Welcome to the Seventh EPOBIO Newsletter. This is the final message from us as the contract comes to an end on 31 December 2007.
We have kept this editorial brief so that we can concentrate on the achievements of EPOBIO. We will also provide you with the last update on BioMatNet, the unique resource that has made available the results from RTD projects supported by the European Commission in the area of biological materials for non-food products.
Looking back over the last 26 months it is clear to see how interest in bio-based products is rapidly changing. We have new regulations that will help stimulate markets for biofuels and renewable energy and we have seen substantial investment in the future development of biofuels in the US. For the non-energy bioeconomy, the price of fossil oil feedstocks has risen substantially and continues to do so. Against this background of targets, expectations and rising costs, EPOBIO has added to the evidence and knowledge base needed to answer the challenges that society will face in the months and years ahead. We have helped to raise the profile of bio-renewables and to demonstrate their enormous potential.
From the EPOBIO team and CNAP, University of York, we send you our very best wishes for 2008.
EPOBIO (www.epobio.net) was an international Science to Support Policy project funded by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme and included the co-operation of the United States Department of Agriculture. The aim of the project was to realise the economic potential of sustainable plant-derived raw materials. A key objective was to design new generations of bio-based products derived from plant raw materials that will reach the market place 10-15 years from now.
The US/EC Taskforce in Biotechnology Research identified three Flagship themes - plant cell walls, plant oils and biopolymers - as important areas for new international R&D activities. We developed each Flagship theme within a framework covering its environmental impact, economics and regulatory frameworks, attitudes and expectations of policy makers and the public, and developed a communication strategy.
We also incorporated into EPOBIO, the BioMatNet database and website to enable continued dissemination of information concerning EC supported RTD projects and related activities covering the development of renewable bioproducts and biofuels from agricultural and forestry derived raw materials.
The goal of EPOBIO was to identify key areas of research and technology development relating to the use of plant-derived raw materials as industrial feedstocks that can stimulate the sustainable economic growth of the agro-industrial sector. It had two main objectives:
It was intended that the outputs of EPOBIO should increase awareness amongst stakeholder groups and provide the basis for future decision-making on national and community RTD policy. Outputs also helped the identification of priorities for future non-food research.
The key achievements of EPOBIO include:
These activities can be summarised as follows:
The following publications and reports were delivered during the EPOBIO project:
(a) Three Flagship-specific reports published in October 2006:
(b) A series of crop platform reports published in April 2007 as follows:
(c). Reports published in April 2007 by the Communications and Social Attitudes support themes:
(d). A final report published in September 2007 combining the input and expertise of the Flagship desk researchers:
(e). Workshop reports
(f). BioMatNet CD-ROMs and Report
All of the EPOBIO reports were published on the Website and, with the single exception of the report of the Greece Workshop, in booklet form for distribution to Consortium partners, national funders, industry, researchers and other stakeholders. The CD-ROM 7 has been distributed at the workshop, as well as at other conferences and sent to registrants requesting copies through the website. The KBBE reports will be distributed at the end of December.
The following table indicates the number of times the most requested reports and workshop presentations were accessed in 2007.
Report |
Requests |
|---|---|
| Aquatic Report | 25,186 |
| Lignocellulose Feedstocks Report | 8,430 |
| Workshop Foundation Paper - Biopolymers | 8,145 |
| Workshop Foundation Paper – Plant oils | 7,671 |
| Natural Rubber Report | 6,728 |
| Chemicals And Biopolymers Report | 6,693 |
| Cell Wall Saccharification Report | 6,665 |
| Oil Crops Report | 5,984 |
| Crambe Wax Esters Report | 4,675 |
| First workshop final report | 4,471 |
| Attitudes Report | 2,150 |
| Communication Report | 553 |
In addition to the documents listed in the above table other presentations from the workshops were visited over 100,000 times in total. The newsletters were downloaded around 4,500 times in year 2.
Due to the extent of the information on the BioMatNet website the spread of pages visited is very wide and varies from month to month. However, it is of interest to note that the same reports attracted the most attention on the hit list in November and December 2007. These were “Techno-economic Feasibility of Large-scale Production of Bio-based Polymers in Europe”, which attracted 15,484 visits and “Olive Tree Cultivation”, which attracted 8,034 visits in the two months. This confirms the current interest in biopolymers, as well as illustrating the level and diversity of interests of users of this facility.
So far around 1500 copies of the CD-ROM 7 have been distributed.
The first EPOBIO Workshop was held in May 2006. Over 180 delegates attended the Workshop which consisted of a series of plenary presentations addressing the global, EU and US perspectives in the biorenewables sector. Presentations also looked at the implication of the expansion of the bioeconomy for agriculture in the EU and the potential of the bioeconomy in developing countries. The EPOBIO unique concept was explained to delegates and was set in the context of other developments in the EU, primarily through the various Technology Platforms, with which EPOBIO has sought to develop strong links.
Breakout sessions addressed the Flagship themes in detail, identifying the top priorities for future work by the EPOBIO desk researchers. Other preliminary discussions took place on environmental, agronomic and economic analyses as well as social attitudes and communications issues. A final plenary session reviewed the priorities identified and the future direction of the work.
