BIOFOR - Wednesday February 10, 2021 Detailed program

10:00 – 11:30

Session Chair: Virginie Chambost, EnVertis

Goals: In the context of the growing bioeconomy and biorefinery projects being implemented worldwide, bioeconomy clusters are attracting increased interest from both industry and academia, as well as from government funding agencies and allied services companies providing unique tools to ensure that clusters succeed over the long term. With the increasing predominance of open innovation as a tool to foster innovation, novel technologies, processes and bioproducts are being developed within complex and dynamic ecosystems. These business and innovation ecosystems can be structured around regional clusters or superclusters, which are well recognized as the engine for collaboration, development of novel value chains as well as deployment of large-scale bioeconomy projects based on cross-sectorial partnerships. 

 This panel will discuss the current status of clusters in Canada and in particular will bring the policy perspective to further accelerate the development of existing clusters/superclusters. Industry-led examples will be used to discuss the role of open innovation and clusters in the development of successful bioeconomy strategies. The panel will discuss existing initiatives in Europe, where forest bioeconomy clusters have been developed, supported by connected ecosystems where entrepreneurship is at the core of new businesses and directing the forest industry into a new era of biorefinery innovation and global bioeconomy value chains. 

Panelists:

• Paul Nemes, Deputy CEO, Paper Province, Sweden
• Simon Barnabé, Professor, I2E3, UQTR, Canada
• Jussi Manninen, Executive Vice President, Solutions for Natural Resources and Environment, VTT, Finland
• Josée Pharand, Director, Innovation Superclusters Initiative, Innovation, Science and Industry Canada

Moderator: 

• Virginie Chambost, Principal Consultant, EnVertis Inc., Canada

12:30 – 13:00

Session Chair: Cédric Diffo Teguia, NRCan-CanmetENERGY

• 12:30 “A Near-zero Waste Multi-product Biorefinery System for Valorizing Barks:  Techno-economic Assessment“, Olumoye Ajao, NRCan-CanmetENERGY

13:30 – 16:15

Session Chair: Cédric Diffo Teguia, NRCan-CanmetENERGY

• 13:30 “Optimization of the Carbon Conversion of Forest Residues into Renewable Biofuels through the Addition of Hydrogen: The BELT Case Study – Part 1“, Mathieu Pominville-Racette, Université de Sherbrooke
• 13:55 “Reduction by CCS of the Carbon Intensity of Renewable Biofuels through the Addition of Blue Hydrogen:  The BELT Case Study – Part 2“, Patricia Rioux, Université de Sherbrooke