Establishing a Joint UK-South America Partnership in Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy
Lead Research Organisation:
University of York
Department Name: Biology
Abstract
Argentina
People |
ORCID iD |
| Neil Bruce (Principal Investigator) |
| 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 brought 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. Importantly, the workshop resulted in a memorandum of understanding being signed between the BBSRC and INTA. The workshop helped us build a consortium that has submitted an application entitled "Improving and integrating feedstock, enzymes and fermentation organisms for advanced biofuel manufacture from plant biomass" for the joint FAPESP-BBSRC call for collaborative proposals in integrated biorefinery approaches for the manufacture of advanced biofuels. |
| Exploitation Route | The MoU signed between the BBSRC and INTA will help facilitate further scientific interactions between the UK and Argentina. |
| Sectors | Agriculture, Food and Drink,Energy |
| Description | University of Sao Paulo |
| Organisation | Universidade de São Paulo |
| Country | Brazil |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| PI Contribution | A bid entitled "Improving and integrating feedstock, enzymes and fermentation organisms for advanced biofuel manufacture from plant biomass" was submitted and involved Simon McQueen-Mason (York), Neil Bruce (York), Claire Halpin (Dundee), Robbie Waugh (Dundee), Paul Dupree (Cambridge) and Nigel Minton (Nottingham) from the UK. The Brazilian partners included Igor Polikarpov (Sao Paulo), Gonçalo A. Guimarães Pereira (Campinas), Eduardo Ribeiro de Azevêdo (Sao Paulo), Marcelo Falsarella Carazzolle (Campinas), Marcos S. Buckeridge (Sao Paulo), Antonio Augusto F. Garcia (Sao Paulo), Marcelo Menossi Teixeira (Campinas), Carlos A. Labate (Sao Paulo), Fernando Segato (Sao Paulo), Francisco E. G. Guimarães (Sao Paulo), Andreas K. Gombert (Sao Paulo), Alessandro S. Nascimento (Sao Paulo), Camila Caldana (Campinas), Marcos Guimarães de Andrade Landell (Sao Paulo), Marcos Guimarães de Andrade Landell (Campinas), Luiz Alberto Colnago (EMBRAPA), Mario de Oliveira Neto (Botucatu) and Richard J. Ward (Sao Paulo). |
| Collaborator Contribution | Co-wrote the application. |
| Impact | The output was a submitted grant application. |
| Start Year | 2015 |