EU-India Strategic Research Agenda on Biomass and Bio-waste

The Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) was elaborated within the SAHYOG project , in close cooperation with representatives from leading research organizations and energy agencies from both India and Europe. Policy makers and industry leaders, such as Dutch Waste Management (DWM), from both continents were also consulted through several stakeholder workshops. In February in New Delhi and November in Brussels DWM presented some pilots and business concepts.

A recommendation survey was set-up and addressed to potential stakeholders. The conclusion from this survey allowed to refine the recommendations of the SRA and to design a roadmap for EU-India collaboration on research and development in the next years.

The SRA follows the whole value chain, from (a) biomass production to (b) conversion into bio-refineries and (c) utilisation in markets. For each part of the value chain the present status and strategic research needs for efficient collaboration between Europe and India in the specific domains are described. This work has resulted in a set of comprehensive research recommendations for the bio-based economy and further cooperation between India and Europe. 

These research recommendations address the areas of biomass and bio-waste resources, their conversion technologies, and bio-refinery systems, as well as markets, products and policies. 

With respect to biomass and bio-waste resources significant differences were identified between India and Europe. While the dominant resource in Europe is biomass from forestry, followed by domestic and industrial organic waste, sewage, and cereal residues, in India the most abundant and available feedstock are domestic and industrial organic and bio-degradable waste fractions, and cereal residues; this is due to India’s important agricultural sector. 

Priority research areas for EU-India cooperation include the development of:
- uniform biomass resource databases, 
- low input and intensified (biomass) production, 
- harvesting and logistics (of residues), 
- waste collection, separation and treatment, as well as 
- sustainable algae production systems.

DWM will participate in the following Residues and wastes programs 2014-2020:

- Survey and collection Survey of residues/wastes

- Set up of a survey to assess the amount and type of waste dumped at landfills.

- Assessment of the composition and the generation of MSW and the development of new routes for the valorisation of the organic fraction.

- Set up of a survey of the generation and available agricultural and processing by-products and wastes available for energy and biochemicals production.

And the program of Improving collection and utilization of wastes

-Research to the better and maximum utilization of biowaste.

Chongqing China - Clean Tech Rotterdam Partner Henk Vooijs

Occasion of the official opening of

The Consulate-General of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Chongqing.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs invited Dutch Waste Management to celebrate the intensified relationship between 

The Netherlands and Chongqing: 

Our common past, present and promising future!

On 21^st November, 2014 the Consulate-General of the Kingdom of The Netherlands in Chongqing was officially opened, just over 75 years after the first Dutch diplomat arrived in Chongqing. The famous Dutch diplomat, sinologist and author Robert van Gulik used to live in Chongqing in those years. It was in Chongqing where he accumulated inspiration for his world renowned Judge Dee novels. Nowadays, Chongqing is the world’s largest municipality with over 30 million inhabitants. Chongqing still enjoys double digit economic growth and its middle class is growing exponentially. Over 200 Fortune 500 companies have established operations in Chongqing. Rotterdam opened its Commercial Representative Office in Chongqing in 2012. In May 2014 the Chongqing Government Logistics Council opened its Representative Office in Rotterdam, promoting the Yuxinou railway between Chongqing and Europe.

This event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of The Netherlands with the support of Rotterdam Partners, RCRO and NCH. 
New Dutch Waste Management partner Henk Vooijs also attended this event as Sectormanager Cleantech of Rotterdam Partners. Henk contributes to international trade & Investments in the Port of Rotterdam.

Poland - Climate Mitigation and Change Management

The Netherlands-Polish Council for Trade Promotion (NPCH) and the Netherlands-Polish Chamber of Commerce (NPCC) organized the 10th Anniversary of the Dutch Polish Business Award on Wednesday, 10 December at the Cobra Museum of Modern Art in Amstelveen.

Key note speaker Mr. Janusz Piechociński, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of the Republic of Poland, addressed the promising forecast of the Polish Economy and the importance of Dutch-Polish trade  and business relations. Mr. Hans de Boer, Chairman of VNO-NCW, reflected on the Dutch Polish trade and investment opportunities.

