Recordings from this year’s Canadian BioDesign Conference now available
October 6, 2020
By Canadian BioDesign Conference
The third annual Canadian BioDesign Conference was held on Sept. 9, 10 and 11, 2020. The virtual and interactive conference was hosted by the BioDesign Consortium – Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC), BioNB, FPInnovations, The Forest Products Association of Canada (FPAC) and BIOTECanada.
A big thank you to our speakers, moderators and everyone who help develop and support another successful BioDesign Conference. Thank you to BioDesign’s 2020 supporting partners Lambton College and Sarnia-Lambton Economic Partnership (SLEP). With respect to registrations, 404 people registered. These registrants came from across the world representing government, industry, academia, agencies and research institutions to support and discuss the focus of the conference ‘How the Canadian Industrial Bioeconomy can Transform Canada’s Economy.’
“The third annual Canadian BioDesign Conference was virtual this year and went better than expected. We had over 400 registrants which is more than attended in our previous conferences in person (150 – 200). The panels went quite well and we were able to gain international participation more easily as travel was not involved. It is very important to have a strong network that you can draw on to get the right panelists to put forth the themes you wish to discuss. The support and effort from the BioDesign partners and supporting organizations made this conference a great success,” said A.J. (Sandy) Marshall, executive director of Bioindustrial Innovation Canada.
Sessions available to watch
Panel 1: Leveraging Biomass for Sustainable Bioproducts
Wednesday Sept. 9, 2020
Description: The vision of Canada’s Bioeconomy Strategy is to promote the highest valorization of Canadian biomass and residuals while promoting the objectives of a reduced carbon footprint and effective stewardship of natural capital for generations. The development of a vigorous bioeconomy is the platform that will help society address environmental challenges and continue the evolution of biorefineries that will reduce Canada’s dependence on fossil fuels. The benefits will be sustainable economic growth, particularly for rural economies, and the creation of new highly skilled jobs.
Panel 2: Transforming to a Low Carbon Economy
Thursday Sept. 10, 2020
Description: Using renewable raw materials for the production of fuels and carbon sequestration in long life bioproducts are powerful strategies to transform Canada to a low carbon economy. Today, the biofuels, bioenergy and building construction materials sectors are challenged in most jurisdictions to compete with the size and scale of the fossil carbon-based competitors. Government regulation and policy is required to enable this nascent industry to innovate and grow to a scale where they can compete effectively with the incumbent. One successful example has been the implementation of the Low Carbon Fuel Standard in California and British Columbia. Canada is now embarking on a parallel policy approach through its Renewable Fuel Standard. Parallel opportunities exist for the support of low carbon bioproducts such as tall building wood construction, biopolymers and biocarbon that can sequester carbon for long durations.
Panel 3: Disrupting the Linear Economy and Going Circular Friday
Sept. 11, 2020
Description: The current economic model is based on a linear approach of TAKE – MAKE – DISCARD. It is now broadly recognized that this economic model can not continue as resources are limited to what is available on the planet Earth. This model is being disrupted by climate change and moving to a circular economic model is essential for the long term survival of mankind on this planet. How can we change our manufacturing mentality with programs that recover, recycle and reuse effectively and efficiently? The Europeans have embraced circularity as core to their climate change initiatives and have identified pathways where the circular bioeconomy can provide additional low carbon benefits.
Recordings of each session are now posted on BioDesign’s NEW YouTube Channel.
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