BCN: Supporting the
Alberta Bioeconomy
Dr. David C. Bressler
Executive Director of the BCN
Professor, Faculty of Agricultural, Life &
Environmental Sciences, University of Alberta, Canada
Edmonton
Summer: +30oC
Winter: -30oC
What is Alberta known for?
Changing the Nature of
• Established in 2009
Biomass
• Funder:
• BCN 1.0
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2009 – 2012
$3.0 million
Biomass pre-processing
Thermal conversion
Chemical conversion
Biological conversion
• BCN 2.0
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2012 – 2015
$3.8 million
Strategic Advisory Board
Scientific Committee
More elaborate research
themes (coming up)
Mandate
Play a pivotal role in cultivating Alberta’s bioindustrial sector by
facilitating development of novel, commercially viable biomass
conversion technologies and value-added products
THE BCN MODEL
BCN facilitates multidisciplinary industry-academic collaborations
that emphasize innovation and commercialization
Network Core
R&D Funding
Networking
Business development
Industry-academic collaborations
Market Assessments
University of Alberta
University of Calgary
Concordia University
Olds College
Northern Alberta Institute of Technology
Alberta Innovates Technology Futures
Annual Strategic Retreat
Forestry workshop
Green chemistry workshop
Seminar hosting
Attending conferences
Sponsorship of events
Syngenta
Sanimax
Imperial Oil
Forge Hydrocarbons
TerraVerdae BioWorks
Saputo
Daishowa-Marubeni International
Weyerhaeuser
Many more…
BCN: levering investments
BCN projects focus on 3 themes:
Byproducts
Utilization
Synthetic
Biology
Chemical
Platforms
Value-add
Opportunities
Biocatalysis &
Fermentation
Advanced
Bioproducts
Byproducts Utilization and Value-Add Opportunities
 Strong Collaborations with Alberta Forestry Industry
Mapping and
Quantitation
of Forestry
Waste
Streams
Tall Oils
to Fuels
Lignin
Chemistry
Terpenes
Forest Ash
Characterization
& Utilization
Cellulose
NanoCrystals
Massive opportunity to integrate with
traditional resource industries in Alberta
Synthetic Biology: Biocatalysis and Fermentation
 Hardest to tackle, but most rewarding
Phenylalanine
derived
chemicals
Upcycled
Aromatics
Microbial
Biosynthesis
of Fatty
Alcohols
Biopolymers from
C1 Substrates
Biodensification of
Oil Sands Tailings
Specialty
Chemicals
Submitted a grant for a $12M highthroughput synthetic biology centre
Advanced Bioproducts and Chemical Platforms
 Bio-based materials: most mature sector in bioindustry?
Bio-Nonanal
from Plant Oils
BiodieselDerived
Glycerin
Polysaccharides
for Naphthenic
Acid Extraction
from Tailings
Bio-polymers
Novel
Flocculants
from
Agricultural
Waste Proteins
Epoxies
Lignocellulose
Subfractionation
BCN 2.0 Budget
Core ~ $1.8M
R&D: ~$2M
Emerging Opportunities:
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Helmholtz-Alberta Initiative
Fraunhofer collaboration with University of Alberta
Ongoing business development and partnership opportunities
BCN Retreat
BCN3.0?
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BCN  Institute?
Increased Funding?
New Stakeholders? CCEMC, AIEES, AITF, etc…
New Research Themes?
Socioeconomic Arm?
New Collaborations?
NOTES:
-Keywords in individual bubbles on slides 10-12 don't
necessarily correspond to 1 single project. For
instance, Stryker works on both lignin chemistry and
terpenes but he only carries 1 project
-Although assigned to specific themes here for
simplicity, keywords/projects often touch on multiple
themes. For instance, CNC is listed in byproducts
utilization, but in reality could be put in either of the
other 2 themes
-I left out Jonathan Curtis' partner CyLab...the
company had trouble bringing its hemp processing
equipment out of China, so probably best to avoid
bringing this up altogether