FOOD and DIET A G R I C U L T U R E E N V I R O N M E N T 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, San Francisco, May 3-6, 2009 The french

FOOD and DIET

A G R I C U L T U R E

E N V I R O N M E N T

31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, San Francisco, May 3-6, 2009

The french initiative on renewable carbon for green chemistry and bioenergies

Paul COLONNA, Francois HOULLIER, Agnès KAMMOUN, Xavier MONTAGNE and Christian SALES

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• In a context of global imbalances and marked by high hopes linked to the renewable carbon ….

• switch from a logic of subsidiary development of plant biomass for non-food purposes, to diversify its uses and design of dedicated production systems

Main issues

MaterialsHousing, car, packaging, ..

Energy mixbiofuels, biogaz, …

Chemicals : lubrificants, cleaning agents, solvants, specialities, nano…

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• Three major global issues …– control, limit and reduce emissions of greenhouse gases

(GHGs) in the atmosphere, factor four from 1990 to 2050– develop substitutes to fossil carbons (and their

derivatives), whose reserves, for a given cost, will be increasingly scarce

– Energy efficiency• … and related socio-economic and geopolitical

issues…– promote energy independence– Initiate carbon neutral development (carbon free?)– Develop an agro-industry– Ensuring sustainability in parallel to foods, among all the

basic needs

Issues and aims

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Targets

Incorporation of 5.75% biofuels in 2008, 7% in 2010

France

20% renewable energy (solar, biomass, wind) in 2020 , 10% biofuels in transport

EU 27 in 2020

Chemistry : 7% renewable feedstock in 2007, 17% in 20015

France

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• Are expected– At short-term : state of the art, available to the

public and private sectors– In the short and medium term: supply

programming ANR and / or members and partners of the workshop

• Perspectives of research methodology• species and metabolic pathways to study or improve• challenges (bio) technology (synthetic biology), or

integrated systems design– In the medium and long term: a sustainable

platform and open discussion and sharing of knowledge

Delivrables

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bioenergies

ComplementarityAnd competition

With other land uses

Material forming

Global energy mix

ComplementarityAnd competition

With fossil C based products

Farming

system

Chemistry

Hemisynthesis

White biotechnol

ogies

Plant natural ressources

Atom economy

and energy efficiency

REACHREACH

2nd generationIntermediate agricultural

products

agricultural and forest

Biomass

Thermo-chemistr

y

formulation

Sun

Soils, including brown fields

Water

Fertilizers

N

chemicals

ComplementarityAnd competition with other uses

of biomass : food and feed

Animal by-products

Dumping in landfill

sites

CO2

Materials

Ecological balance

Atom economy

and energy efficiency

Energy efficiency

1st generationIntermediate agricultural

products

Formulation

Thermo-chemistryBioassimilation,

incineration

Green biotechnologies

Biorefinery

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A timetable: 24 months from 02/02/08A timetable: 24 months from 02/02/08

Working group A : Reverse engineering: From energies and building blocks to structures and plant species

A sequential approach bottom-up (molecules and uses for plants)

Working group B : Exploring the diversity of possible solutions to produce plant biomass

Three exploratory approach taken down in parallel

Working group C :Design, assessment and development prospects of sustainable production systems

A cross-system approach

1st year

2nd year

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• CIRAD – IFP –INRA• 17 partners at the beginning• in fine more than 50 partners and 200 experts, attending

at leat one meeting,• Multidisciplinary• All stakeholders except two NGO

The partnersThe partners

The scalesThe scales• Operational solutions in 2030• All countries, considering that basic needs are the same

everywhere.

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– No corresponding molecular structure between fossil carbon and the plant world

– Some microbial pathways may meet in direct substitution using synthetic biology and neo-enzymes.

– Probing can be very rigorous: H/De; C12/C13.– Labelling is confusing at the present time

Working group A : Reverse engineering - From energies and building blocks to structures and plant species ( work done through 5 specific tasks)

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EMHV

Ethanol

HydrocarburesBtl

Wood, crop residuesWaste

Feeds

Glucose

CelluloseLignocellulose

ETBE

Rapeseed, Palm,Soybean, sunflower

Oil cakes

BeetrootSugarcane & Sorghum Sucrose

By-products, DDGS

Wheat, Cassava, Maize, Yam, Rice

Starch

By-productsDDGS

Fermentation

Thermochemical process

Chemical process

BiorefineryEnergy and co-products

CO2

Energy PlantsAlgae EMHVChemical

Process

1st generation

2nd generation

3rd generation

Oils

Oils

Fossil CH3OH

In project

Fossil Isobuten

transesterification

Gasoline

diesel

diesel

Gasoline

gazeification

White biotechnologies Chemistry

transesterification

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What needs?

