Abstract
A groundswell of positive drivers for the biobased economy, and the need to remain diligent, clever, and innovative, topped conversation at the recent Alternative Fuels & Chemicals Coalition inaugural Global Biobased Economy Conference & Expo, held November 14-16, 2021 in Washington DC. For some, it was the first in-person meeting since the pandemic began almost two years ago, but the buzz suggests that ground was not lost during the pandemic.
Programming topics included how private and public sectors are working towards mitigating climate change in business; how the development of new biological tools is revolutionizing the ability to program cell factories; and strategies for coordinating leadership, innovation, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, and sustainable aviation fuel producers to address the challenge of air travel carbon emissions.
On-the-ground conversation was very much in line with the individual stories playing out across the newswires, where funding, collaborations, and capital investments point to an industry at an inflection point. One executive told me there is a “historic, watershed shift” underway toward plant-based materials that is on par with the industry's evolution from coal-based chemistry to petrochemistry in the early 20th century. “We need to look at biology more than we ever have in the chemical industry and consider how this transition will be informed by genomics and artificial intelligence,” he added. “It's virtually impossible to reach decarbonization targets for 8 billion humans without these technologies.”
Referring to the spate of brand net-zero ambitions—where biobased solutions will play a key enabling role—another attendee told me on the sidelines, “For corporations, I think the writing is on the wall. Either you are on a clear path to decarbonization or you are on a clear path to disappearance.”
The mood was certainly an optimistic one, but nobody appeared remotely interested in coasting to the finish line or even resting on their laurels momentarily. Conversation quickly turned to strategies for tackling the scientific, market, feedstock and financing challenges ahead. Speakers cautioned attendees about rushing to market without a future-proof business plan, and feedstock availability was a concern highlighted by some. The valley of death—a funding no-man's land that has felled many promising technologies—remains a significant hurdle; as one speaker put it, “VCs and private equities simply don't want to invest in steel.” There was little discussion over whether consumers would pay more for a green product. The aughts hangover was perhaps most evident here, with the old wisdom that you should never expect it but “get it if you can get it,” prevailing. Consumer products goods firms may have no choice but to pay more if they want to meet their own ambitious targets, but no one is building a business plan that banks on it. Not repeating past mistakes was another common theme. We have already had one case of “overpromise and underdeliver” amid the high-profile SPAC deals of 2021.
The importance of performance was also a common topic. Why chase a drop-in and set yourself up for a David vs. Goliath battle with the behemoth fossil fuel and petrochemical industries—and their century of process optimization and capital investments—when you can offer something better, differentiated, and uniquely value-added because of the power of biology? If cells are really going to be the factory of the future, the consensus was clear: build those factories better to enable a better, more sustainable, higher-performing, circular future.
We at Industrial Biotechnology have a mountain of material and insights to sift through from this high-energy, content-rich event—much more than could be digested with just a week between the show and our December deadline. We will have more to share in subsequent issues, but before I close I would like to congratulate Manus Bio, and CEO and Founder Aji Parayil, for winning the 2021 AFCC Global Biobased Economy Performance Award, sponsored by Industrial Biotechnology. Manus Bio's commercial cell factory engineering program combining data-driven design, semi-combinatorial engineering, and quantitative characterization and learning is significantly minimizing the costs and time to market for product development. Visionaries like Dr. Parayil and his team are enabling high-quality, natural ingredients for safer, greener products. I'm sure we will hear much more from Manus Bio and our entire innovation community as we look forward to 2022!