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The Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation du Québec (MEI) recently issued a call for briefs with a view to developing the 2022-2027 Quebec Strategy tu Support Research and Investment in Innovation. The initiative is intended to provide an opportunity to propose best practices, innovative solutions and the most promising avenues for fostering wealth creation in Quebec from research and innovation activities, and building a world-class innovation ecosystem. In the wake of these consultations, the Consortium de recherche et innovations en bioprocédés industriels au Québec (CRIBIQ), in collaboration with Innofibre – Centre d'innovation des produits cellulosiques, submitted a brief proposing the implementation of the Stratégie nationale de l'innovation en économie biosourcée (SNIEB).
In 2019, the CRIBIQ and Innofibre organized the first edition of the Forum innovation on the Bioeconomy in Quebec (FIBEQ). The event, which took place in Trois-Rivières from June 17 to 19, brought together 450+ regional and international stakeholders (companies, prime contractors, public research institutes, economic development agents, scientists, etc.). During the forum, participants attended conferences presenting real-life cases of bioproduct development and marketing, and several speakers shared their vision of the development of industrial sectors based on bioresources. Attendees from a wide range of sectors had the opportunity to discuss the biobased economy to which they each contribute in their own way, whether they come from the agricultural and agri-food production sector, biomaterials sector, industrial bioproducts sector, bioenergy sector or other industrial sectors of the biobased economy.
Since that event, the CRIBIQ and Innofibre teams have been reflecting on the importance of setting up a National Strategy for Innovation in the Biobased Economy along the lines of those already in place in several OECD countries.
The biobased economy ecompasses all activities linked simultaneously to the production, recovery and processing of bioresources, whether virigin or residual, agricultural, forestry, aquatic or urban. The brief states: "The biobased economy is therefore at the crossroads of several sectors of activities that make use of bioresources. Agriculture, forestry, food processing, bioenergy (ethanol, biodiesel, biochar, bio-jet fuel, etc.), industrial chemicals (biobitumen, bioadhesives, enzymes, solvents, sanitary products, etc.), biomaterials (biocomposites, bioplastics and other biopolymers), environmental technologies (CO2 capture and biofixation, bioremediation of soil, water and air, waste recovery, biosensors, etc.), are all industrial sectors concerned by the National Strategy for Innovation in the Biobased Economy." In short, the biobased economy in Quebec represents an annual GDP of $20,885 million, 79,811 jobs, 48 978 businesses and cumulative sales of $58,284 million. For an economy like Quebec's, which is largely based on the exploitation of natural resources, a strategy is needed to encourage innovation in the biobased economy and the emergence of high value-added industries.
To this effect, the CRIBIQ and Innofibre suggest developing a concerted vision of the biobased economy shared by the industry, communities, public research institutions and various government bodies. The provincial government alone has six ministries directly involved in the development of a biobased economy: the Ministère de l'Économie et de l'Innovation (MEI), the Ministère de l'Agriculture, des Pêcheries et de l'Alimentation (MAPAQ), the Ministère des Forêts, de la Faune et des Parcs (MFFP), the Ministère de l'Énergie et des Ressources naturelles (MERN), the Ministère de l'Environnement et de la Lutte contre les changements climatiques (MELCC) and the Ministère de l'Éducation et de l'Enseignement supérieur (MEES).
The potential benefits of such an approach are considerable, and could have an impact on all the regions of Quebec. The biobased economy offers numerous advantages in terms of economic development, wealth creation, solutions to environmental issues and regional vitality.
In this brief, the CRIBIQ and Innofibre propose 24 actions to be considered as part of a National Strategy for Innovation in the Biobased Economy. These include actions in the areas of corporate taxation, support for municipalities in implementing innovations in this field, funding for research centres, public tendering procedures, workforce training, the establishment of multidisciplinary and intersectoral research chairs, and the creation of at least one bioproducts hub.
To find out more about the 24 actions to be considered as part of a National Strategy for Innovation in the Biobased Economy, the full brief is available here:
Brief: Strategy – Biobased Economy
Author : Chloë Boulanger, Project Manager at Innofibre