Biotechnology special edition

y Biotechnolog n special editio 18 0 July 2

Biotechs

tackle UN Global Goals Bruce Friedrich talks Good Food / Make the Scotland connection

1

Welcome

IN THIS ISSUE Biotechnology & …

2 The UN Global Goals 4 Food 6 Flavourings & fragrances

T

his is the third year we have been media partners with the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology. Our first special edition for it was distributed at the San Diego Congress in 2016 – and we are delighted to continue that journey in Philadelphia.

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO), which hosts the Congress, attracts the world’s leading industry players to what is one of the most important annual events in the industrial biotech ecosystem.

Continuing our Biotech &… theme from another special we published earlier this year: food, the UN Global Goals, fragrances and flavourings are some of the areas we feature this time, as well as the strength of the market in Scotland. Taking this angle allows us to effectively communicate the impact of biotech, not just to stakeholders attending events like this, but to the public and a cross-sector audience digitally.

I am also delighted to introduce a new column from Carlotta De Toni, Impact Comms Lead and Engagement Editor of our quarterly, Impact Innovators. Carlotta took part in the Climate Reality Leadership Corps training, led by Al Gore, in Berlin last month. She will be sharing her insight on climate-related issues with industry audiences in these special Iain conference editions and online.

Robertson Editor

8 Scotland Q&A

14 Adeel Aslam, Bouygues Energies & Services

New!

16 Lessons in Climate Reality

CORE TEAM Editor | Iain Robertson Partnerships | Susan Robertson Digital | Ryan McFadyen Design | Blair Carrick News & Features | Carlotta De Toni Operations | Gillian Greig

GET IN TOUCH 

innovatorsmag.com

 @innovatorsmag

 connect@innovatorsmag.com

 innovatorsmag

 Amsterdam +310 613 711 239 | Glasgow +44 141 570 0029

Innovators Magazine accepts no responsibility for any effects from errors or omissions. All material is copyright and reproduction is not permitted without express permission. All rights reserved.

10

Industrial biotech tackles global grand challenges

IB plays a fundamental role in delivering solutions for a large majority of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), both in the EU and globally

C

ompanies focusing on industrial biotechnology (IB) and the bioeconomy are contributing towards achieving 11 out of 17 SDGs, enabling smarter and more efficient use of precious natural resources, developing renewable alternatives to traditional fossil-carbon products, helping to mitigate the impacts of climate change, reducing energy consumption and man-made emissions

to soil, air, and water. These are the main results of our new report about the impact of industrial biotech towards meeting global challenges.

IB uses enzymes and micro-organisms to make bio-based products in sectors such as chemicals, bio-based plastics, bio-based lubricants, bio-based solvents, food and feed, detergents, paper and pulp, textiles, as well as bioenergy, such as biofuels and biogas. It also plays an important role in

By Joanna Dupont Inglis, EuropaBio Deputy Secretary General bioremediation through water purification and soil recovery. As such, IB is increasingly recognised by a growing community of stakeholders as playing an important role in responding to some of the greatest global challenges and helping to achieve objectives under the UN’s SDG framework.

It is now critical for Europe to develop a more competitive and sustainable bioeconomy. To this end, the EU’s ‘Horizon Europe’ proposal will be key to ensuring that

11

EFIB 2017

EFIB 2017

the right investments in innovation are made to address societal challenges and deliver on the UN SDGs. I invite you to read the new EuropaBio report, which also includes policy recommendations for the EU, at europabio.org/industrial-biotech.

The place to be to hear all the latest on the innovative biotechnology products and processes that are coming online and that can contribute to the UN Sustainable Development Goals is the European Forum

for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy (EFIB): 17 – 18 October 2018 in Toulouse France.

Over the last decade, EFIB’s delegates, exhibitors, sponsors and speakers have been showcasing innovative IB solutions to the UN Sustainable Development Goals. This year, we will celebrate the IB communities’ latest achievements in harnessing the power of innovation with influential brands and Industry leaders, as well as start-ups

and entrepreneurs and a broad range of stakeholders and policy-makers.

Around 600 attendees and more than 60 international speakers from the industrial biotechnology and bioeconomy area are expected to join this two-day event with presentations and panel discussions covering the sectors of bio-based plastics, food, feed and nutrition, wood biorefining, synthetic biology, and sustainable aviation amongst other topics. In addition, we will learn more about financing, joint ventures and partnerships. This year, EFIB will also offer small and medium-sized companies (SMEs) a reduced fee. Start-ups are also invited to take part in the PitchFest and the START-UP VILLAGE@EFIB, a new initiative welcoming fresh and new founders of the bio-based circular economy in the exhibition.

