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Patrick Madden Forty eight companies sign up for joint technology initiative to research and bring products made from renewable natural resources to market. This will provide new markets for farmers and reduce dependency on fossil fuels The European Commission unveiled a €3.8 billion Public Private Partnership (PPP) on bio-based industries, bringing together 48 large and small companies from across different sectors to develop and commercialise food, animal feed, chemicals and fuel products made from sustainable biomass and waste. The PPP, to be called BRIDGE – Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe – will be managed by the 48 corporate partners through the Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC), with the aim of enabling European companies to bridge the innovation gap between technology development and commercialisation of high-value bio-based products. These companies are making a significant commitment to BRIDGE, putting in €2.8 billion cash and in kind resources, with €1 billion coming from the Commission as part of the €70 billion Horizon 2020 R&D programme, which is due to get underway in January 2014. It is planned that €1.8 billion will be pumped into investments and infrastructure, whilst the rest will fund activities, deployment and research across the innovation chain. CEOs of companies taking part in BRIDGE said the €2.8 billion investment from industry highlights both the strong commitment to the PPP and the confidence it can achieve its objectives. Coming together to make this investment under the umbrella of BIC also reflects the collaboration which is at the core of BRIDGE, with the ambition of laying down the foundations of a post-petroleum society by combining strengths and resources, and building bridges between different sectors. The sectors that are involved include agriculture, biotech, forestry, pulp and paper, chemicals and energy. This requirement to work across sectors was stressed by Guy Talbourdet, CEO of Roquette Freres, a company specialising in making products based on starch extracted from plants. In order to develop new technologies, collaboration and joint development and support is absolutely vital, he told a briefing held to discuss the BRIDGE project. New biomass resources Berry Wiersum, CEO of paper merchants Sappi, echoed this view and pointed towards the potential for job creation, saying that for every job which would be created directly another three jobs would be created locally. In the face of evidence that European Union policies promoting biofuels have led food crops to be diverted to biorefineries, BRIDGE will continue research to replace petrol-based products with ones based on biomass. One aim is to develop a biorefinery able to handle different types of biomass that cannot be used as food, for example, non-food crop grasses and agricultural and forestry waste, and which can produce multiple products including biopolymers and biofuels. Beyond the potential of the bio-based industries project to create jobs in a broad range of sectors in Europe, in particular in rural areas, the Commission says it will also help the EU meet climate change targets. It will also aim to bridge the ‘valley of death’ that prevents research from Europe’s universities being translated through to commercial bio-based products. The BRIDGE project is a major milestone on the journey towards a smarter, more sustainable, more innovative EU economy, said Stephan Tanda, Director of Royal DSM and Chair of EuropaBio’s Industrial Biotechnology Council. “It underscores the commitment of both the Commission and of industry to work together with a broad community of European stakeholders, from farmers to foresters, to scientists to citizens in the development of a world leading EU bio-based economy,” Tanda said. Continue reading →