28 January/February 2012 | Renewable Energy Focus

focus:InnovationScience • R&D • Technology

Whilst many hope that large-scale

bio-energy programs will make a

signifi cant contribution to the global

renewable energy matrix, energy

security in resource-poor countries

also needs to be tackled. Producing

power from energy-dense plantation

forestry is one area that could repre-

sent a low entry barrier to improving

energy security for any country with

the right growing conditions. And

experience gained in countries like

Brazil and China could help facilitate

this technology transfer.

But if using bio-energy to

produce fuels and generate electricity

is ever to escape the controversy sur-

rounding the confl icting use of land

– and indeed become the energy game

changer that many hope – the feed-

stock industry around the world needs

to deliver the right messages to policy

makers and civil society stakeholders.

This message is a simple one, but

diffi cult to realise in practice: That

biomass supplies are sustainable, and

subject to stringent resource analysis.

This would be a start in putting to

rest high-profi le controversies over

the harvesting of woody biomass, and

how it impacts on the ‘food-versus-

fuel’ confl icts.

With this in mind, much research

is being undertaken into ways that

feedstocks can be grown more sus-

tainably. Continued R&D into fast

growing non-food crop feedstocks

has now become a recognised global

priority. And with this vision in mind,

a project in Brazil, being undertaken

by FuturaGene (acquired by Suzano

Pulp and Paper in 2010) is looking

to Genetic Modifi cation (GM) to boost

the yield in woody plants, principally

eucalyptus.

The Project – Improving the

competitiveness of Brazilian eucalyp-

tus through the development of plants

genetically modifi ed – has just received

direct Government support; in

November 2011, the Brazilian Gov-

ernment’s Science and Technology

Ministry’s FINEP agency awarded

Suzano a grant of US$1.2m). This will

be matched by funding of US$2.4m

from Suzano.

The current project is the culmi-

nation of over 30 years of conven-

tional eucalyptus breeding expertise

at Suzano, combined with over 15

years experience in biotechnology at

FuturaGene. And the recent fi nancial

boost has coincided with Futura-

Gene’s regulatory trials of a novel,

yield-enhancing trait in eucalyptus

– the fi rst for GM yield-enhanced

eucalyptus in Brazil.

Increasing the yieldFuturaGene’s expertise in trait

improvement methodologies centres

around its ability to insert genes into

the plant cell; whose protein products

are then able to mediate more rapid

relaxation and recrystallisation of

plant cell walls (Cell Wall Technology)

during plant cell growth and division.

This, says FuturaGene, enables faster

plant growth.

And according to the company,

GM plants derived from this proce-

dure have consistently been shown to

display considerably enhanced yield

– in the case of eucalyptus growing in

Brazilian fi eld conditions up to ten’s of

percentage points above original par-

ent varieties.

Whilst this is a “signifi cant tech-

nical breakthrough for plantation

forestry”, the results, according to

the company, demonstrate some of

FuturaGene looks to better biomass yields

AS THE controversy between ‘food vs. fuel’

continues to dominate the bio-energy

sector, many organisations are striving to

make bio-energy more sustainable. One

Brazilian organisation – FuturaGene – is

involved in a long-term project to transform the global

competitiveness and sustainability of woody biomass pro-

duction. And if successful with trials involving genetically

modifi ed eucalyptus, the company claims its methods could

signifi cantly improve current biomass yield targets...

FuturaGene’s expertise in trait improvement methodolo-gies centres around its ability to insert genes into the plant cell, whose protein products are then able to mediate more rapid relaxation and recrys-tallisation of plant cell walls (Cell Wall Technology) during plant cell growth and division. This, says FuturaGene, enables faster plant growth.

REF13_1p28_29.indd 28 2/9/2012 3:10:14 PM

Innovation

29January/February 2012 | Renewable Energy Focus

About: Mike May is consultant on public policy to FuturaGene.

the fi rst examples of successful yield

enhancement in any commercial GM

crop. Because Cell Wall Technology

specifi cally targets the extremely rigid

plant cell wall, some genes are being

used specifi cally to increase cell wall

permeability to enable cheaper and

more environmentally friendly down-

stream processing – whether for pulp

or bioethanol production.

FuturaGene is also developing GM

eucalyptus clones with the potential

to resist pest and pathogen threats,

under a “yield protection” program.

The current worldwide increase in the

spread of insects and fungi harmful

to eucalyptus, combined with climate

change, has the potential to create

unprecedented pest and disease out-

breaks in new geographies. And yield

protection is expected to become one

of the main targets for breeding pro-

grams to engineer the resilience that

will be required to cope with future

environmental shocks and stresses.