You can find more information at: efibforum.com

4

The Meat Industry is Transforming You Can Be a Part of It

By Bruce Friedrich, Executive Director, The Good Food Institute

5

IMAGE CREDIT: MEMPHIS MEATS

I

n January of this year, I wrote an article for Innovators Magazine, Make money and save the world. In the article, I documented some of the many problems with how we currently produce meat, from the way that current systems contribute to global hunger to the link between the meat industry and environmental degradation.

For more, please see this TED Talk: Markets & Food Technology Will Save the World.

Luckily, innovators around the world are creating better ways to produce meat. Some companies are breaking meat down into its constituent parts – amino acids, lipids, minerals, and water – and replicating all those elements with plants: plant-based meat. Others are making clean meat, taking a cue from Winston Churchill’s prediction in 1931: “We shall escape the absurdity of growing a whole chicken in order to eat the breast or wing, by growing these parts separately under a suitable medium.”

These clean meat companies have made tremendous strides. It was only five years ago this August that former Harvard Medical School professor, Dr Mark Post presented the first clean meat hamburger, courtesy of $1 million grant from Google co-founder Sergey Brin. In the time since, there has been tremendous growth in the field. Nearly 20 clean meat companies have formed or are in the process of forming, from Silicon Valley to Israel to Japan. There have been tastings of clean meat meatballs, chicken, duck, steak chips, foie gras, fish, and more.

In addition to Sergey Brin, plant-based and clean meat are backed by a range of tech visionaries: from Bill Gates and Richard Branson to venture capital kingmakers DFJ and Google Ventures.

But it isn’t just the tech world that is supporting clean meat. Tyson Foods – the largest meat producer in the United States – has invested in both Memphis Meats and Israel’s Future Meat Technologies. Meat conglomerate Cargill has also invested in Memphis Meats. And PHW Group, Germany’s largest chicken company, has invested in Israel’s SuperMeat.

Governments are also starting to see the need to fund this transformative

Bruce Friedrich

technology. The Netherlands was the first to support clean meat research. Since then, there has been interest from India, and the Israeli government’s innovation fund is supporting Aleph Farms’ development. In May of this year, the Japanese government invested in Integriculture.

While clean meat’s widespread commercial availability is still in the future, amazing plant-based meat is available now.

Cutting-edge companies like Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat are capturing media attention, as well as hundreds of millions of dollars in global investments. This is not surprising, given that the companies are targeting meat eaters by bio-mimicking meat’s structure and taste.

When Bill Gates tasted Beyond Meat’s plant-based chicken strips, he said he couldn’t tell the difference. Gates declared: “What I just ate was not just a clever meat substitute; what I just ate is the future of food.” Since then, Beyond has introduced the Beyond Burger and Sausage, both to great success. For example, the Beyond Burger was restaurant chain TGI Friday’s fastest test-totable menu item ever.

Other plant-based meat companies have upped their game in response to growing demand. Tofurky’s Slow Roasted Chick’n is superb, and their new ham roast is so good it’s scary. Canada’s largest meat producer, Maple Leaf Foods, has purchased innovative plant-based meat companies Lightlife and Field Roast. Maple Leaf’s

plan? To be the most sustainable protein company in the world.

Plant-based and clean meat are advancing so quickly that it is almost impossible to keep up. This is a major reason The Good Food Institute is hosting The Good Food Conference this September at the University of California Berkeley. It is being co-hosted by the Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology as well as Dr Mark Post himself – five years and one month after he launched the clean meat burger into the world With Dr Post’s help, we are gathering the world’s leading scientists, engineers, entrepreneurs, investors, and policy experts to discuss every aspect of the new food system we’re building. The speakers include plant-based and clean meat pioneers Dr Uma Valeti of Memphis Meats, Josh Tetrick of JUST, Dr Pat Brown of Impossible Foods, and Seth Goldman of Beyond Meat.

A few other notables include James Joaquin of Obvious Ventures, Tom Mastrobuoni from Tyson Ventures, and former U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Ann Veneman.

Moderators include representatives from the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, MIT Technology Review, Inc. Magazine, Wired, Vox, the BBC, and Business Insider.

