Dr. Xiaotao Bi awarded NSERC Strategic Partnership Grant

Congratulations to our Director Dr. Xiaotao Bi for being awarded the Strategic Partnership Grant for Projects by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC). These grants support early-stage collaborative research projects in four target areas: advanced manufacturing, environment and agriculture, information and communications technologies, and natural resources and energy. Each collaboration must be between an academic researcher and a supporting organization that will be involved in all stages of the project.

Dr. Bi proposes to develop a new catalytic pyrolysis reactor system to convert biomass into high-quality bio-oil (upgradable to diesel and jet fuels) and biochar (usable as a high-value carbon-based fertilizer and reduction agent for iron ore processing). In addition to stimulating the Canadian bioeconomy, this technology will help the country meet its greenhouse emissions reduction target. The collaborators are Professor Weihsin Chen at National Cheng Kung University, EnWave Corp and G4 Insights Inc in Canada, and China Steel Corp in Taiwan.

By encouraging universities, industry, and governmental organizations to work together in tackling Canada’s greatest challenges, NSERC aims to not only foster innovations that will improve Canada’s economy, society, and environment, but also offer valuable training opportunities for the next generation of scientists and engineers.

News on UBC website: https://apsc.ubc.ca/news/2017/03/nserc-awards-strategic-partnership-grants-five-ubc-engineering-profs

C-CJCBERI successfully organized “Collaboration Strategies Workshop on Bioenergy and Bioeconomy”

C-CJCBERI has organized a "Collaboration Strategies Workshop on Bioenergy and Bioeconomy" successfully in collaboration with Nexterra and FP Innovations on Feb 23rd. About 70 people from universities, institutions, public sectors, and industry in Canada and China attended the workshop. Dr. Xiaotao Tony Bi opened the workshop on behalf of the organizing committee, followed by welcome speeches by Dr. Marc Parlange, Dean of APSC and Mr. Weiwei Kong, Deputy Consul General of China. Other speakers include representatives from Global Affairs Canada, China Ministry of Science and Technology, Natural Resources Canada, International Energy Agency, Asia Pacific Foundation of Canada, NSERC, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines, UBC VP Research Office, C-CJCBERI, and the India-Canada Centre for Innovative Multidisciplinary Partnerships to Accelerate Community Transformation and Sustainability (IC-IMPACTS).

The goal of the workshop is to strengthen and expend the network on bioenergy and bioeconomy within Canada as well as between Canada and China. After the mutual visits of Canadian PM Justin Trudeau and Chinese PM Li Keqiang in 2016, clean energy technology became one of the major areas that the two countries aim to develop collaboratively. Both countries have rich bio-resources and recognize the values of bioenergy and bioeconomy for a cleaner and sustainable environment. We believe that it is the right time now for researchers in both countries to exchange ideas, form partnerships so that a solid collaborative work plan can be developed.

The presentations in the morning sessions covered various topics, including clean energy status in Canada, China, and BC; NCE and NSERC network programs overview; current collaborations between Canada and China as well as between Canada and India; and Asia-Pacific business and trade. In the afternoon, the attendees had focused on discussions on the opportunities and challenges of bioenergy R&D, market and policy, and supply and commercialization. The workshop was concluded with a summary of the discussions and a preliminary plan for the next steps.

The workshop was sponsored by NSERC and UBC VP Research, and Chemical and Biological Engineering Department provided logistics support. The Organizing Committee members are Dr. Xiaotao Tony Bi, Director, C-CJCBERI; Dan Green, Executive Director, Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines; Dr. Xuantian Li, Principal Engineer and Group Leader, NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.; Cliff Mui, VP Product Development, Nexterra Systems Corp.; Dr. Jack Saddler, Task Leader, IEA Bioenergy Task 39; Dr. Douglas Singbeil, Research Manager, Process Engineering, FPInnovations; Dr. Jamie Stephen, Managing Director, TorchLight Bioresources.

Here is the program of the workshop. To learn more about the workshop please contact info@ccjcberi.center.

Shaanxi Science and Technology Department visited C-CJCBERI

On February 26th, a delegation led by Mr. Huaibin Zhao, Deputy Director-General of Shaanxi Science and Technology Department, visited C-CJCBERI. Dr. Xiaotao Bi introduced UBC and C-CJCBERI and presented the recent work on clean energy. He also led a guided tour to the labs in the UBC Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and UBC Clean Energy Centre (CERC). The delegation also introduced the situations and new policies of energy field in Shaanxi Province, China. Together they discussed on the common areas, experiences, and opportunities for China and Canada as well as Shaanxi Province and BC Province in clean energy field. 

The other delegates are: Mr. Chongjun Bai, Director, Division of Science and Technology Industry Development, Shaanxi Science and Technology Department; Dr. Lifa Zhou, President, Shaanxi Provincial Institute of Energy Resources & Chemical Engineering; Dr. Lin Li, Dean, Xi'an Shiyou University, Graduate School.

