to 2 nd generation: ban on 1 st generation feedstocks for biofuels, approval of fuel ethanol plants using feedstocks other than grains, e.g. sweet potatoes, sweet sorghum or cassava.

8 Industrial Biotech is key to the Biobased Economy (KBBE) The Knowledge-Based Bio-Economy: transforming life sciences knowledge into new, sustainable, eco-efficient and competitive products

9 Drivers and barriers for biobased products in Europe Technical drivers & opportunities Potentially abundant biomass availability (but watch fuel/food discussion) The recent expansion of the EU provides a large increase in agricultural biomass available as industrial raw material Europe is strong in industrial biotechnology and has a strong R&D and technology base Technical barriers Oil price dependency R&D intensive Prohibitive investments for SMEs Non-technical drivers & opportunities Combined economic and environmental benefits Compliance with environmental legislation Social acceptance Supportive regulatory framework Europe has world s largest chemical industry - infrastructure and knowledge base, and a solid development and production of bio-specialities (food ingredients, pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals) Non-technical barriers Lack of awareness Lack of skilled work force (in particular in user sectors) Unclear perception of costs/benefits

10 The SusChem ETP Vision Strategic Research Agenda Implementation Action Plan February November 2005 August 2006

11 Bringing Stakeholders Together - a Vision for IB The stakeholders Vision for industrial or white biotechnology in 2025 is one where: Biotechnological processes are used for producing chemicals and materials, otherwise not accessible by conventional means, or existing products in a more efficient way. Biotechnology allows for an increasing eco-efficient use of renewable resources as raw materials for the industry Industrial biotechnology will enable a range of industries to manufacture products in an economically and environmentally sustainable way. Biomass derived energy, based on biotechnology, is expected to cover an increasing amount of our energy consumption. Rural bio-refineries will replace port-based oil refineries where it is economically feasible.

12 Strategic Research Agenda for IB Objectives: The development and production of novel, innovative products and processes in a cost- and ecoefficient manner, using increasingly renewable raw materials. The discovery and optimization of strains and biocatalysts.

13 Policy Agenda for IB and the KBBE 1. Establish a coherent European Policy Agenda for the Knowledge Based Bioeconomy (KBBE) 2. Stimulate and support innovation in plant science and industrial biotechnology 3. Promote production and use of bio-based products and processes 4. Create awareness amongst all stakeholders 5. Improve investment in IB SME s

14 Technology Sections in SusChem Industrial Biotechnology Marcel Wubbolts DSM Materials Technology Rüdiger Iden BASF Aktiengesellschaft Horizontal Issues Group Russel Mills, Dow. Reaction & Process Design Klaus Sommer Bayer Technology Services

15 White Biotechnology Strategic Research Agenda Bioreactor 1. Novel enzymes and microorganisms 2. Microbial genomics & bioinformatics 4. Biocatalyst function & optimisation 3. Metabolic engineering & modeling 5. Biocatalyst process design 6. Innovative fermentation science & engineering 7. Innovative downstream processing New bioproducts and biopolymers New active compounds Commodity products Fine & specialty intermediates Bio-based materials and polymers

16 White Biotechnology Implementation Action Plan

17 Priorities for IB European Research Eco-efficient use of resources New bio-based products and polymers Discovery and optimisation of enzymes and microorganisms European Industry will be innovative and competitive, with sustained cooperation and support between the research community, industry, agriculture and the civil society

18 SusChem results Vision Strategic Research Agenda Implementation Action Plan February 2005 November 2005 August 2006

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20 Novel sources of biomass and bioproduct Marine and fresh-water biotechnology (blue biotechnology) Industrial biotechnology: novel high added-value bio-products and bioprocesses Biorefinery Environmental biotechnology Emerging trends in biotechnology

21 Alignment with Member States: ERA-NET IB

22 Partners ERA-IB NWO The Netherlands BMBF / PTJ - Germany MEC / FECyT - Spain SCO-MOH / MOST - Israel ADEME -France DTI - UK CNMP - Romania MES / TUL - Poland FCT - Portugal DRA - Denmark MSES - Croatia BelSPO - Belgium

23 IB initiatives in Europe Sweden IB Forum Baltic region Inst. for Sust. Ind. Finland IB Forum Denmark SD project UK B2B KTN Netherlands B-BASIC/ NIIB Belgium BIPIB RT Chemistry and Biotech France Agrice Pôle Comp. Italy IB platform Poland IB Platform Austria Kplus Germany WB platform Switserland WP IB

24 IB R&D programmes European Framework Programme 7: - KBBE - Renewable fuel production ERA-net for Industrial Biotechnology - 13 countries, 16 partners - First joint call published beginning of 2008 National / Regional R&D programs

25 Update of SRA priorities - General The priorities defined in the SRA in 2006 and in the IAP in 2007 are still valid and important in the current context Some specific issues and topics may have risen since the SRA was written but they nevertheless correspond to the priorities expressed in REACH and GHS impact Various national activities have started (CLIB 2021, BIOHUB, B- BASIC, ) Interaction with CHN, BRA and US programmes

26 Summary of Some EU Approaches Technology Platforms - Stakeholders (led by industry) articulate needs to policy makers - Result: Strategic Research Agendas designed for public and private sectors - SusChem, Forestry, Plants for the Future, Biofuels Research Framework Programme - Industrial Biotechnology in FP7 - Improved crops, feedstocks, biomass for energy - Biocatalysis, new biorefinery concepts - Forest based products - Remediation and cleaner processing ERA NET for Industrial Biotechnology - Co-ordination of Member States research - 13 countries, 16 partners, 8 observers join forces to reduce national fragmentation of industrial biotechnology research - First joint call published beginning of 2008! Lead Market Initiative for Bio-based Products - Creating a positive business environment to encourage industry to develop new products and processes - Co-ordinating supply side instruments (R&D funding, subsidies etc.) with demand side instruments (standards, procurement policies, communication etc.)

