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Flagship Themes |
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Support Themes
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US Activities
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Workshops |
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We were pleased to present the first summary from our activities at the above meeting. This was the framework onto which further studies have been added over the course of the project. The results from this first workshop have been used to guide ongoing activities that fed into the second EPOBIO workshop held in Greece in May 2007.
(287 Kb PDF) Around 180 participants contributed to the first EPOBIO Workshop in Wageningen "Products from Plants – the Biorefinery Future" from 22-24 May 2006.
The Workshop developed Flagship and support themes to underpin the work programme of EPOBIO during the coming year. The detailed content of presentations will be described in the full report of the Workshop.
The opening session of the Workshop was chaired by Dr Laurent Bochereau (DG Research, European Commission) and Dr Judy St John (Deputy Administrator Crop Production and Protection, Agriculture Research Service, USDA). At the start of the Workshop, 5 keynote presentations addressed the scope and opportunities of plant-based bioproducts:
 Global perspectives – James McLaren |
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 European agriculture perspective – Marco Aurelia PastiPresentation not available |
 Opportunities for the developing world – Stanislav MiertusPresentation - 1471 Kb PDF |
EPOBIO Director Dianna Bowles introduced the vision of EPOBIO, the timescales for its development and its relationship to the European Technology Platforms. She emphasised the unique focus of EPOBIO: bringing world-class researchers and industrialists together to design new, sustainable products from plant raw materials and ensure they benefit society through considering economic and environmental issues as well as the expectations and opinions of the general public and policy makers.
The complementarity of EPOBIO to Technology Platforms was discussed and the ways in which the EPOBIO programme bridges the four major platyforms was described.
 The EPOBIO programme - Dianna BowlesPresentation - 241 Kb PDF |
Presentations on Plants For the Future, Sustainable Chemistry – Industrial Biotechnology and the Forest Based Sector were given:
Plants for the Future - Marc Zabeau
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 Sustainable Chemistry – Industrial Biotechnology - Colja Laane
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 Forest-Based Sector - Claes-Goran Beckeman
Presentation - 2381 Kb PDF |
Following the introduction to the potential of plant-based bioproducts and the ways in which EPOBIO and the Technology Platforms interact, the research leaders of the three Flagship programmes introduced their scope to the Workshop. The selection criteria for choice of the three Flagship themes are:
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| Plant Oils - John Dyer, Sten Stymne Presentation - 828 Kb PDF |
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| Biopolymers - Presentation - 815 Kb PDF |
At this stage the inter-relationships of the Flagship themes and support themes were introduced. Each Flagship theme and the products/projects identified during the Workshop will be studied from a technical perspective and also from the wider context of socio-economic, environmental and regulatory issues.
Flagships in the wider agenda – the EPOBIO approach - Dianna Bowles
Presentation - 20 Kb PDF
Parallel breakout sessions for the three Flagship themes continued discussions identifying the priorities for the EPOBIO workprogramme. The sessions again applied the four selection criteria to possible projects/product areas. The detailed discussions will be included in the full report of the Workshop.
The plant cell walls discussion was led by Markus Pauly and Sarah Hake and supported by the desk researcher Ralf Möller. Short presentations were given on cellulose (Simon Turner), hemicellulose (Kenneth Keegstra), pectin (Henrik Scheller), lignin (Lise Jouanin), cell wall development (Maureen McCann), genomics/proteomics (Sarah Hake), grasses (John Vogel), forestry (Matthias Dieter), novel biocomposites (Ines Ezcurra), cell wall degradation (Katja Johansen), ethanol (Wolter Elbersen) and lignin-derived products (Ron Hatfield).
The first project/product in the plant cell wall area will be aimed at improving the efficiency and reducing the cost of a key generic process in biorefining. This process is saccharification, the conversion of the input biomass into C5/C6 sugars – essentially the digestion of plant cell walls.
This project/product underpins the development of the subsequent work for the Flagship since the nature of the processes chosen for saccharification determines the range of materials and value products that can also be derived from the input biomass.