If you can’t make the conference, please be sure check out this TED Talk: Markets & Food Technology Will Save the World and please be a part of this transformation of the meat industry.

Sign up for the Good Food Conference 6-7 September. University of California Berkeley www.goodfoodconference.com

6

BIOFLAVOUR 2018

F

rankfurt will once again be the focus of the bioflavour and fragrance world from September 18 to 21.

Scientists from all around the world will discuss cutting-edge bioflavour research, academic and industrial alike. 2015 saw the first BIOFLAVOUR conference in the era of modern biotechnology with high quality lectures and posters, intense discussions and relaxed and ‘flavourful’ social events. More than 150 participants from over 20 different countries came to Frankfurt, Germany.

More than 40% attendees from industry are proof for the commercial relevance of the conference topic.

New in 2018: functional ingredients

BIOFLAVOUR 2018 expands the scope beyond flavours and fragrances and includes functional ingredients as well. The borders between these ‘FFF’ compounds are rather flexible and biotechnology is a key driver to new products and processes for all of them. Often, flavour and fragrance compounds themselves have known additional functionalities, such as

good smell, taste and health thanks to biotechnology

antimicrobial or antioxidative activities, or are structurally closely related to bioactive compounds. Companies and research groups are on their way to developing microbial and plant cell factories to produce flavours, fragrances and bioactives whose use in foods, beverages, cosmetics, agricultural and pharmaceutical products is a sought-after application of high commercial value.

With 48 lectures and even more posters from experts in the field, this year’s BIOFLAVOUR programme will certainly be outstanding. We expect scientists from more than 25 countries all around the world covering a range of fascinating topics about biotechnology for flavours, fragrances and functional ingredients. Having a view on the scientific programme, the participants can expect to get answers to questions like these: What is the impact of biotechnology for tomorrow’s flavour and fragrance industry? What are the technological and regulatory challenges for biotech in this field? Will we be able to design artificial truffles aroma by biotechnology? How do functional genomics help discriminating

between different Cannabis plants used for patients? Can biotechnology make hoppy beers without using hops? What is the impact of synthetic biology on winemaking?

Are today’s so-called ‘microbial cell factories’ ready for the sustainable production of healthy carotenoids, polyphenols, natural citrus and raspberry aromas from cheap and simple feedstocks like sugar? Is it possible to make a better tasting Steviol sweetener with microbes than with the best Stevia plant itself? Is it also possible to produce plantlike essential oils, such as oils from precious but endangered agarwood or sandalwood, without plants but designer microbes? How do we have to design the corresponding fermentation processes for a sustainable and economically viable industrial production?

How can we use our knowledge about human taste receptors to combat obesity or cardiovascular diseases with designer flavours? And what about our best friends, cats and dogs – can we make them drool and be happy with biotech ingredients in their food?

The answers to these and more questions will be given at BIOFLAVOUR 2018.

7

About the organizer: DECHEMA: scientific society and research institute under one roof

The BIOFLAVOUR conference series is a perfect example of how synergies arise if two complementary parts work closely together: DECHEMA Society for Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology and DECHEMA Research Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. The society is ‘the’ networking platform for the chemical engineering and biotechnology community, fostering the dialogue between science and industry.

One of its core competencies is organizing scientific conferences – in Germany and internationally. The research institute mirrors this philosophy by running its own laboratories in the same DECHEMA house

The society is ‘the’ networking platform for the chemical engineering and biotechnology community with interdisciplinary research teams. Here, chemists, engineers and biotechnologists strive for excellence in science and its transfer to industrial application. More than two decades ago, BIOFLAVOUR conference chair, Prof. Jens Schrader, started to establish the field of aroma biotechnology

at the DECHEMA Research Institute.

Driven by the fascinating perspectives of a fast expanding toolbox of modern biotechnology, the scientists have been investigating many microbes to unleash their metabolic power for the synthesis of natural products, especially flavours and fragrances. Among the achievements of the institute in the field are fermentation processes for natural food flavours and fragrances, bioactives, and functional cosmetic ingredients, besides others. As ‘bridging the gap between fundamental research and industrial application’ is a key mission of the institute, it is not surprising, that some of the developments have been transferred into industrial application in the meantime. Consequently, the institute has been a professional research partner to the aroma industry for many years now, not only in publicly funded collaborations but also for bilateral contract research.

