Finnish BioRefine project begins co-operation with American institute

A project launched by Lappeenranta University of Technology that examines the carbon footprint of liquid biofuels has started a researcher exchange with the American Energy Biosciences Institute.

Established in the USA in 2007, Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) researches and develops new energy solutions that utilise biology. The research institute is the result of collaboration between the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Illinois and Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, and is funded by the international energy company BP. A total of USD 500 million over 10 years has been budgeted for funding the institute.

“The idea of a new institute to study biomass raw materials came from BP. They were looking for potential academic partners through competitive bidding, and they invited three American and two British universities to take part in this process. Berkeley asked the University of Illinois, which specialises in agricultural research, to join us in preparing a research plan. Our plan convinced the evaluators and, after a tough selection process, we were chosen to carry out the project,” says Susan Jenkins, Assistant Director at Energy Biosciences Institute.

“In 2007, we had USD 35 million, but not a single researcher. So we asked researchers for proposals for research topics – basing our request on a federal report US government had done called Breaking the biological barriers to cellulosic ethanol. We expected to get 80 to 100 proposals but received 250, which were evenly distributed over different areas.”

Can biofuels be produced sustainably?

“Rather than requiring the research projects to directly develop a method for producing biofuels, BP expected us to find out whether production is possible when taking the ecological, economic and technical conditions into account. They also hoped to receive a roadmap to sustainable production, in other words, how to get from point A to point B. We were pleased to have such broad guidelines,” emphasises Jenkins.

The research agenda is reviewed annually by the Institute’s board, which either approves or rejects the agenda in its entirety. It’s not possible to pick and choose the best parts of the agenda.

“The research projects last three years, but funding for ten years has been granted to a few special projects. We’re very pleased with the results so far and this feeling appears to be mutual. Many researchers were doubtful about such close co-operation with a commercial actor, but our work with BP has gone very well.”

“During the first five years, we have approximately twenty patents in different stages of progress. We’ve also been able to show BP that sustainable biofuel production is possible,” adds Jenkins.

Co-operation in sustainability assessments

“The fact that we receive funding only from BP limits our opportunities for co-operation with external research institutes or companies. However, we can collaborate on socio-economic issues, because they rarely lead to conflicts in relation to patent rights," explains Jenkins.

“The research associated with the carbon footprint of biofuels that Lappeenranta University of Technology (LUT) is coordinating in the Tekes BioRefine programme is an excellent area for a researcher exchange with us.

“The majority of our co-operation projects have been in Brazil, which has some of the world’s largest biomass resources.”

Broadening the perspective

The BioRefine programme project launched in summer 2011 by Lappeenranta University of Technology examines the sustainability of liquid biofuels. The researcher exchange with EBI will start in February 2012.

“The co-operation provides us with information about the production chains of those biofuels that are the main focus in the USA. It also gives us a broader understanding of issues that affect the sustainability of production chains in different markets, and differences in legislation. We already know the calculation methods and standards used in the EU, and now we can see the principles that calculations in the USA will be based on – in terms of practical calculation they may be using different methodologies," says Professor Risto Soukka, Environmental Technology at Lappeenranta University of Technology.

Ten years from now

Susan Jenkins assesses the situation in 2017, when EBI funding will end.

“Since both parties have been satisfied, I believe that co-operation with BP will continue. Of course, BP may want to change or clarify the research guidelines. They would like to see patents produce some of the funding, but this will be very marginal. Only a blockbuster breakthrough would mean a jackpot in terms of patents,” states Jenkins.

“The most difficult situation would be if BP decides to terminate its funding and is replaced by another body, because in that case BP would still hold the rights to the results that it funded for some time after the co-operation ended. This would make the transition period really challenging. Fortunately, BP hasn’t shown any indications that our collaboration would be ending," concludes Jenkins.

This article was originally published by TEKES, a publicly funded expert organisation for financing research, development and innovation in Finland.