A summary report of proceedings was placed on the website within 72 hours of the end of the Workshop. The full report of Workshop proceedings was available on the website in July and was subsequently printed and distributed to attendees, Advisory Board members, research funders and policy makers across Europe and in the US. Copies of the report were made available to all of the attendees at the October 2006 Biorefineries Conference in Helsinki.
The Greece Workshop was held in May 2007 and was attended by around 100 delegates representing a wide range of international experts from the scientific community, academia, industry and policy development. There were representatives from across the world – for example, from the US, Canada, China, New Zealand and Japan. This clearly illustrated the range and strength of current activities addressing the economic potential and future development of the bioeconomy globally
The Workshop focussed on the potential of green plants to use solar energy and manufacture raw material feedstocks, which offers a major way to address issues of paramount importance and to deliver the future needs of society in a sustainable way. The EPOBIO team reported on the work undertaken since the 2006 Workshop, examining the future potential of the bioeconomy in the context of relevant regulatory and policy issues, global developments and industrial perspectives on sustainability. The results showed how the EPOBIO process had been used to provide a framework for validation of research priorities and a thorough evidence base to inform decision-making.
The EPOBIO presentations at the Workshop were accompanied by the publication of five reports, prepared specifically for the event. All of these publications, the full report of the Workshop and the various presentations made during the event are available on the EPOBIO website as detailed above.
As a science to support policy project EPOBIO identified, in its early days, key policy makers and research funders in the European Union and information and reports were circulated on a regular basis to these stakeholders. The Project Director and Coordinator met with officials in the European Commission to discuss current policy on the development of the bioeconomy in Europe and well as the key finding from EPOBIO reports. Each report prepared by EPOBIO analysed policy impacts and barriers and contributed to the development of future policy. Also, EPOBIO contributed to the development of policy papers prepared by others. Finally, the Coordinator gave a presentation at the 2007 workshop analysing the key issues concerning the use of science in policy making and how science and policy can better be integrated.
Reports included a series of policy recommendations:
Two specific recommendations were also made in relation to the field production of platform chemicals/biopolymers and the opportunity for value added co-product manufacture in energy crops. The first concerns set aside: this should be reconsidered in the next round of CAP reform. The second concerns the risk that permanent crops used for the non-energy bioeconomy will not be eligible for the single farm payment. We considered this regulatory barrier an urgent issue for consideration by the European Commission.
EPOBIO links science with product development and the policy framework needed to boost uptake. Its outputs can be used to underpin the future development of the bioeconomy in Europe and beyond. The knowledge gained from EPOBIO will assist the sustainable development of biorenewables and zero-waste biorefineries in the emerging knowledge-based bio-economy of this new century.
At a time when oil prices have moved beyond $90 a barrel it is important to note that there is potential to bring new economic benefit to a range of stakeholders including farming and manufacturing industry. EPOBIO has, in its Flagship areas, designed a way forward for the EU to realise the economic potential of bioproducts from non-food crops by highlighting research targets that can be addressed in Framework 7. Through the process developed in the project and the various outputs produced, EPOBIO has provided a foundation to support action on biorenewables in the US and elsewhere, including developing economies.
The dissemination activities of EPOBIO have included the presentation of the public face of the project through the website www.epobio.net, which can be accessed in seven languages, and the generation and dissemination of information through the website. It enabled the BioMatNet website, which listed specific research programmes and relevant non-food crops projects up to December 2004, to be reactivated and expanded through integration with EPOBIO establishing an on-line audience averaging around 15,000 individual users per week has been maintained.
Over the course of the project the existing BioMatNet website (www.biomatnet.org) was completely revised with all entries checked, updated or deleted. A new feature was introduced to the website, a database of companies and organisations with interests in renewable bioproducts and biomass energy, which now has over 1300 entries. In addition all the publications and other literature made available as pdf files, that had previously been scattered through the various ITEMs were brought together providing easier access. Separation of this information allowed the main database to be focused on EU and USDA RTD activities. Over 300 new ITEMs were added to this section during the two-year project. The EPOBIO website has also provided a mechanism for internal communications within the project.
The websites continue to be an invaluable source of information which have been accessed almost 2,000,000 times by individuals over the course of the project. The most up to date statistics are shown in the following graphs.
Number of individual visitors and number of pages viewed each week for the EPOBIO website during the contract.
Number of individual visitors and number of pages viewed each week for the BioMatNet website during the contract.
These graphs illustrate the growth in number of users of the EPOBIO site and the continuing use of the BioMatNet site. However, in spite of their value, at present the future is uncertain. Various alternatives for continued funding have been explored, but as yet no positive results have been achieved. From the start these websites were designed to be complimentary, but at the same time kept their own identities and were encoded in such a way that they were independent in terms of the underlying programmes running them. This means that they may be fairly easily separated allowing them to continue to be hosted at the University of York and CPL Press pro tem.
We would firstly like to thank all of our Consortium partners for their input to the project.
In Europe:
In the USA:
We also thank our Advisory Board members for their help and support over the last 26 months, while special thanks go to our desk researchers – Jan van Beilen, Ralf Möller, Anders Carlsson, Marcel Toonen, Elma Salentijn, Maria Paschou and Louisa Wright - none of this would have been possible without them!
© Copyright 2007, CNAP Policy Statements
Updated
31 December, 2007
by CPL Press - web@epobio.net