Biotech in Latin America
"It is only very recently that issues of environmental protection have become a concern and a matter for action. Industry developed first in the city of Buenos Aires and its immediate surroundings, which today comprise approximately 50% of the nation's 33 million population, and came with no concern for the protection of the environment: one third of the industries lack sewers and running water, they discharge their wastes into inadequate sites, mainly waterways;
While there is legislation requiring the delivery of pathological wastes to processing plants, there are few facilities to carry out the disposal."
(that quote is by Dr. Javier Verastegui executive director of CamBioTec (more on him and that shortly)
Environmental problems are everywhere-where are they not? And with them the problems associated with so much other economic activity: Verastegui again: "Biotechnology has an enormous potential in Latin America--on condition that some obstacles to development can be overcome. Among these the most important are lack of explicit promotion policies, scarcity of risk capital to finance start-up companies, lack of
qualified personnel, and so on."
But some influential Latin Americans have ambitious plans-over the next decade, Brazil, for example plans to become much 'greener". Watch out for Russia's accession to Kyoto within the next few weeks, and Lula's administration will make some very important announcements.
a d v e r t i s e m e n t
Biotech 'clusters' have helped raise the profile of the biotech industry in Latin America, above all in Brazil and Cuba. More and more companies are using modern biotech processes to deal with waste-water, particularly in Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. Countries with the greatest university capacity for research and development are showing most progress in the application of environmental biotechnology. Latin American firms seeking to market their biotechnology outside of the area won't find matters easy-among the patents are innovations from Chilean mining companies-- Quebec Investment Corporation, for instance, is looking for sound investments from Latin America to Quebec.
Canadian Cooperation
And there is, clearly, a huge need for international cooperation. Canada is helping show the way. It's been doing so since 1995, and before. One of its main protagonists is the afore-mentioned Dr. Javier Verastegui. He's executive director of CamBioTec, the Canada-Latin America Initiative on Biotechnology for Sustainable Development.
This body is "an international collaboration to foster commercialization of modern biotechnologies in Latin America. Capacity building for this purpose is an important aspect of the programme and it goes beyond the export of specific technologies from Canada to Latin America." (Verástegui, J. (1999), "Transferring Expertise and Building Capacities in Agri-biotechnology: The experience of CamBioTec." Biotechnology and Development Monitor, No. 39, p. 2-7.)
CamBioTec. Versategui told Point of Entry, was "approved as an IDRC Project in March 1995, originally funded for 3 years (mid 1995 to mid 1998). The second phase recommended CamBioTec to become a self-financed network by the end of 2000."
Since 2001, CamBioTec has helped start several projects, such as biosafety in Chile, Peru and Colombia, with aid from the OAS. It's also published, with IDRC, such works as: "Biotecnologia en America Latina: Panorama al año 2002, and Estudio Bioindustrias. Other proposals are now under development and negotiation with international and national agencies. (See also, for example, Verástegui, J. (1999), "Transferring Expertise and Building Capacities in Agri-biotechnology: The experience of CamBioTec." Biotechnology and Development Monitor, No. 39, p. 2-7.
Biotechnology in Canada
There's been a keen awareness of the need to speed biotech's development. Over and above business associations, networks have arisen, such as OCETA in Ontario, CETAC-West, and, in Quebec and the Maritimes, Enviro-AccessProvinces. These environmental technology adcancement centres are not -for-profit organizations and act like consultants to help companies to start, find finance, do business plans, study markets, and do international business development, all around the world. Environment Canada after consulting a variety of stakeholders is setting out to develop an overall appropriate strategy: (see Appendix 1)
Looking just at water and wastewater treatment, Canada's helping show the way towards greater international cooperation. (Water is basic to life and economic health. Yet
16% of the world's population lacks clean water. Without more investment in this sector, this deficiency is likely to rise to 40%, affecting 2.5 billion people by 2025.)