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28 APPENDICES A European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry

29 IAP update: Feedstock related Research into farming technologies and management practices to increase productivity while lowering the impact on the environment and while decreasing the GHG emission impact. Research into farm management "models" to identify how a transition from (abundant) food crops to energy and other non-food crops (on appropriate lands) could be achieved economically. Research into market mechanisms to decrease the volatility of feedstock cost: this is needed to create certainty to have a continuous and consistent availability of feedstock at competitive cost in the EU. Research in feedstock harvesting, collection and pre-treatment technologies.

30 IAP update: Conversion, processing and end-products related Setting up joint supplier-customer application development projects (risk and cost sharing). Support to the further development of key processing and conversion technologies via research and pilot projects, and for conversion processes that allow for broader flexibility on feedstock without lowering yields. Research in innovative downstream technologies and activities (integration of biotechnology and other technologies).

31 IAP update: Additional aspects (social acceptance, sustainability, ) Research on how to facilitate the conversion towards a biobased economy: assessment of infrastructure/equipment and expertise (skills, disciplines, etc.) needed in a future EU biobased economy, and assessment of policies and regulations that are bottlenecks for a transition towards a biobased economy. Research into consumer (public) acceptance of IB products and processes, and accelerated research into primary and co-products applications and markets (including GMO and/or GMM content acceptance). Research and further development of LCA methodologies, and research into any areas along the value chain that can contribute to improving the LCA performance.

32 IAP update: demonstration projects via public-private partnerships Industry sees a lot of unlocked potential in the combination of, for instance, life sciences and other technologies. However, the inherent risks with these projects (new technologies, new products, new kind of partnerships) are such that private parties on their own cannot today push this agenda forward. Europe needs a programme to accelerate the transformation of knowledge into commercial products (such as small scale demonstrators) and to integrate different production processes (such as small scale integrated biorefineries). Different stakeholders could be involved in such projects: Regional Development, Structural funds, Member States, the European Investment Bank, and of course individual companies. A consistent vision and a long term program would really add to the success of this initiative.

33 Implementation in FP7 Funding going in Activity KBBE 2.3 (non-food) is still very limited compared to food and agriculture activities Important to underline that the priorities proposed are rather broad issues, which cannot be solved with the funding of one FP7 project but rather a multiplicity of efforts and research funding going in this direction (e.g. the call on lipid enzymes addresses only 1 class of enzymes) Alignment of national research programmes Participation of industry, though increased, remains scattered Flexibility and reactivity of funding Consistency

34 Approved Projects KBBE - 1/2 OXYGREEN Title: Effective redesign of oxidative enzymes for green chemistry Research area: KBBE DESIGNER ENZYMES - Improved biocatalysts for bioprocesses Project start date: [ ] - Funding 5.54 Mi / 7.53 Mi SYSINBIO Title: Systems Biology as a Driver for Industrial Biotechnology Research area: KBBE IMPROVED MICROBES - Metabolic engineering and modelling Project start date: [ ] - Funding 0.99 Mi / 1.49 Mi LIPOYEASTS Title: Mobilising the enzymatic potential of hydrocarbonoclastic bacteria and the oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica to create a powerful cellular production platform for lipid-derived industrial materials Research area: KBBE LIPID ENZYMES - Development of enzymes for lipid modification and activation Project start date: [ ] - Funding 0.9 Mi / 1.2 Mi DISCO Title: Targeted discovery of novel cellulases and hemicellulases and their reaction mechanisms for hydrolysis of lignocellulosic biomass Research area: KBBE LIGNOCELLULOSIC ENZYMES - Development of cellulases for lignocellulosic biomass pre-treatment Project start date: [ ] - Funding 2.99 Mi / 4 Mi

35 Approved Projects KBBE - 2/2 BACSIN Title: Bacterial abiotic cellular stress and survival improvement network Research area: KBBE IMPROVED MICROBES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT - Microbial gene expression under condition of stress Project start date: [ ] - Funding 5.53 Mi / 7.36 Mi TARPOL Title: Targeting environmental pollution with engineered microbial systems a la carte Research area: KBBE Upgrading of wood, wood-related residues and humic-origin substances to value-added chemicals and materials: from biological understanding to innovative applications - SICA (Russia) Project start date: [ ] Funding 0.99 Mi / 1.23 Mi PROSPARE Title: Progress in saving proteins and recovering energy Research area: KBBE ANIMAL BY-PRODUCTS - Novel methods of treatment of animal by-products for the production of substances with biologically valuable functional properties Project start date: [ ] Funding 2.67 Mi / 3.69 Mi

36 Approved Projects Energy SUSTOIL Title: Developing advanced Biorefinery schemes for integration into existing oil production/transesterification plants Research area: ENERGY Developing biorefinery concepts Project start date: [ ] Funding 0.99 Mi / 1.01 Mi CEUBIOM Title: Classification of European biomass potential for bioenergy using terrestrial and earth observations Research area: ENERGY Harmonisation of biomass resource assessment,energy Electricity network assets management Project start date: [ ] Funding 1.34 Mi / 1.34 Mi HYPE Title: High efficiency consolidated bioprocess technology for lignocellulose ethanol Research area: ENERGY New and advanced technologies for hydrolysis and/or fermentation of lignocellulosic biomass Project start date: [ ] Funding 3.66 Mi / 5.43 Mi BIOREF-INTEG Title: Development of advanced biorefinery schemes to be integrated into existing industrial fuel producing complexes Research area: ENERGY Developing biorefinery concepts Project start date: [ ] Funding 0.99 Mi / 1.45 Mi