dr. david c. bressler executive director of the bcn professor, faculty of agricultural, life &...
TRANSCRIPT
Dr. David C. Bressler
Executive Director of the BCNProfessor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life &
Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
BCN: Supporting the Alberta Bioeconomy
Edmonton
Summer: +30oC
Winter: -30oC
What is Alberta known for?
Changing the Nature of
Biomass• Established in 2009
• Funder:
• BCN 1.0 2009 – 2012 $3.0 million Biomass pre-processing Thermal conversion Chemical conversion Biological conversion
• BCN 2.0 2012 – 2015 $3.8 million Strategic Advisory Board Scientific Committee More elaborate research
themes (coming up)
Mandate Play a pivotal role in cultivating Alberta’s bioindustrial sector by facilitating development of novel, commercially viable biomass
conversion technologies and value-added products
THE BCN MODEL
BCN facilitates multidisciplinary industry-academic collaborations that emphasize innovation and commercialization
Network Core R&D FundingNetworkingBusiness developmentIndustry-academic collaborationsMarket Assessments
Annual Strategic Retreat
Forestry workshopGreen chemistry workshopSeminar hostingAttending conferencesSponsorship of events
University of AlbertaUniversity of CalgaryConcordia UniversityOlds CollegeNorthern Alberta Institute of TechnologyAlberta Innovates Technology Futures
SyngentaSanimaxImperial OilForge HydrocarbonsTerraVerdae BioWorksSaputoDaishowa-Marubeni InternationalWeyerhaeuser
Many more…
BCN: levering investments
Byproducts Utilization
Synthetic Biology
Chemical Platforms
Value-add Opportunities
Biocatalysis & Fermentation
Advanced Bioproducts
BCN projects focus on 3 themes:
Strong Collaborations with Alberta Forestry IndustryByproducts Utilization and Value-Add Opportunities
Tall Oils to Fuels
Terpenes
Lignin Chemistry
Forest Ash Characterization
& Utilization
Mapping and Quantitation of Forestry
Waste Streams
Cellulose Nano-
Crystals
Massive opportunity to integrate with traditional resource industries in Alberta
Hardest to tackle, but most rewardingSynthetic Biology: Biocatalysis and Fermentation
Biopolymers from C1 Substrates
Upcycled Aromatics
Specialty Chemicals
Biodensification of Oil Sands Tailings
Microbial Biosynthesis
of Fatty Alcohols
Phenylalanine derived
chemicals
Submitted a grant for a $12M high-throughput synthetic biology centre
Bio-based materials: most mature sector in bioindustry?Advanced Bioproducts and Chemical Platforms
Bio-Nonanal from Plant Oils
Polysaccharides for Naphthenic Acid Extraction
from Tailings
Novel Flocculants
from Agricultural
Waste Proteins
Bio-polymers
Epoxies
Biodiesel- Derived Glycerin
Lignocellulose Subfractionation
BCN 2.0 Budget R&D: ~$2M
Core ~ $1.8M
Emerging Opportunities: Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative Fraunhofer collaboration with University of Alberta Ongoing business development and partnership opportunities BCN Retreat
BCN3.0? BCN Institute? Increased Funding? New Stakeholders? CCEMC, AIEES, AITF, etc… New Research Themes? Socioeconomic Arm? New Collaborations?
NOTES:
-Keywords in individual bubbles on slides 10-12 don't necessarily correspond to 1 single project. For instance, Stryker works on both lignin chemistry and terpenes but he only carries 1 project
-Although assigned to specific themes here for simplicity, keywords/projects often touch on multiple themes. For instance, CNC is listed in byproducts utilization, but in reality could be put in either of the other 2 themes
-I left out Jonathan Curtis' partner CyLab...the company had trouble bringing its hemp processing equipment out of China, so probably best to avoid bringing this up altogether