Dr. Steven Rogak won BCIC Ignite Award

Congratulations to our member Dr. Steven Rogak for winning the BCIC Ignite Award! He worked with Hydra Energy to develop the first dual-fuel hydrogen/diesel heavy-duty class 8 trucks in North America. This is a very competitive award and the team was awarded $300,000.

BCIC Ignite provides funding to accelerate commercialization of new technologies and innovations in the natural resources and applied sciences in British Columbia. The program provides awards of up to $300,000 to consortia that are conducting research projects that address a significant demonstrated problem faced by industry and will commercialize a proposed innovation within a 3-year timeframe.

Check BCIC website for more details.

Prof. Zhenyu Liu and Prof. Jianli Yang from BUCT visited C-CJCBERI

On Feb 6th, Professor Zhenyu Liu and Professor Jianli Yang from College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology visited C-CJCBERI. Dr. Xiaotao Bi introduced the research at UBC and guided a lab tour at the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, UBC Pulp and Paper Centre, and UBC Clean Energy Centre. 

C-CJCBERI will host Collaboration Strategies Workshop on Bioenergy and Bioeconomy

C-CJCBERI will host "Collaboration Strategies Workshop on Bioenergy and Bioeconomy" on Feburay 23rd 2017 at UBC. This workshop is to gather researchers, and industrial practitioners from clean energy especially bioenergy sector, as well as governments and service providers to share experiences, insights, and ideas on collaborations nationally and internationally. The expected outcome of the workshop is to form new connections and partnerships for a joint proposal on establishing a broad and strong network on clean energy and bioenergy research, development and commercialization in Canada and China. 

The workshop is sponsored by NSERC and UBC. It is co-organized by C-CJCBERI, Nexterra Systems Corp., and FPInnovations. Organizing committee includes: Dr. Xiaotao Bi, Director, C-CJCBERI; Dan Green, Executive Director, Innovative Clean Energy (ICE) Fund, BC Ministry of Energy and Mines; Dr. Xuantian Li, Principal Engineer and Group Leader, NORAM Engineering and Constructors Ltd.; Cliff Mui, VP Product Development, Nexterra Systems Corp.; Dr. Jack Saddler, Task Leader, IEA Bioenergy Task 39; Dr. Douglas Singbeil, Research Manager, Process Engineering, FPInnovations; Dr. Jamie Stephen, Managing Director, TorchLight Bioresources. There will be over 70 participants from universities and insitutions across Canada, local industries, governments and public sectors, and 3 international attendees from China. The program and speakers' intro will be released shortly.

Dr. Naoko Ellis visited Chinese partners

Dr. Naoko Ellis visited three C-CJCBERI partners in December 2016. She met with Dr. Jianjun Dai at Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Dr. Changzhu Li and Dr. Hui Li at Hunan Academy of Sciences, and Dr. Fang He at Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences. She gave several presentations and talks, learnt about the research projects in those institutions, and explored collaboration opportunities. Potential collaboration areas include but not limited to biomass pre-treatment, biodiesel production, phytoremediation, biochar, and chemical looping combustion. C-CJCBERI will continue to support new initiatives and joint projects in the coming year.

Tsinghua University orgarnized the 10th World Bioenergy Symposium

Our partner Tsinghua University organized the 10th World Bioenergy Symposium (WBS 2016) on Dec 9th-11th in Dongguan, China. Dr. Dehua Liu is the chair of the symposium and Dr. Xuebing Zhao is the Secretary General, both are C-CJCBERI members. Co-organizers of this symposium include Instituto Alberto Luiz Coimbra de Pós-Graduação e Pesquisa de Engenharia and City of Dongguan. And it is co-hosted by Dongguan Science and Technology Bureau, Tsinghua Innovation Center in Dongguan, China Brazil Center for Climate Change and Energy Technology Innovation and China-Latin America Joint Laboratory for Clean Energy and Climate Change.

WBS 2016 is one of the main technical and scientific international events focused on bioenergy and biotechnology, exploring aspects related to process technologies, raw materials, life cycle, clean vehicles, in addition to issues inherent to logistics and operation of these structures. Nine WBS have been held, two in Brazil and others in China, which were all very successful. This year, there were about 200 participants worldwide from companies, academy, bank, government, etc.

Dr. Xuebing Zhao chaired the session of "Biological and chemical conversion of lignocellulose to liquid biofuels". Dr. Xiaotao Bi was invited as a plenary speaker and he gave a speech on "Integration and Integrated Assessments of Regional Bioenergy Systems".  

Symposium website: http://wbs2016.csp.escience.cn

Dr. Changzhu Li awarded "National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker"

The 10th Congress of Hunan Association for Science and Technology was held on December 6th. Our member Dr. Changzhu Li was awarded the title of "National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker" of 2016. The "National Outstanding Scientific and Technological Worker" award is issued by China Association for Science and Technology. It is to recognize outstanding personnels on research, developing, promoting, and commercializing science and technologies. This award is presented every two years. Total number of awardees is less than 500 each time and there are 494 awardees this year.