Dutch Waste Management used this opportunity to introduce Arie van Beek's company Climate Mitigation and Change Management B.V as a new partner in our network. CMx2 (Climate Mitigation and Change Management) aims at mitigating climate change by transforming the energy supply into a sustainable one: through saving energy, increasing energy efficiency and producing renewable energy. Rather than expanding his own company, Arie invests in growing his national and international network. Recently, his focus is on expanding this network and business activities in Poland.

World Soil Day

After two years of intensive work, 2015 has been declared the International Year of Soils by the 68th UN General Assembly (A/RES/68/232).  The IYS aims to be a platform for raising awareness of the importance of soils for food security and essential eco-system functions. 

The objectives of the IYS are:

• to create full awareness of civil society and decision makers about the fundamental roles of soils for human’s life;
• to achieve full recognition of the prominent contributions of soils to food security, climate change adaptation and mitigation, essential ecosystem services, poverty alleviation and sustainable development;
• to promote effective policies and actions for the sustainable management and protection of soil resources;
• to sensitize decision-makers about the need for robust investment in sustainable soil management activities aiming at healthy soils for different land users and population groups;
• to catalyze initiatives in connection with the SDG process and Post-2015 agenda;
• to advocate rapid enhancement of capacities and systems for soil information collection and monitoring at all levels (global, regional and national).

Dutch Waste Management has suggested to intensive separate collection of organic waste to produce more high quality compost. This compost will improve soil! In the Netherlands about 1.000.000 tons compost per year are using successful.

Re-thinking Progress: The Circular Economy

Indian Ministry of New and Renewable Energy

Recognizing that both India and the Netherlands have similar ambitious sustainable energy targets in realizing clean energy options in densely populated areas, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between the Ministry of Economic Affairs, the Netherlands and the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, India in February 2014. The MoU will encourage cooperation between Indian and Dutch governments and governmental organizations, as well as between research institutions and private companies in both countries. The cooperation specifically focuses on wind and solar energy, biomass and smart grids.

Mr Tarun Kapoor, Joint Secretary Ministry of New and Renewable Energy is visiting the Netherlands this week to attend the Indo-Dutch Joint Working Group Meeting on the renewable energy cooperation. On the occasion of this visit, Dutch Waste Management was invited to the Sustainable Energy Meeting hosted by InnovationQuarter (in cooperation with RVO, the Indian Embassy in the Netherlands and the Netherlands Embassy in India).

For this meeting a select group of Dutch companies/organizations in the area of solar, biomass and wind energy, as well as a few financing companies were invited. The Joint Secretary has presented and answered questions on the Indian renewable energy sector. He also shared information about the 1st Renewable Energy Global Investment Promotion Meeting and Expo which is to be held at New Delhi from 15-17, February, 2015.

Dutch Waste Management presented six projects for cooperation, which can be supported by the ministry and EU-Indo funds (Horizon 2020)

• Knowledge exchange on Bio refinery (materials and energy) 
• Five pilots waste collection
• Pelleting (testing and marketing development) agriculture residues  
• Sanitize dumps and develop landfills with biogas production
• Sewage- and water treatment with biogas production
• Communication and education programs based on developing People Public Private Partnerships

Incoming Mission Ghana

Netherlands African Business Council, FME and NWP receive a delegation of 15 Ghanaian companies, professional associations and 5 local government officials accompanied by Mr. Julius Debrah, the new Minister of Local Government and Rural Development from 29 September -3 October.

The purpose of the visit of the Ghanaian delegation is to build and strengthen partnerships and develop proposals for GWW with Dutch Waste Management and other Dutch companies.

The objective of the coperation is to provide innovate solutions in the field of:

• -  Sanitation and hygiene
  
• -  Improved waste management (solid and liquid)
  
• -  Access to and use of safe drinking water
  
• -  Urban water management
  

Round Table Energy 'Vibrant Gujarat'

The actual focus in the Netherlands lies on establishing cooperation with India on the ares of Wind-, Solar-, Bio energy and Smart Grids resulting from the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the India Ministry of New and Renewable Energy and the Dutch Ministry of Economic Affairs.

24-26 September an incoming mission from the Indian State of Gujarat visited the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in The Hague. Mr. Peet de Bruijn of Dutch Waste Management joined the round table meeting on energy with the energy participants to this mission (CEO level) because DWM is involved in the EU-Indo Biobased Project SAHYOG.

