The three hours online workshop took place on the 29th of November with important involved parties from both countries. The aim of this workshop was to start a strategic discussion on how to strengthen public-private cooperation for innovation in the biobased chemical sector between Brazil and The Netherlands.
Experts from knowledge institutions, companies, cluster organizations and governmental institutions gave presentations about the history of collaboration on bio-based topics between the two countries and discussed the possible future actions for collaboration. The topics covered were “Biomass valorisation and biobased materials, chemicals and fuels. Sustainability and availability of biomass as feedstock. Research and Industry in biomaterials. Integrated bio-refineries.”
The workshop started by explaining and underlining the importance of biobased research valorisation for current societal challenges and then continued showcasing the collaboration projects between several Dutch and Brazil research institutes. Examples outlined past successes and underlined the new focus areas for the research and development with the parties involved. Subsequently, the R&D developments for biobased chemicals and biomaterials in both countries were presented and possible areas for collaboration were identified. Cluster organizations from both countries gave an overview of current initiatives from their countries. Such as the Dutch Bio-Economy Platform, Biobased Circular (BBC) Growth Fund Initiative and the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM).
Presentations from companies working on this field in both countries (from Braskem and Corbion) shed light on the current industrial development activities at the global level. The workshop was concluded by short statements from the governmental stakeholders underlining the mutual benefit in collaboration between the two countries on biobased chemistry topics. It was clear from the workshop that, apart from conversion of biomass into fuels, there are other specific topics which people would like to focus on. High-value use of biomass for materials, chemicals or building blocks, integration and combination of green technologies in refining (also link with green hydrogen and chemical recycling) were among those interesting topics.
The workshop was organized by ChemistryNL together with the Netherlands Innovation Network, based at the Consulate General of the Netherlands in São Paulo. The specific conclusions and next steps for follow up will be shared soon.