Canadian companies have innovative technologies to treat contaminants in water. Canada's innovative solutions for water and wastewater treatment meet or surpass existing standards and regulations. The Canadian water and wastewater technology industry encompasses a wide number of technologies and products (see Appendix 2).
Canada's expertise in biotech goes right across the country, but also manifests some of the problems of development in the nascent biotechnology industry: a 51-page ACOA (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) study (last modified in Feb 2002), on Opportunities for Biotechnology-Based Business in Atlantic Canada shows a preponderance of small companies, many of which are very largely dependent on university research.
Meanwhile on the prairies, in Saskatchewan, companies such as Ag-West Biotech are working with biotechnology to turn waste into renewable energy (Burning non-renewable fossil fuels is a major source of air pollution). Biotechnology is providing some solutions to this environmental problem. Ethanol, a clean-burning fuel which comes from renewable sources, is a product of biotechnology. Conventional ethanol production involves fermenting grain like wheat and corn. Research is now being conducted to produce ethanol from products that are now considered waste, like the sludge from pulp and paper production, yard waste like leaves and other solid waste dumped in municipal landfills. Other materials, or feed stocks, which can be used to produce ethanol include waste paper, grass, straw, leaves and other solid landfill wastes that contain cellulose, or plant fibres.
On Canada's Pacific Coast, the University of British Columbia has been instrumental in the creation of a majority of BC's biotechnology companies, such as QLT, Angiotech, Inex Pharmaceuticals and Xenon Genetics. (University collaboration in industrial liaison is very important: UBC's University Industrial liaison Office is at www.uilo.ubc.ca and the international association for technology transfer via universities, AUTM, also has a web-site.
Newer, more technologically-oriented universities, such as Waterloo and Sherbrooke play a significant role in start-ups in a range of areas in their region. In the Eastern Townships the local paper, La Tribune of Sherbrooke publishes 700,000 copies of a 48-page occasional colour supplement, Innovation. Its most recent issue highlights Prospecteurs de Dechets, looking at a number of companies such as Bio-Terre Systems, Enerkem, and Biocean, which are applying biotech solutions to waste treatment.
In Montreal, , Reseau Environnement organised this year, in March 2003, its 5th Pan American Environmental Technology Trade Show and Conference (And its monthly magazine Vecteur Environnement has a special issue on Waste in Sept). Also in Montreal, the Biobus project, in March 2003, involved Rothsay/Laurenco, a Maple Leaf Foods Group subsidiary. Specializing in the recycling of agro-industry wastes, it produced pure biodiesel, to move from fossil fuels to clean sources of energy. The one-year project had 155 buses using bio-diesel: this lowered, CO2 emissions by 2,100 tons. (The annual CO2 reduction with bio-diesel would have been 22,000 tons for the entire STM (Societé de Transport de Montréal) fleet, 42,000 tons for all Quebec urban transit authorities and 171,500 tons for transit authorities across Canada.)
Traditional and new sectors: Forestry, Mining and Phytoradiation
Looking at a traditional Canadian sector, forestry, the ACOA study found that "Forestry opportunities are limited at this time. Businesses in the sector are moving from a dependence on traditional chemical technologies to biologically-based alternatives for forest pest control. Reforestation, based on genetically superior, disease and pest-resistant tree forms, such as those developed by the CFS (Canadian Forest Service) and currently being tested by a major forestry company in New Brunswick, offer private sector industrial development potentials." On the other hand, a spokesperson for Paprican, the pulp and paper research institute was optimistic about prospects for "bio-waste management at recycling and paper plants or recycled paper plants. The Pulp and Paper industry is doing well with regards to the Kyoto accord."
In mining, Canada has promoted R&D and utilization of biotechnology for about forty years. This has led to many breakthroughs which have found application around the world. Most of the R&D capacity resides in government laboratories, universities, consulting engineering firms---and to a lesser extent mining companies.
One pioneer in the private sector, Margarete Kalin is working on one system in Brazil using biotech to treat acid mine drainage from an abandoned gold mine portal.