Because the participants were very interested in cooperation our questionnaire has been forwarded after the meeting. The focus in the first stage is to collect relevant urban, energy and waste data from the city of Ahmadabat (about 6 million inhabitants). After a quick scan we can work on to develop innovative business cases on implementing Waste Collection, Sanitate landfills and developing Bio refinery.

Power Engineering, energy conservation and environmental control techniques

Our youngest partner is De Blaay - Van den Bogaard Consulting Engineers (De Blaay) and they are a complementary partner of Steinnero Holding. 

This firm is a relatively small, but very flexible organization  operating primarily in the field of mechanical and electrical engineering providing consulting services. Mainly, due to the increasing interest of private Dutch enterprises abroad this firm became actively involved in the fields of power engineering, energy conservation and environmental control techniques.

This work basically involves the following sectors of engineering:

• -  Generation, transmission and distribution of electrical energy
• -  Energy assessment studies
• -  Combined heat and power supply
• -  Energy saving and environmental control
• -  Water supply and Sewerage Systems
• -  Biomass and gasification.

In the Netherlands this firm has a staff of about 25 consulting engineers. Furthermore, the firm has contract agreements with a number of specialized senior advisors, covering almost all specific aspects of energy and environment. This gives the company the capability to present the highest possible specialist input, where and whenever the project so requires.

By pursuing this policy a maximum of "historical" know-how and experience is assured.

In this way De Blaay - Van den Bogaard Consulting Engineers can provide just the right man or team at the right time.

They are of the opinion that it is important to strengthen relations between companies in the various countries and subcontinents. The international financing organisations, such as the World Bank, EC, Asian Development Bank etc., in general pursue the policy to award contracts to companies that perform services in a joint venture with local enterprises. The Ministry of developmental cooperation in the Netherlands usually follows the same procedure. To assure efficient short listing for a project or study the company has been registered with the various financing organizations.

De Blaay - Van den Bogaard Raadgevende Ingenieurs B.V. is an independently operating consulting engineers company, and does not combine the functions of consultants with those of contractors/equipment suppliers, and is not associated with, affiliated to, or owned by a contractor.

USA Biogas Opportunities

In August 2014, the USDA has published its “Biogas Opportunities Roadmap”. This report estimates there are currently approximately 2,000 sites in the U.S. producing biogas. With proper support, more than 11,000 additional biogas systems could be deployed in the U.S. The anticipated support consists of the following specific actions:

1) USDA, EPA and DOE will ensure that existing criteria for technical and financial assistance considers the benefits of biogas systems. This includes leveraging more than $10 million in research funding to enhance the economic viability and benefits of biogas systems.

2) Second, the USDA will ensure products of biogas systems are eligible for and promoted by applicable government procurement programs.

3) USDA, DOE and EPA will aim to strengthen markets for biogas systems and products.

4) Finally the USDA, in cooperation with DOE, EPA and dairy and biogas industries, will publish a progress report in August 2015 that identifies and prioritizes policies and technology opportunities to expand the biogas industry and reduce GHG emissions.

Master classes Sustainable energy

Together with three Ukrainian universities and five Dutch based companies and supported by the Cross-programme, Saxion University (Prof. dr.  Johan Wempe) organized three series of master classes to develop ideas for projects for sustainable energy for Ukraine projects in Ukraine.

Topics and organisation of the master classes
The students formed teams around five projects: waste to energy, biogas, energy farm, building related energy supply and energy efficiency opportunities for the woodworking enterprise. Besides the technical aspects, the alternative organizational forms, new forms of communication, and radically new business models are crucial for these sustainable initiatives.

The master-class were carried out in three locations: Kyiv, Lutsk and Odessa. It consisted of two session days (one in April and one in June). In between these two meetings the teams will work on their research. The students communicated via Skype with the Dutch companies and the coordinators in order to get feedback, discuss research progress and problematic points.
The master classs ended with a conference where the results of research were presented and open for discussion. Interested businesses, institutions and governmental officials ere invited to participate.

