Establishing a Joint UK-South America Partnership in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy

Project: Other project (funded) › Restricted grant

Project Details

Layman's description

South America plays a key role in global biofuels production, particularly in Brazil. Argentina, Brazil and Chile are all major powers in global agriculture and recognise the imperative for developing advanced and sustainable biofuels and biorefineries to take advantage of potential opportunities to export biofuels that meet the stringent sustainability criteria imposed by the European Union and other jurisdictions. In particular, there is increasing interest in making the most of lignocellulosic agricultural residues that are available in very large quantities in these nations. We already have well-established links in Brazil and good contacts in Argentina and Chile. In this workshop, we will bring together leading researchers from the IB and bioenergy sectors to establish a UK/South American network with the view of developing strong UK-led proposals in this area for Horizon 2020, and any joint UK/regional opportunities that arise.

Key findings

A highly successful meeting was held in Buenos Aires during December 2013 in the offices of INTA (Argentine National Instute for Agriculatural Sciences). The meeting was attended by leading scientists and science funders from the UK, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Sweden,the Netherlands and the EC. The meeting helped to establish new relationships between key scientists working in the area of non-fodd biomass for biofuels and industrial bioenergy. This led to the establishment of a working group that will work together to identify opportunities for international collaboration in this area. Plans for a follow-up meeting in Brazil in late 2014/early 2015 are being developed.
StatusFinished
Effective start/end date1/09/13 → 31/12/13

Funding

  • BBSRC