Presented by: UBC BioProducts Institute
Time & Date: Wednesday, August 31st from 12:30pm – 1:30pm PDT
Location: CHBE 202, 2360 East Mall, Vancouver
2022 is not 2010: Important Trends and Creating Competitive Advantage in the Forest Bioeconomy
Abstract
Canada has significant inventories of forest biomass, and with this, an opportunity to develop the bioeconomy in order to grow Canada’s GDP, create employment opportunities in rural and remote communities, reduce GHG emissions radically – and other perhaps less-obvious benefits such as addressing the growing problem of wildfires. Today is a critical juncture for Canada’s bioeconomy, with clear opportunities and strengths related to the business environment that can potentially attract the significant investment needed to develop a prosperous bioeconomy in Canada over the next years. At the same time as Canada promulgates biofuels-oriented climate policy with an eye to meeting commitments associated with the Paris Agreement by 2030, more recently, Canada has made commitments for Net Zero GHG emissions for 2050.
This non-technical presentation is open to those interested in the bioeconomy and will overview certain barriers and emerging trends pertinent to the bioeconomy that are challenging for companies on one level, while at the same time presenting a competitive opportunity for companies setting and implementing their biorefinery strategies. We will introduce an idea widely used in Europe called the Business and Innovation Ecosystem or BIE, and describe how this might help Canadian forestry companies exploit these emerging trends.
Biography
After a career in engineering design and strategic consulting, Paul joined the Chemical Engineering Department at Polytechnique in 2000 to become Chairholder of the first NSERC Chair in Design Engineering. In 2010 Paul co-founded, and is today Principal Consultant of EnVertis Consulting, a global boutique consultancy that assists companies with their business transformation in the bioeconomy. In his consulting activities as well as his research program, Paul addresses industry-driven problems using product and process design methodologies and systems analysis tools, targeting the forest products industry and new business models for the production of biofuels, biochemicals and biomaterials. Paul has had the good fortune of being involved in various ways with the establishment of several biorefineries, in Canada and around the world. Paul is a founding Fellow of the Pulp and Paper Technical Association of Canada (PAPTAC), a past President of the Canadian Society for Chemical Engineering (CSChE), and a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Engineering (CAE).