The Role of Biobased Industrial Clusters as “Enablers” for Development of the BioEconomy
ID: 3635

Abstract: As the BioEconomy continues to emerge, the multi-disciplinary complexity of the early commercial projects to produce fuels, chemicals, and materials has become readily apparent. Successful projects often require the establishment of entirely new supply chains, from new crop R&D, to farms, to industrial bioprocessing, to products, and finally markets. In many cases these supply chains must address new agricultural practices, logistical challenges, existing industrial infrastructure, new technologies, relationships with new feedstock providers, and project funding partners. An effective model is developing wherein unique public/private entities are serving as “enablers” to facilitate the cross-functional collaboration and partnership to bring local and regional stakeholders together. In addition to facilitating the necessary alliances, these organizations often provide advanced business tools in the areas such as planning, financing, business development and policy alignment.



The panel will share perspectives on the development of new biobased products and sustainable supply chains, from a variety of backgrounds that span diverse industry sectors and supply chain positions. The talks will address current and future agricultural and forestry biomass supply chains, the introduction of new crops with unique plant properties, issues with co-product opportunities, and the repositioning of specialty chemical and automotive companies into new biobased platforms. A unifying theme in the session will be the formation of regional agro-industrial clusters that support research, evaluation, and commercialization efforts, while forming new networks across the complete supply chain from farm-to-manufacturer-to-market.



Michael Ott

Iowa is the overwhelming leading producer of biofuels, at over 2 billion gallons annually, and is using this position as a platform into other industries. Currently, most ethanol is made from corn and biodiesel from soybeans, but Iowa is looking to leverage its other natural resources to create more fuel in a sustainable manner. Large scale projects are underway using corn cobs and stover for ethanol production as well as algae for biodiesel production. New products, such as bioplastics and lubricants are also created. These products are cost-competitive with oil and typically offer more desirable properties in certain markets. The creation of these projects is possible through partnerships with business, academia and agriculture. This panel will highlight past successes and introduce future opportunities.

Michael Ott is the Executive Director of BIOWA, a trade association and consulting group for biobased products with a specific focus on renewable energy. BIOWA's 92 members include researchers, entrepreneurs, investors and farmers, all of whom want to develop economically and environmentally sustainable replacements for petroleum. Mr. Ott has a master's degree in bioinorganic chemistry and has mostly worked in business development and finance. He is based in Iowa City, IA.



Dr. Gord Surgeoner was born and raised in Southern Ontario and received his agricultural education at the University of Guelph and Michigan State University. He was a professor in the Department of Environmental Biology, and then the Department of Plant Agriculture at the University of Guelph until his retirement in January, 2004. Dr. Surgeoner is the President of Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, a non-profit membership organization focusing on Ontario's participation in developing, promoting and adopting biotechnology, including biobased products, in an ethical and environmentally conscious manner, for the agri-food sector of the province.



Dr. Randy Powell holds a PhD in organic chemistry from the University of North Carolina and spent 30 years with Eastman Chemical Company in a variety of technical, operational and management roles in the United States and Europe. In 2004, as Vice President of the Eastman fine chemicals facility in Batesville, Arkansas, he initiated a biobased products platform, which resulted in commercialization of biodiesel and premium wood pellets, as well as a cellulosic ethanol R&D program in collaboration with NREL. He subsequently led a transition team that managed divestiture of Eastman’s Specialty Chemicals business and served as President and COO for the new company, FutureFuel Chemical Company in Batesville. In 2007 he established Powell Consulting LLC, supporting the biofuels, biobased products, and specialty chemicals industries. Dr. Powell frequently works on projects in collaboration with BioDimensions, and is currently the project leader for the “Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta,” sponsored by the Memphis Bioworks Foundation.



Ralf Grote

Building on its tradition of innovation, the German chemical industry together with partners of academic excellence are playing a significant role in shaping R&D related to industrial biotechnology. The chemical sector serves as the creator of product innovations, which – with the help of industrial biotechnology – are making the leap from the laboratory to global markets. Alongside the US, Germany is the most important location for research, development and production in the field of industrial biotechnology. In Europe, Germany is number one – also in terms of expertise and the quality of technical equipment as well as the capacity and productivity of production resources.

Gemany has intensified research on industrial biotechnology by forming clusters with partners from academia, SMEs and industry. These clusters which include internationally renowned acedemic institutes as well as the country’s leading biotech SMEs (e.g. Direvo, Bitop, c-LEcta) and industries (e.g. Henkel, Evonik, BASF, Bayer, Lanxess, Süd-Chemie, Wacker) facilitate innovative research along the whole value-added chain.

In this panel an overview will be given about the cluster's broad spectrum of activities from screening of novel biocatalysts, the production of building blocks to biopolymers.



Dr. Ralf Grote is Senior Manager of the German Cluster "Biocatalysis 2021", which is a public-funded research network comprising 15 large companies, 19 SMEs ,22 academic groups and 7 state agencies. The cluster aims at the use and application of robust biocatalysts under unconventional conditions like extremes of temperature, pH, salt or organic solvents. Dr. Grote is also assistant professor at the Hamburg University of Technology and COO of the International Collection of Biocatalysts (BiocatCollection). He has a master's degree in biology from the University of Marburg and holds a PhD in microbiology from the Hamburg University of Technology. He is based in Hamburg, Germany.





Moderator: Peter Nelson, BioDimensions (United States)

Presenter 1: Growth of Biobased Industries in Iowa through Collaboration
Michael Ott, BioWa, Inc, (United States)  [Confirmed]

Presenter 2: Ontario Chemistry Value Chain Initiative 
Gord Surgeoner, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, (Canada)  [Confirmed]

Presenter 3: Regional Strategy for Biobased Products in the Mississippi Delta 
Randy Powell, Powell Consulting, LLC, (United States)  [Confirmed]

Presenter 4 (if necessary): German Clusters of Industrial Biotechnology - Based on Scientific Excellence 
Ralf Grote, Biocatalysis2021, (Germany)  [Confirmed]

Panel Organizer:
Peter Nelson, BioDimensions, (United States)

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