Executive Director Philippe Mengal of the Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking says this in an interview with Agro&Chemistry. According to Mengal, Europe was late to invest in large scale biorefineries for full scale deployment of biobased production, compared to North America, Brazil or China.
‘The big countries have extensive biomass resources and benefit from R&D-investment programmes and a strong political will for the bioeconomy’, Mengal says. ‘Barack Obama declared that the bioeconomy is a major engine for American innovation and economic growth. Brazil clearly claims that it intends to become the worldwide number one in the bioeconomy.’
To compete, European regions and cities will play an increasingly important role in implementing the bioeconomy, according to the BBI JU. ‘When regions support initiatives with a strong regional bioeconomy policy, they enable innovation to occur by bringing industry and research institutions together. Regions can foster the necessary support and infrastructure needed to capitalise on local natural resources, regional strength and capabilities.’
The BBI JU will issue a new call for proposals in April 2017. The topics will be published by the end of 2016. There will be an Open InfoDay in Brussels on the 28th of April 2017.
Read the full interview in Agro&Chemistry