Universities
The involved professors and universities are:
•  The professors Taras Komenda and Andriy Korovytskyy from the Lutsk National Technical University.
•  Prof. Galyna Strelkova from the Institute for Energy Saving and Energy Management of the National Technical University of Ukraine “Kiev Polytechnic Institute”.
•  The professors Evgeny Fomichev and Lidiya Voloshchuk from the Odessa National Polytechnical University.

Involved Dutch companies and organizations / NUSEP members
The Dutch based companies are:
• BGP: Andrey Yefimov;
• De Bruijn Advice & Practice: Peet de Bruijn;
• KSB: SvitlanaTsvetkova, Kay Rostalski and Jacques Hoos;
• AgroCircle: Richard Kamsteeg;
• Triodos Facet BV: Arjan Visser.

Dutch Waste Management will support master classes in new regions. Education and communication are crucial in developing Waste to Energy - change management. This week Saxion and Dutch Waste Management discussed this program with NBSO - India - Ahmedabad representative Mr. Jolly Joseph.

Indo-Dutch working group Urban Development

A delegation of the Ministry of Urban Development visited the IABR-exhibition of Urban Metabolism in Rotterdam. Because waste is one of critical flows in urban planning I was invited to present Dutch Waste Management and project proposals.

The IABR has published a list of 96 projects that together will make up the main exhibition, URBAN BY NATURE–.
The list includes projects by renowned designers and design offices such as Piet Oudolf, OMA, BIG, MVRDV, West 8, ZUS, JCFO, .FABRIC, LOLA, Floris Alkemade, H+N+S, Wim Quist and Benthem Crouwel; by organizations such as the World Wild Fund for Nature Netherlands and the PBL Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency; companies such as Shell and the Port of Rotterdam Authority; and universities such as Delft University of Technology, MIT, Harvard, and ETH Zurich. On show in the Kunsthal and in the Natural History Museum Rotterdam, curated by Dirk Sijmons, URBAN BY NATURE– runs till 24th of August.

In the Urban Metabolism the urban landscape is considered as a complex, vast and interactive system that continuously works to meet the needs of its inhabitants.

There are recognized nine critical flows: air, water, biota, food, energy, humans, cargo, sand, sediment and construction materials and waste.
Waste can be defined in different strategies:
- Prevention / Cradle to Cradle
- Circular Economy
- Biobased Economy
- Waste to Energy

After an interactive presentation of Dutch Waste Management some topics were pointed by the Indian delegation, such as costs, guide lines construction and demolition waste and gas-emissions, ways to upgrade the caloric value and the advantages of composting and anaerobic digestion. Further discussion will take place at the Indian ministry and in the joint working group.

40 Pioneering Biomass projects

The Netherlands Programme Sustainable Biomass by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO.nl) is winding down, having supported around 40 pioneering projects in biomass (2008-2013) worldwide.
An in-depth report has now been published of aggregate findings, meta-lessons learned and recommendations for policy and private sector related to biomass, biofuels and the biobased-economy.
Dutch Waste Management has more than twenty years experience in Designing, Building and Operate these kind of projects.

The general outlook of the report is that demand for biomass resources is expected to increase, for both local markets and export markets; for existing uses and for new markets in the biobased economy. The future possibilities for biomass importing countries to use biomass depend not only on available sustainable production potentials, but also on demand from other countries.

More biomass resources needs to be unlocked to increase the availability of affordable biomass in the future. The NPSB projects demonstrate the need for an integrated approach towards sustainability (including economic sustainability). The debate on sustainability is a dynamic one, with new impacts (ILUC, carbon debt, cascading) emerging in recent years and still under debate. Any agreed sustainability framework will be subject to change, which stresses the importance of multi-stakeholder consultation processes.

Unlocking sustainable and affordable biomass requires a transition towards using resources more efficiently and towards creating alternative resources. The NPSB projects have shown that alternative biomass resources may successfully be unlocked, with multiple positive impacts on sustainability. This is especially true for integrated, sustainable production models with multiple market outlets, and for the valorisation of residues and waste streams. These 'best practice' production systems serve the food-fuel-feed sector well, and as such they contribute to regional development and sustainable land use. Benefits can be further optimized in the supply chain, through efficient use of technologies.