As with the Cell Wall Technology,

the GM approach off ers an opportu-

nity to rationally design new traits

that are not possible through con-

ventional means – where a limited

pool of resistance genes has ham-

pered approaches for pest and disease

resistance in conventional breeding

programs to date.

The chemical control of pests and

diseases in plantations is also not a

viable option; from both an economi-

cal and environmental perspective;

the advantages presented by GM

approaches to pest and disease control

are one of the few realistic options

available, believes FuturaGene. Using

GM technology, the company says it is

able to introduce genes into the euca-

lyptus (that have highly-specifi c pest

target profi les), as well as screen for

novel resistance enhancement. Such

GM approaches under evaluation at

FuturaGene are essential, in order to

go beyond the limits of conventional

breeding, says the company.

Breeding programsFuturaGene says its Cell Wall

Technology provides a “more targeted,

rapid and environmentally sustain-

able approach to yield enhancement

compared to conventional breeding

techniques.” The project to date has

reportedly confi rmed that conven-

tional plantation management prac-

tices can be applied – irrespective of

whether the trees are GM or not.

GM approaches to yield enhance-

ment, as well as pest and disease

resistance, are therefore proving to

be a valuable extension to Suzano’s

breeding program, which focuses on

energy-dense biomass using specifi c

crosses of eucalypt varieties. This

breeding program has produced a

promising set of hybrids that:

• Have high lignin content;

• Can be planted at very high

density;

• Have a drastically compressed life

cycle of 2-3 years from planting to

harvest;

• And have improved pelleting

characteristics.

Coupled with improvements in wood

pelleting technology achieved by Suz-ano Renewables, the company claims

it will be able to generate around 1

million tones of wood pellets from just

38,000 hectares; this could support

a thermo electric power plant of 220

MW (assuming an effi ciency of 37%),

says the company. And the Cell Wall

Technology will provide a signifi cant

upside to this production capacity.

Suzano has already initiated an

integrated project in North East

Brazil that will include sustainable

energy plantation forests and the

world’s largest wood pelleting capac-

ity for the off take derived from these

plantations.

Whilst regulatory trials for GM

tree events may be costly and time-

consuming, they establish not only

biosafety assurance, but also provide

an invaluable vehicle for the develop-

ment of science-based criteria and

indicators regarding GM feedstock

sustainability.

Recognition of the value of inten-

sively-managed plantation forestry

(IMPF) in ecosystem service and

biodiversity protection is beginning

to emerge, through the case stud-

ies of the WWF-led New Generation

Plantation Program for example. By

signifi cantly enhancing plantation

yield per hectare, the Cell Wall Tech-

nology has the potential to further

reduce pressure on natural forests

and enhance the carbon sequestration

capacity of managed plantations.

The integration of yield-enhanc-

ing technology also means that

further enlargement of the 0.7%

of arable land presently used for

plantation forestry in Brazil can be

minimised, despite growing demand

for forestry and forest products.

Additionally, by Brazilian Law, a

proportion of all owned land used for

forestry purposes must be set aside

as legally protected reserves – in

the case of Suzano plantations this

is 37% – above the legal require-

ment. Such mosaic planting provides

ecological corridors and refuges

for wildlife and the preservation

of ecosystem services, whilst inte-

grated livestock and forestry planta-

tion (ILFP) management practices

established by Suzano provide mixed

income for farmers.

Other international FuturaGene research

FuturaGene continues to invest

in GM tree research at facilities in

Brazil, China and Israel.

In December 2011, it inaugu-

rated a dedicated research centre

in Shanghai to support its alliances

with the Chinese Academy of For-estry, Guangxi Academy of Sciences, Beijing Forestry University and other

institutions.

China, like Brazil views GM planta-

tion forestry as a strategic asset, and

although complex for foreign compa-

nies, the industry has been prioritised

through key legislation. China aims to

reverse desertifi cation (a problem that

aff ects 400 million people and 18% of

China’s land surface); restore saline

soil (in China there are 99 million

hectares of land aff ected by high saline

and alkaline conditions); accelerate the

development of the forestry sector; and

protect forest ecosystems.

Online: renewableenergyfocus.com

How viable are biofuels part onehttp://tinyurl.com/72kvko4

How viable are biofuels part twohttp://tinyurl.com/7sgoqep

How viable are biofuels part threehttp://tinyurl.com/7ypsa6v

About: Stanley Hirsch is Group ceo of FuturaGene, a wholly owned subsidiary of Suzano Pulp and Paper, and has led the company since its inception as Cellulose Binding Domain Technologies (CBD Technologies), a protein-engineering spin-off from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 1993.

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