Welcome letter
Welcome to BBEST 2017, the Brazilian Bioenergy Science and Technology Conference
BBEST is an international conference on bioenergy and for the 2017 edition we will consider within the broader field of bioeconomy how bioenergy emerges as a possible leverage and the synergies and opportunities ahead. In this sense, BBEST 2017 will devote a policy day for discussions on the bioeconomy and its links to bio-products, biotechnology, industrial innovation and sustainable development.
Bioeconomy develops towards a significant and robust contributor to sustainable economic development in Brazil, Latin America and worldwide. Significant steps forward have been made since BBEST 2014, such as the start-up of the first lignocellulosic ethanol plants in Brazil and USA as well as the market introduction of 1st and 2nd generation bioplastics. The large-scale implementation of biobased concepts also starts to direct attention of the scientific and business community to the technological challenges associated with the unprecedented scale of the first-of-a-kind plants. It underlines the need to redefine the integral refinery concepts that underpinned the economic success of the petrochemical industry clusters towards the logistic, economic and market constraints of the bioeconomy in so-called REDEFINERY-programs.
At BBEST 2017, we place the Brazilian bioenergy & bioeconomy development and its scientific progress in the context of this new reality. In a number of plenary and parallel sessions, we bring together Sao Paulo, Brazilian and internationally leading scientists and the business community to present progress within FAPESP’s BIOEN program and its international partnerships on key topics such as responsible land use, crop productivity and resilient multifunctional landscapes, harvesting technology, impact of logistics and scale, integral biorefinery development, and emerging advanced materials and energy carriers for aviation, marine and road transport. The continued progress in thinking around the sustainable bioeconomy development to benefit both developing and developed countries will be discussed in the framework of an update of the SCOPE Bioenergy & Sustainability report. BBEST 2017 will also be the forum to present the latest innovation roadmaps of agro-forestry re-industrialisation programs.
We want BBEST 2017 especially to be the platform for the future generations. Therefore we host –among others - the finals of the 2017 Biobased Design Competition for game-changing biobusiness plans by teams of young scientists and engineers from Brazil, Europe and USA; career events for young scientists, and meet-the-CEO sessions for students and young scientists. We give special attention to starters and other SME’s since they are an essential and fast track complement to the larger industries that slowly change to biorenewables.
Bioeconomy opportunities for Brazilian science and business should be seen in the international context. At BBEST this is reflected not only in the international composition of our Chair(wo)manship and the various Scientific and Advisory Committees, but throughout the proposed program and the alternating scheme that we are developing with the ECOBIO-series in close collaboration with the Elsevier Group. Please contact us for additional ideas, initiatives, or side-events that can constructively contribute to what promises to be a very exciting BBEST Conference.
Glaucia Mendes Souza (USP, BIOEN) and Luuk van der Wielen (BE-Basic, Bernal Institute, TU Delft)
BBEST 2017 Chairs
October 14, 2016