Holland Turkey Business Forum 2014: Innovation

Theme of this year’s Business Forum was “Innovation”, a perfect match with the Amsterdam ArenA because of their prominent role in the development and implementation of new technologies and services in its stadium in Amsterdam and in its projects all over the world. 
After Chairman Dutch Trade Board Working Group Turkey, Head of Marketing for Business Clients ING Netherlands, mr. Ben van de Vrie opened the program two ambassadors promoted business between the both countries:

• H.E. Ron Keller, Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Turkey
• H.E. Sadik Arslan, Ambassador of the Republic of Turkey to the Kingdom of the Netherlands

Peet de Bruijn joined the parallel session Agri & Food, were also was pointed the strong relation with renewable energy such as geothermic- en bio-energy and circular economy (fertilizers).

Indian Researchers

Eight researchers from Indian Universities and Institutes visited Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. This program is part of the European-Indian SAHYOG cooperation. Monday 7th April they were guest at the Netherlands Enterprise Agency were Dutch Waste Management presented the Dutch Waste Policy. In the afternoon we also visited the Attero-VAR location in Wilp. After a company presentation we've made a location trip with several innovative waste to energy processes, such as an anaerobic digester.

Netherlands-China Trade and Economic Forum

Dutch Waste Management was invited on Sunday 23^rd March 2014 at the Netherlands-China Trade and Economic Forum in Noordwijk (the Netherlands), where China President Xi Jinping was present with a large delegation, along with King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands and a large delegation of business from both the Netherlands and China (250 companies and institutions).President Xi said, “just as China needs to learn more about the world, the world needs to learn more about China”
He said China welcomes Dutch enterprises to engage in China’s reform and development and jointly share opportunities. 
He also encouraged more established Chinese enterprises to invest in the Netherlands.

Xi Jinping said he hopes the two sides can settle trade disputes properly, and promote healthy development of China-EU trade. He also noted the Netherlands has been China’s second largest trading partner in the EU for 11 consecutive years.

King Willem-Alexander echoed Xi Jinping’s words, and said that his country is willing to step up mutually beneficial cooperation and further promote trade.

During the opening ceremony, witnessed by the leaders of China and Netherlands, representatives of enterprises from the two countries signed 8 cooperative agreements involving finance, science and technology, and agricultural cooperation, which amounted to about USD 2 billion. 

After the opening ceremony, the Forum held a plenary session, which was co-held by Sun Chenghai, the Director-general of the Foreign Trade Development Bureau of China, and the Director-general of the Netherlands Bureau of Enterprises. 5 entrepreneurs from Bank of China, Yili Group, Netherlands Association of Employers, DSM and Royal Dutch Shell made speeches at the session on behalf of other entrepreneurs, talking about China-Netherland Cooperation.

During the network lunch some new partnerships on waste to energy were made between Dutch Waste Management and Chinese companies and institutions.

Final SAHYOG Conference and Brokerage Event on Bio-economy

The final SAHYOG Conference and Brokerage Event on Bio-economy is organized in New Delhi, India, on 3-4 February 2014. The conference is organized by SAHYOG in cooperation with TERI and the European Commission.

Dutch Waste Management member Peet de Bruijn presented his vision on the Biobased Economy integrated in Waste Management. His vision was also discussed with Dr Rajendra K Pachauri,  who has been serving as the chairperson of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) since 2002, which was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007 during his tenure.

It takes place on the occasion of the 14th Delhi Sustainable Development Summit (DSDS) on 6-8 February 2014. The DSDS, convened annually by the Energy and Resources Institute (TERI), is an international gathering that facilitates a vital exchange of the ideas, knowledge, lessons and awareness needed for the sustainable development of India and the world.

Introduction platform

Dutch Waste Management is a cutting-edge platform of specialists and companies for Waste Water and Energy innovations based on developed icon projects in the Netherlands in the last decades.
Since the start of this platform,several innovative projects have been developed, such as:

- Smart Energy Grid based on biomass
- Compliance Model Waste Water and Energy regions
- Energy Potential Mapping
- Waste separation concepts
- Anaerobic Digestion
- Feasibility studies EU/Horizon2020 - Worldbank/IFC Ukraine