Breakout discussions on plant oils were led by Sten Stymne and John Dyer, supported by desk researcher Anders Carlsson. The subject was introduced by Ian Graham and short presentations were end products, traits and targets (Jan Jaworski), biodiesel (Ivo Feussner), non-food oilseeds platforms (Robert van Loo), metabolic constraints (John Ohlrogge), metabolic tools and knowledge base (Ed Cahoon) and issues of intellectual property (Sten Stymne).
The first project/product will be aimed at the development of new lubricants as replacements to the current use of mineral and synthetic oil derivatives. The analysis of research needs and support themes will focus on the means by which a diverse range of wax esters can be produced by the agricultural crop, Crambe.
In parallel, the economic/environmental support themes will undertake an analysis from their perspective of potential "oilseed crop platforms" to inform subsequent choice of suitable and sustainable crops for the next project/products to be undertaken by the Flagship.
For biopolymers discussions were led by Yves Poirier and Bill Orts with desk researcher Jan van Beilen. Introductions by Robert Anex and Martin Patel (economics of biopolymers) were followed by short presentations on starch (Francesco Degli Innocenti, Waltraud Vorwerg, Peter Bruinenberg), natural rubber (Katrina Cornish, Hans Mooibroek), PHA (Oliver Peoples, Dietrich Scherzer) and protein polymers (David Kaplan, Udo Conrad).
The first project/product will be aimed at the development of new natural sources of rubber with the aim of replacing and contributing to the supply of rubber for high value medical uses as well as high volume products such as vehicle tyres.
In parallel, issues of intellectual property will be investigated in relation to the production of PHA in an agricultural crop, to inform the choice of the next project/products to be undertaken by the Flagship.
Specialists in economics, the environment, agronomy and life-cycle analysis contributed to a detailed discussion and planning session on parameters for inclusion in these support themes. It was agreed that the two support themes of economics and environment should work seamlessly together, linked through a common life-cycle analysis framework. Process flow diagrams would be prepared for each prioritised project/product to establish the key points for data collection and analysis. Technical input and validation of these frameworks would be essential, drawing on the diverse range of expertise in the EPOBIO Advisory Board and beyond.
It was also agreed that the two support themes addressing social expectations/attitudes and the development of communication strategies should also work seamlessly together.
The final day of the Workshop was chaired by Dr Christian Patermann Programme Director, DG Research, European Commission) and Dr Antoinette Betschart (Associate Administrator, Agricultural Research Service USDA).
Each of the Flagship themes reported back from their breakout sessions and the reports were extensively discussed both by the two Chairs and by the Workshop participants. In each case, a number of priorities were highlighted for further development. These would be taken forward for further analyses within EPOBIO, but also form the basis of recommendations to policy-makers and the national and international funding agencies. The report-backs were also discussed within the wider context of the support themes and how the projects would be developed in a process of iteration and reiteration involving specialists from industry and academia world-wide. The full lists of priority areas will be described in detail in the full report of the Workshop.
Welcome Letter (168 Kb PDF)
EPOBIO Overview (132 Kb PDF)
EPOBIO Consortium Partners, Desk Researchers, EC and US Government Officials (476 Kb PDF)
EPOBIO Workshop Agenda (124 Kb PDF)
Foundation Paper for the Plant Cell Walls Flagship – Plant Cell Walls in relation to Biorefining (209 Kb PDF)
Foundation Paper for the Plant Oil Flagship (371 Kb PDF)
Foundation Paper for the Biopolymers Flagship (268 Kb PDF)
Foundation Paper for the economics Support Themes (151 Kb PDF)
Foundation Paper for the environmental and agronomic
analysis Support Themes (250 Kb PDF)
© Copyright 2006, CNAP Policy Statements
Updated
27 February, 2008
by CPL Press - web@epobio.net
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European industry perspective – Bernward Garthoff 
US industry perspective – John Pierce 
Plant cell walls - 
