Seeing Innovation and the Bio-Economy Through the Trees
By Scott Jackson, CEO of the Centre for Research & Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE)
This article was written as part of the BioCAN initiative.
The bio-economy is deeply interlinked with the success of our country’s economic and social well-being. The utilization of our sustainable natural resources supports hundreds of communities and employs hundreds of thousands of people across Ontario and Canada every year. Our natural resources also provide us with a myriad of essential products and materials we rely on every day.
In the context of our forests, this includes the use of traditional products such as lumber to build homes, or pulp to manufacture household staples such as paper towel and toilet paper. Through the application of novel technologies and innovation, however, our forests can also provide new, or first-in-kind products that not only sustain our standard of living but increase the resilience and competitiveness of a multitude of manufacturing sectors–all the while helping us achieve our decarbonization goals and other societal objectives.
Did you know that wood-based chemicals and materials can be used to produce car parts and help decarbonize the steel sector? Think about how we could use this to onshore additional manufacturing and production capacity to increase the resiliency of our automotive sector. Did you know that lignin, a natural component of wood, can replace traditional fossil-based bitumen as a binder in asphalt? The Netherlands and Sweden are already doing this with great success. The residuals from a sawmill can also be turned into sustainable home insulation or even liquid biofuels. Our neighbours to the south are doing it and--given our national focus on affordable and sustainable housing--we should look at doing it here as well.
It is important to challenge our pre-conceived notions of what constitutes a forest product (or any natural resource related product) and recognize the true reach of our resource sectors. Our forest bio-economy has the potential to be an integral part of our automotive, housing and construction, energy, and even chemical sector here in Ontario and across Canada.
Other sectors of the bio-economy are in the same boat, and collectively, we all have a role to play. Through innovation, biomass feedstock from all our resource sectors can feed into a nearly endless array of sustainable products and end-uses.
Embracing the bio-economy means understanding the true value of our natural resource sectors and recognizing their role in helping us realize our full economic potential, as well as their contributions to the health and well-being of our society. In an increasingly uncertain and unpredictable world, the bio-economy can be leveraged to generate or
expand domestic markets through the manufacturing of products that we covet--and have historically relied on from other jurisdictions--as well as feed into new foreign markets as countries around the world look to lower the carbon footprints of products they manufacture and purchase.
With ongoing support and effort, we can unlock the full potential of our renewable natural resource sectors, including forestry, while also helping further economic success, job growth, investment, productivity, and sustainability. We are in an enviable position with our resource endowment, and it is incumbent upon us to tell the story of the opportunities that it represents so we can shape a sustainable and economically prosperous future.
The Centre for Research and Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE) is proud to do our part. CRIBE is Ontario’s leading forest-based innovation accelerator. We support and develop a sustainable, profitable provincial forest bioeconomy by bringing together researchers, the forest sector, and end users to create and commercialize innovative forest-based, low-carbon solutions.
About the Centre for Research & Innovation in the Bio-Economy (CRIBE)
CRIBE supports and develops a sustainable, profitable provincial forest bio-economy. We bring together researchers, the forest sector, and end users to create and commercialize innovative forest-based, low-carbon solutions. Since 2009, CRIBE has deployed more than $30 million in innovation funding, built the thriving Nextfor collaboration network of bio-economy stakeholders, and developed the ForestEDGE: the first-of-its-kind Forest Economic Development Geospatial Engine. We are an independent, not-for-profit corporation.
About BioCAN
The Bioeconomy Communications Awareness Network (BioCAN) is a collaborative effort led by Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC) and key industry partners to advance the Canadian bioeconomy. Through strategic messaging, coordinated outreach, and targeted engagement, BioCAN aims to enhance Canada’s global competitiveness, drive investment in sustainable technologies, and position Canada as a leader in bio-based innovation – all while simultaneously supporting broader societal objectives. This initiative is supported by multiple organizations working collectively to promote the bioeconomy’s role in fostering economic resilience, energy security, and job creation.