DECHEMA unites its unique scientific background in biotechnology and its professional know-how in organizing conferences. Bioflavour 2018 will be an internationally recognized meeting with cutting-edge science, industrial and academic alike, and lots of opportunities for networking and socializing. www.dechema.de www.dechema-dfi.de

Look forward to these exciting keynote lectures Gastrophysics: Pairing and sequencing flavour (and other) sensations.

Charles Spence, University of Oxford, United Kingdom Synthetic biology, Yeast2.0 and their potential to impact the winemaker’s art.

Anthony Borneman, The Australian Wine Research Institute, Adelaide, Australia From flavours to bioactives – chemoreceptors you always meet twice.

Dietmar Krautwurst, Leibniz institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany

Be part of Bioflavour 2018 and register now! www.dechema.de/en/ bioflavour2018 or scan the QR code

8

Welcome

to a special feature section from the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC),

Glasgow, Scotland

Whisky Galore and More

E

Maximising Value from Distilleries

stablishing a bio-refinery is expensive and high-risk. Anything that reduces costs and risk is important to the long-term sustainability of Industrial Biotechnology.

Increasingly, companies are looking to build sustainable bio-refineries around existing and profitable ventures. In Scotland, companies are developing technologies for use at scale to valorise co-products from the whisky distilling industry, which uses around one million tonnes of barley and other cereals annually, much of which is underutilised and presents an ideal opportunity for bio-refining.

9

Capture and utilisation of fermentation CO2 for high value products

Xanthella

Biofuel and feed production from whisky distillery by-products

Xanthella leads the ENBIO project – an ambitious and global leading project to use Scotland’s abundance of renewable energy and combine it with whisky coproducts to dramatically reduce the cost of producing microalgae which can then be used to produce high value products such as fish feeds and nutraceuticals.

Oban-based Xanthella produces a range of algae production systems that combine advanced design with cost-effectiveness that enables both researchers and industry to advance algal biotechnology and production. Xanthella’s special strength is in the control and supply of light through our understanding of LED technologies and photonics which allows us to manipulate light in a completely reproducible and effective manner.

This includes maximising the efficiency of production of the algae using intermittent supplies of light so that the production systems can match local supply fluctuations

in power availability such as occurs with wind power. This allows the algae production to be used a demand-side management tool that not only reduces the cost of algal production but also solves problems of constraint in the local electrical grid. After light, CO2 represents the next most significant feedstock in algal production – a feedstock that is an abundant co-product from distilleries.

Xanthella is looking at ways fermentation CO2 can be economically captured and used for micro-algal production even at small rural distilleries. It is also working on how the algal production can benefit from nutrients that are left over from other processes such as anaerobic digestion.

“The idea of using renewable energy to produce algae from CO2 and nutrient rich by-product streams from whisky distilleries is a fantastic circular economy concept that has the potential to play an important role for the rural economy.”

Douglas McKenzie, CEO, Xanthella

Celtic Renewables Ltd’s strategy is to utilise by-products from the whisky industry to be used to produce a next generation biofuel, along with high grade animal feed and high value renewable chemicals.

In uniquely combining whisky byproducts, Celtic Renewables Ltd adapt the traditional Weizmann Fermentation process (also known as ABE fermentation) to a brand new and entirely sustainable novel substrate

- not only providing a sustainable disposal route for the by-products of one of the UK’s largest and most iconic industries, but also integrating renewable energy production with environmental sustainability and carbon reduction, by producing sustainable biobutanol as a direct replacement for fossil road fuel to help meet the EU mandated biofuel targets, together with a sustainable source of other high value products.

Horizon Proteins specialises in the transformation of underutilised resources from the food and drink industries into higher value, quality products. Recovery processes need to be economically and environmentally profitable, and Horizon Proteins has developed a patented technology for the recovery of proteins and other macromolecules present in the by-products of whisky manufacturing.

These recovered products can be used as ingredients in animal and fish feeds, which need sustainable protein sources.

Horizon Proteins’ method involves recovering protein from pot ale, a liquid residue from the malt whisky making process. Using innovative techniques, this extracted protein is then used to replace traditional proteins used in animal feed, such as those sources

from soya bean or fish meal. By adapting techniques more commonly applied to high value pharmaceutical products, Horizon Proteins has developed a cost-effective process for recovering proteins from distillation by-products. This technology adds significant value to a traditionally underused by-product, and the removal of protein from pot ale also improves the performance of distillery processes.

