Asian Scientist (Oct. 17, 2013) – Singapore’s Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences (ICES) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology (KITECH) to promote joint research and collaboration in the field of sustainable chemicals.
The fast-growing bio-renewable chemicals industry offers a valuable economic opportunity for Singapore and Korea to renew their chemical industries and maintain their advantage as leading chemical hubs, even as the petrochemical industry seeks to re-invent itself in the light of a carbon-constrained future.
According to the 2010 Biorenewable Chemicals World Market Report, the global chemical industry is projected to grow three to six percent per year up to 2025, with bio-based chemicals market share rising from 2% from 2005 to 22% by 2025.
The collaboration, which will focus on biomass-to-chemicals research, will allow researchers from both countries to build on their collective expertise in the chemical and bio-catalysis areas.
“We are excited about the collaboration as we see much synergy among the research institutes. It is an immense opportunity to further our research and deepen our capabilities in biomass research with skilled scientists and technical expertise,” said Dr Keith Carpenter, Executive Director, ICES.
“This partnership will enable us to develop new processes with the right skills to grow this industry with economic and societal outcomes for Korea and Singapore.”
Research collaboration areas will include joint R&D on bio-based platform chemicals, bio-processing, pre-treatment of biomass and other topics related to biomass-to-chemicals conversion.
It is hoped that the collaboration will lead to the development of green and novel bio-based chemicals and polymers.
——
Source: A*STAR.
Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff.