• distinguish mass production for industrial purposes• go into productions with the characteristics needed by the industry, easily harvestable and consistent yields• reduce both the intra-specific and intra-genotypic heterogeneity (annual and spatial variability)• develop a multidisciplinary approach around green and white biotechnologies, to optimize production of target molecules

Working group A : Reverse engineering - From energies and building blocks to structures and plant species

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• Task 6 : Optimization of existing crops

• Task 7 : Exploration of the natural diversity of plant species (not used today).

• Task 8 : Exploration of the feasibility of genetic transformation to modify metabolic pathways

2 targets : - functional ability of products to their versatility of applications : direct use in energy, chemical reactivity, functional property (ies).- technological suitability to processing

Working group B : Exploring the diversity of possible solutions to produce plant biomass

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Biochemical components

In common - Integrative biology to the plant cell as a factory- Regulation of metabolism (lower yields when the fine structures are modified)- Cohesion of the supramolecular organisation suitable for processing

differences - Simplification of the molecular components of lignocellulose- Molecular diversity for oils, proteins, starch- Low weight of the species in the lignocellulose issue

New questions Minerals : silica and others

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Generic issues raised in the remediation of soils

Opportunity for plants:- concentration of pollutants (metals) without metabolization : exportation of some fractions (stems and leaves)- concentration of organic pollutants and metabolization (check of absence of toxicity afterwards)- finally grow well on soils polluted without yield decrease (tolerance).

Methodological questions

High throughoutput phenotyping:

- Structural biology – imaging/SM – chemometry - roboticsFrom molecular diversity to high levels of organization

- data base (plants, molecules, GPS data).

- Rem : the scarcity of systematists and generalists creates a bottleneck to access biodiversity

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Exploration of natural diversity of AlgaeMacro

Local production (wild ?)

Few sea farms except in Asia

Production of molecules (hydrocolloïds)

Production off-shore lines(availability surfaces, transport, LCA,health aspects)

Association with multiple productions(fish, shellfish)

Micro

High genetic diversity

Species cultivated in ponds(but seasonality, availability and impactsurfaces)

Bioreactors are easy to control technically(but very vague on costsproduction)Separation technology / extraction(important need for research)

What type of farming ?Small producers or large units able to promote technological innovationsInternational law to adapt to these new ways of farming

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Development of GMO.

Why? : (i) targeting, (ii) develop plants that can grow on hostile soils, including brown ones, (iii) accelerate the domestication of wild species, (iv) integrate target systems and enzymatic reagents in different compartments of the harvested fractions for enzymatic reactions « all-in-the –box » afterwards.

The lacks- information on the cellular and intra-cellular expressions of gene- control of spatio-temporal expression of the transgene- information on gene regulation and stability of transgene expression.- fundamental knowledge about the factors that influence the efficiency of genetic transformation and regeneration of transformants.

- The checking of an acceptable impact of genetic modification on the carbon flux for general plant growth.

- Analysis of impact on the environment and its social acceptability.

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Task 10: Systems design of farming system and biorefinery

Task 11: Life cycle analysis

Task 12: Socio-economic : from production systems to international markets.

Working group C : Design, assessment and development prospects of sustainable production systems

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Dynamic poorly integrated into the global analysis : seasonality, infrastructure depreciation, methods of risk assessment (failure of processes), storage and variability in time

Scale of analysis : (i) field or production zone, (ii) process from production down to transformation and consumer.

Ecotoxicology and biodiversity issues are not well addressed.

Place of by-products.

LCA - Preliminary questions

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- co-products are few things now: what future with the appearance of dedicated plants ?- co-products : which effect on animal production ?

- synergies between agricultural and forestry biomasses

- how to approach the adaptation to climate change ?

Task 12: Socio-economic : from production systems to international markets..

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Objectives

Optimize, validate and develop a process for production of second generation ethanol from lignocellulose, from co-agricultural, forestry or dedicated biomass

3 scales

Lab, Pilot (1T/day), Prototype (5-10T/day)

3 angles

Technical, economical, environmental

Delivrables

- Develop technology and processes sustainable and economically competitive

- Energy balance and GHG

- Flexibility of raw materials used (adaptability)

Prototype in 5 years

Project Futurol

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• WEB site : http://www.inra.fr/arpvega

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FOOD and DIET A G R I C U L T U R E E N V I R O N M E N T 31st Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals, San Francisco, May 3-6, 2009 The french