C-CJCBERI received Chinese Academy of Sciences Delegation

C-CJCBERI received the visiting of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) delegation on Dec 2nd, 2016. The delegation is led by Mr. Weiping Liu, Party Vice Secretary and Vice President of CAS. President Liu introduced the up-to-date policy and progress of CAS's oversea talent recruiting and personel training, and emphasized CAS's important role during the 13th Five-Year Plan years. CAS is going to have more openings for oversea and returning scholars and experts and further collaborate with international organizations and individuals on research and training.

Dr. Xiaotao Bi gave a presentation on the clean energy and bioenergy research of BC province, UBC, and C-CJCBERI. He also had discussions with the delegation on the joint programs of talent recruiting and training, and provided feedback and suggestions on these programs.

Other delegation members include staff members from International Collaboration Department and Personnel Department of CAS. Consul for Science and Technology, Ms. Haiying Yu from Chinese Consulate General in Vancouver also joint the visiting. After the meetings, President Liu presented the certificate to Dr. Bi for winning the title of 2016 "CAS Oversea Expert Assessor". Then Dr. Bi guided the delegation for a lab tour in UBC Chemical and Biological Engineering Department and the UBC Clean Energy Research Centre.

C-CJCBERI Co-organized the 6th Asia-Pacific Forum on Renewable Energy

The 6th Asia-Pacific Forum on Renewable Energy (AFORE 2016), also the 2016 Conference on Engineering Thermodynamics and Energy Utilization of Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics was successfully completed on Nov 9th to 12th in Guangzhou, China. This was the first AFORE held in China. It was hosted by Chinese Society of Engineering Thermophysics (CSET), National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and Korean Society for New and Renewable Energy (KSNRE). Guangzhou Institute of Energy Conversion, Chinese Academy of Sciences (GIEC) is an organizer and C-CJCBERI is a co-organizer. Dr. Xiaotao Bi was invited to attend the forum and give a keynote speech on “Heat Transfer in Pulsed Fluidized Bed of Biomass”. Our Centre’s member Dr. Longlong Ma served as the Forum’s Organizing Committee Chair. He gave a keynote speech on “Biomass Catalytic Liquefaction for Aviation Fuels” and introduced the recent research and technology in GIEC on producing aviation fuels from biomass.

Nowadays, the world is challenged by the high consumption of fossil fuels. Renewable fuels are an undeniable alternative. Asia-Pacific area has 60% of the world’s population and consumes more than 40% of the global energy demand. It has been the largest and fastest growing market of clean energy and renewable energy. This forum had youth forum, keynote speeches, and seminars. Near 600 attendees from China, South Korea, Japan, Canada, and France discussed around the theme of “Development, Challenges, and Outlook of Clean Energy and Renewable Energy.” Specific areas covered included Engineering Thermophysics, Energy Utilization, Basic Mechanics, Thermodynamic System Circulation, Heat Pump and Refrigeration, Thermophysical Properties of Materials, Renewable Energy, Decarbonization, and Energy Storage, etc.

Opening ceremony guests include Dr. Hongguang Jin, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Board Chairman of CSET; Dr. Jianzhong Xu, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Honorary Board Chairman of CSET; Dr. Jinsoo Song, former Chairman of KSNRE; and Dr. Li Zhang, Vice President of Guangdong University of Technology. Other keynote speeches include “Asian Collaboration History on Renewable Energy” by Dr. Jinsoo Song which reviewed the collaborative work among the Asian countries on renewable energy’s research and development. Also “Research of Key Issues on High-efficient Photothermal Conversion, Heat Conduction, Thermal Storage, and Integrated Solar Energy System” by Professor Yaling He, Fellow of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Xi'an Jiaotong University.

Website of AFOER 2016: http://ciccst.org.cn/AFORE2016/

Reference: http://news.sciencenet.cn/htmlnews/2016/11/360745.shtm

Dr. Hui Li from Hunan Academy of Forestry Visits UBC

Dr. Hui Li, our member from Hunan Academy of Forestry, is visiting UBC from October to November 2016. Dr. Li is an Associate Professor and the Associate Director of the Institute of Biological and Environmental Engineering at Hunan Academy of Forestry (HAF) in China. He visited Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering of UBC from 2009 to 2011. His research is on biomass pelletization, torrefaction, removal of heavy metal from soil, and liquefaction. This time he visits Dr. Bi’s and Dr. Jim Lim’s projects of “Novel reactor for biomass torrefaction” and “Biomass torrefaction in a dual-column slot-rectangular spouted bed”. He will discuss upcoming and potential collaborations between UBC and HAF for 2017.