“The application of biorefining technologies, such as Horizon Proteins’ technology, which is based on extraction of proteins from distillery by-products, can have a huge impact on sustainability by, for example, replacing imported soya protein concentrate with locally produced alternative.” Prof Nik Willoughby, CEO, Horizon Proteins Ltd

Prof Martin Tangney, Celtic Renewables

Recovery of protein and energy from fermentation and distillery by-products

Horizon Proteins

10

Scotland’s Opportunity Scotland has the opportunity to become a global leader in renewable energy production, and in the process generate significant wealth and revolutionise its Chemical and Biotechnology industries.

A

The ASLEE and ENBIO Projects

bold statement. What justifies it, and what has to happen to make The ASLEE project and the ENBIO project are it a reality? two examples of projects which look at using The world cannot continue to burn fossil algal bioproduction powered by renewable fuels to generate energy but Scotland has energy to “enable new industry in rural areas the capacity to produce many times its own and at the same time increase the strength energy needs from renewable sources. If of the rural circular economy by enabling these sources were fully developed, then better use of stranded timber and distillery the excess, sustainably generated, power coproducts.” (enbio.eu) could be made available to the Chemical The ASLEE (Algal Solutions for Local Energy and Biotechnology sectors, thereby enabling Economy) project was a £2million, two-year those industries to expand and develop. research and development project which These renewable sources are built “experimental and industrial scale often found in rural or isolated pilot units whilst investigating a number locations where access to of further sites in the north and west of the grid is limited, but the Scotland for potential future scale up. development of infrastructure The project will determine the economic based on renewable energy and technical feasibility of using production would renewable energy and transactive facilitate the location load management to reduce the of industrial sites in costs of algal biomanufacturing such rural areas and enable grid balancing, where community and will investigate the resilience and wider economic and employment are social impact that much needed. implementation of this

By Ian Archer, Technical Director, IBioIC

technology could have in rural Scotland and beyond.

This is the first study of its kind in the world, giving Scotland a valuable technical lead in this field. (aslee.scot) ASLEE provided a valuable facility for investigating the potential of novel algal products at industrial scale and was the largest facility of its type in the UK. ENBIO builds on the ASLEE project and will see sixteen 1000 litre Pandora PBR™ deployed on the Ardnamurchan Estate using surplus energy from the CHP plant to produce high value algae and automatically matching local electricity demand with production.

The Ardnamurchan PBR array will give Scotland a lead in industrial scale algal biotechnology in the UK. In addition, the ENBIO project will contribute to the low carbon economy through helping to reduce transport costs, displace algal imports that are currently air shipped to Scotland, achieve better use of distillery co-products and directly incorporate CO2 into the algae. (aslee.scot/energy-andthe-bioeconomy-enbio)

11

Xanthella

BIGHIT

The Building Innovative Green Hydrogen Systems in Isolated Territories (BIG HIT) project uses renewable electricity generated on the islands of Eday and Shapinsay to produce hydrogen, by electrolysis of water. This hydrogen is then stored as high pressure gas in the tube trailers, which can be transported to mainland Orkney.

BIG HIT will demonstrate use of hydrogen as a flexible local energy store and vector, transporting hydrogen by tube trailer to the Orkney mainland. Here it will be used to demonstrate real end-use applications for hydrogen including auxiliary power and heat for ferries in Kirkwall harbour, fuelling a fleet of hydrogen range-extended light vehicles, and heating for buildings in the Kirkwall area.

The learning from BIG HIT about the benefits of using hydrogen with renewable energy sources in the Orkney Islands will support the much wider replication and further deployments of renewable energy with fuel cell & hydrogen technologies in isolated or constrained territories. (bighit.eu)

These are small scale projects which illustrate our capacity to think creatively and take advantage of our natural resources to create cheap energy that enables processes which are usually considered to be uneconomical. Remote areas and islands can generate more power than they need, and that power can be used in-situ or can be sent back to the national grid - if the wires were there to connect to the grid. But they highlight what happens when you have cheap electricity – entrepreneurial thinkers will find a way to use that power to create value.

A few years ago, the US chemical industry benefitted from cheap gas, delighting its leading figures: “It’s a phenomenal opportunity. This is a gift to American entrepreneurs, the wildcatters, the oil and gas drillers, have given the country: 100 years of natural gas supply. There’s no country on the planet that wouldn’t love to get that, and then use it.” Andrew Liversis, Chief Executive, Dow Chemical – quoted in the FT. This bonanza was a double-hit for the industry in supplying both cheap raw materials and cheap power.

