Joint Ventures for Successful Exploitation of the Biorefinery
ID: 3732

Abstract: A sustainable biorefinery strategy must guarantee a profitable and competitive business, as well as minimize the environmental impact of the new product portfolio. Partnerships are essential in order to assimilate the know-how of two or more companies for dealing with this complexity, to lower risks associated with new business model development, and to ensure long-term sustainable development of bioproducts. Joint-ventures (JVs) may be used as an instrument for the collaboration between companies for the development of the biorefinery.

This panel is a follow-up to the one organized during the last World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology & Bioprocessing (Chicago, April 2008) on successful partnerships for biorefinery development. The goal of this panel is to bring together experts in the field of biorefinery technology development and the manufacturing industry in order to discuss existing JVs for the development of biofuels and added-value bioproducts such as biopolymers and carbon fibre, and their associated strategies, benefits and risks.

We propose to invite three speakers, followed by a general discussion period with the public. The subjects that we propose are:

1. R&D agreement for carbon fibre production (Kendall Pye, Lignol, JV with Weyerhaeuser)

2. JV for biofuels development (Vincent Chornet, Enerkem, JV with Greenfield Ethanol)

3. JV for bio-oil for heat and power, transportation fuels (Randal Goodfellow, Ensyn)



Kendall Pye will discuss the announcement made by Lignol and Weyerhaeuser to use cellulose fibre and lignin for the production of carbon fibre and industrial adhesives. Vincent Chornet will present the JV between Enerkem and Greenfield Ethanol for the production of biofuels in Québec. Randal Goodfellow will discuss their plans to form a JV that will license technology and equipment for the production of oil for power production, heating and transportation fuels.



The outcomes of this panel will be:

• To underline the importance of partnerships for bioproduct development by giving three examples of successful JVs

• To discuss the ‘raison d’être’ of a partnership underlining the risks and benefits of partnering

• To recognize the importance of the definition of the JV

• To introduce the notion of flexibility within a partnership for maximizing the opportunity for long-term viability.



Moderator: Matty Janssen, Ecole Polytechnique (Canada)

Presenter 1: J.V. to Develop Technology and Produce Equipment to Transform Bio-Oil Already Produced by Ensyn’s Technology into Green Hydrocarbons (With UOP a Honeywell Company)
Randal Goodfellow, Ensyn Technologies, (Canada)  [Contacted]

Presenter 2: Waste-to-Fuels : Partnering to Develop Successful Commercial Projects 
Dino Mili, Enerkem, (Canada)  [Confirmed]

Presenter 3: Cellulosic Ethanol: The Road to Commercialization 
Jeff Passmore, Iogen Corporation, (Canada)  [Confirmed]

Presenter 4 (if necessary): The Role of Joint Ventures in the Successful Implementation of Biorefinery Projects 
Michael Rushton, Lignol, (Canada)  [Confirmed]

Panel Organizer:
Matty Janssen, Ecole Polytechnique, (Canada)

Why should your submission should be selected for this year’s program?
This panel is an important follow-up on the panel we organized last year. Based on last year's panel outcome, we now will focus on established JVs for the biorefinery and present some successful examples in today's bio-industry.