Renewable energy generation is now equivalent to approximately 68% of Scotland’s electricity consumption (scottishrenewables.com/sectors/ renewables—in-numbers). But what if we had the capacity to generate 200% of our requirements? Prices should tumble and industry will benefit – technologies previously shown to be uneconomical due to high energy consumption (eg, electrolysis of water to produce hydrogen, photosynthetic growth of algae) then become feasible.

If the Scottish Government supports projects like these through to commercial scale, then Scotland would be in a position to replicate the economic effect seen in the US following the development in that country of a shale gas supply industry, but without the concomitant environment damage and added carbon emissions. We could, potentially, generate effectively unlimited, clean, renewable power in Scotland. We would also be leading the way in co-developing technologies – be that biotech or others like the hydrogen economy – that make use of that incredible naturally-sourced power.

12

IBioIC’s

Annual Conference  Join us in Scotland for an all-encompassing two day event for biobased stakeholders

T

he Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC)’s annual conference has become one of the most important UK-based industrial biotechnology meetings in the calendar. Now in its fifth year, IBioIC is a unique organisation in the UK landscape, bringing together industry, academia and policy-makers to stimulate the growth of the IB sector in Scotland to £900m by 2025.

This event delivers on IBioIC’s aims by bringing together a unique mix of biobased professionals, academia, and supporting organisations under one roof to hear about and explore

the potential opportunities for IB in Scotland as well as the global landscape of the industry.

The conference will be held in Glasgow, a city ranked by the Mercer Cost of Living Survey as one of Europe’s most cost-effective cities. It is served by three international airports with direct flights from over 175 destinations and boasts the largest rail network in the UK outside of London.

From five star hotels to budget accommodation, there are over 18,000 rooms available within close proximity of conference venues, restaurants, and cultural attractions, making it an easily

accessible location for bringing together the IB community.

For 2019, the organisers have great ambitions to reach our global network and invite you all to join us in Scotland for an event you will not want to miss.

Key highlights of the conference will include: •Plenary sessions around sustainability and policy •Parallel tracks focussed around Technical and Commercial themes •Conference partnering to facilitate new collaborations

13

Key information

 Duration: 30th and 31st January 2019  Delegates: 450  Destination: Glasgow, Scotland  Venue: Technology & Innovation Centre •Bustling exhibition area featuring companies and universities from across the UK & further afield •Civic Reception hosted by the Lord Provost welcoming delegates to the City of Glasgow •Networking conference dinner with awards ceremony and guest speakers

With an ambitious target to transform the competitiveness and sustainability of industries through the innovative use of industrial biotechnology Scotland is well on its way to becoming a key influencer in the industry on a global scale and we hope you are available to join us in January and find out more.

A call for abstracts will launch on Monday 16th July at the BIO World Congress, Philadelphia. To find out more about IBioIC, how to submit an abstract for a speaker opportunity and or poster, please go to: www.ibioic.com or pop by stand number 340 to meet the team and receive further details.

14

A process demonstration facility

A semi-industrial scale photobioreactor

Q&A

15

with Adeel Aslam, Head of Consulting Bouygues Energies & Services is increasingly the partner of choice for biotechnology stakeholders. We spoke to Adeel Aslam, Head of Consulting, to find out why.

Q

How does Bouygues Energies & Services support industrial biotechnology projects?

Bouygues Energies & Services supports industrial

A biotechnology projects by working with our clients

around early stage business engagement and strategic business consulting. By understanding client and investors’ needs, objectives and expectations from an early stage, we are able to provide sustainable scale-up strategies which are supported by our in-house, design and build solution capabilities for pilot plant, demonstrator and full scale manufacturing facilities.

With our unique approach, we can develop solutions from an early feasibility stage. This streamlines the assessment and selection of suitable technologies for the process; both existing and emerging. During the further design development, we maintain a key focus on lean manufacturing and asset lifecycle modelling, whilst considering future business needs. The result is investment programmes which deliver the highest return on investment from day one.

How would you kick-start a new project Q using a FEED study approach?

Before kick-starting a new project, we need to clearly

A understand the client’s / investors’ objectives, targets

and expectations. By working in this way we are able to offer a bespoke solution to fit their requirements. We do not believe in a ‘one size fits all’ approach. All of our FEED studies are tailored specifically for our client’s needs to ensure that the project critical success factors are delivered. Whether or not a project brief exists, the studies are aimed at reviewing, questioning and implementing all the project / design requirements in a structured format.

To understand our client and deliver their expectations, Bouygues Energies & Services build the FEED study around a set of client / design team interactive data gathering workshops. During these workshops, all key project stakeholders are presented and given the opportunity for critical input into the development and understanding of project requirements.

Workshops are aligned to suit the type of project being undertaken but will normally begin with a Process / Architectural review where the project brief will be developed and the main facility process flows will be drawn out from first principles.

Adeel Aslam

What are the key benefits of engaging with

Q Bouygues Energies & Services in this way?

When we are engaged from the early stage of a project’s

A development, we can help transform our client’s science

and ideas into commercial reality. We do so in an accelerated and collaborative manner, whilst de-risking technology investments. This is supported by our unique consultancy “in-house” offer and approach, with single point accountability.

We are involved in a wide range of sectors, so we are able to interchange ideas and innovations. In a highly collaborative way, we share, transfer and connect knowledge utilising open innovation models.

How do you keep your methods agile and

Q innovative in a changing landscape?

We regularly review our offer / approach and

A complement it with the latest tools and technologies.

We utilise the latest design software and also introduce technologies that can enhance our customers’ experience.

We also have an approach of continuous learning and open innovation; we keep informed of changing regulatory and statutory requirements by regularly attending a wide range of forums and play an active role in a number of industry networks.

We strive to keep up-to-date with the ever changing landscape of industrial processes and technologies by continuing to build strong relationship with our key value chain partners.

How can biotechnology companies and organisations connect with you?

We can be contacted via our website www.bouygues-es.co.uk/contact or by email contracting@bouygues-es.co.uk. Alternatively, visit our blog - our-blog.bouygues-es.co.uk or connect with us on LinkedIn - www.linkedin.com/company/68332

10 16

T

he Climate Reality Leadership training I took part in last month in Berlin was an exceptional opportunity to learn more about the ways we can collectively spread awareness on climate change. I got inspired by the devotion of Al Gore, who leads the Climate Reality Project, and energised by the enthusiastic community of Climate Reality Leaders spread all over the world. I am looking forward to actively participating in this movement and helping people around me learn more about the actions we all need to take - industries, individuals and governments to hold on to our world.

I plan to develop this into a regular section, in print and online at innovatorsmag. com, where I can share my developing insight as a new Climate Reality Leader and bring you stories about the innovators tackling the challenge.

To kick things off though, here are some words that inspired me during the training in Berlin.

Lessons in Climate Reality Welcome to the first of what will be a new regular column on all things climate change

Al Gore

Dr Diana Ürge-Vorsatz “The last time the atmosphere had so much CO2 in the air, sea level was 7 meters higher. Even if we

don’t emit a single molecule of greenhouse gas from tomorrow, the climate has already been committed to a certain level of change.”

Al Gore “Knowledge of the true circumstance we face is empowering, and yet knowledge alone is insufficient. It has to be matched with passion, with commitment, with stamina; with a decision to truly recognise this moment in history and decide, right now that we each of us, are going to be part of the solution.”

“The challenge in its most basic form is the same now as it was 40 years ago. And that is that the maximum that seems politically feasible still falls short of the minimum that will really solve the problem. That is why we have to build more grassroots support, among citizens in every country, to pursue the right direction.

When all the unnecessary clutter and details are cleared away, what remains is a short and clear choice between what is right and what is wrong.”

“Times are different now.

There are five times the jobs in renewables than there is in coal.

We cannot let our perceptions of the present challenges be based on older experiences that are no longer relevant today. We have to look at future opportunities that we all need to seize.”

IMAGE CREDIT: CLIMATE REALITY

Carlotta De Toni

MORE THAN A MAGAZINE

Biotechs enjoyed huge success at last year’s Global Game Changers awards Grab the headlines again in 2018 Apply now innovatorsmag.com/ggc-awards

Global Game Changers is a cross-sector awards event with 10 categories, each recognising innovation that contributes to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

SUPPORTED BY

UN SDG advocate, Marc Buckley, is the keynote speaker

12 September, 2018, Grand Central Hotel, Glasgow, Scotland ďƒ ggc@innovatorsmag.com

S AV E T HE

D AT E

JOIN US FOR THE

2019 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology

JULY 8-11, 2019 DES MOINES, IOWA

HOSTED BY:

bio.org/worldcongress