But in a very recent article she warned that "Difficulties arise in implementing environmental technologies in the mining sector because important fundamental processes, which lead to the environmental degradation, are ignored.”
Phytoremediation, - the use of plants and trees to remove contaminants (e.g., hazardous wastes) from the environment. is also potentially applicable to other environmental markets including wastewater treatment and control of polluted runoff such as landfill leachate.
David Glass, a pioneer scientist and consultant in this field, told Point of Entry that " There is a great deal of interest in phytoremediation in Canada, as evidenced by significant government efforts) and some early stages of industrial activity. In addition to the group of phytoremediation engineers based in Guelph, originally of Beak Consultants and now part of GeoSyntec, consultants with several Canadian companies are beginning to practice or research phytoremediation.
Business prospects
The many firms working in biotech are keen to commercialize their findings and applications internationally. A lot of information on which are the best possible contacts is available in CambioBiotec publications, such as its Latin American Directory on Environmental Biotechnology and its Applications to Waste Management and Cleaner Production (prepared for Industry Canada in April 2000.) Here you can find a brief description of the activities of selected institutions, firms and contacts working on environmental biotechnology in the 7 more developed countries of Latin America in the subject: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela. The organizations named here can be contacted to get more detailed information about their environmental biotech developments as well as their eventual alliances with Canadian firms.
CamBioTec has also developed partnerships with private Canadian bioindustry firms and associations, such as Ag-West Biotech Inc., BioAtlantech, Ontario Agri-Food Technologies, AgrEvo Canada, Monsanto Life Sciences Canada, Advanta Seeds Canada (formerly Zeneca Seeds), which are willing to enter the Latin American markets
(Also worth keeping in mind is contacting the appropriate Canadian embassy or consulate for a survey of the biotechnology industry in the area concerned: on the Bio-Industries in Latin America, please refer to: http://www.infoexport.gc.ca/)
Other Industry Canada Web sites are worth considering, But of course you're often dealing with problems arising from commercial confidentiality And, for example, as one Canadian active in the area put it, "Most waste water is managed by state companies or through agencies or franchises/concessions. People searching for opportunities need to reach the decision maker of the individual state companies or the person managing the concession. Not always an easy task."
Biotech is a new and tricky field-look at CEC’s (Commission for Environmental Cooperation) controversial -transgenic maize project in Chiapas, to take only one out of innumerable examples-but is bound to grow. Turning back to phytorremediation alone: according to David Glass, "Tens of billions of dollars (U.S.) are already being spent on wastewater treatment in Europe and Asia, and this market should grow at double digit multiples for the foreseeable future. To the extent that phytoremediation is applicable to these markets, this represents a major opportunity for the years to come."
There are, as throughout the field, all sorts of hassles. Here, for instance, Glass points out: "Municipal wastewater treatment is a major priority for many developing nations, as well as in Eastern and Central Europe, Latin America, and elsewhere in the world. The situation is made worse by the fact that, due to weak environmental regulation, municipal wastewater is often mixed with industrial wastes and wastewaters, creating greater hazards and tougher treatment challenges."
The path to development, it's been said, is paved with vicious circles. But who ever said life was easy?
Appendix1
Positive Potential of Environmental Biotechnology
Considerable discussion occurred at all three consultations in recognition and support of the tremendous potential that environmental biotechnology offered particularly in the development of the next generation of pollution prevention, pollution abatement, and sustainable development of green technologies in such areas as:
- application of biotechnology to existing and problematic conventional industrial processes based on high temperature, highly reactive chemicals, extreme pH, and organic solvents;
- the development of on line and robust biosensors for rapid, in situ measurement and monitoring of environmental chemicals;
- agro-forestry practices based on xenobiotic chemicals;
- mineral extraction and metal recovery;
- use of plant based products and processes for recovery and removal of metals, chlorinated solvents, energetic materials, and low level radioactive wastes from contaminated sites;
microbial sequestration of CO2, production of renewable fuels, and other biology based environmental technologies in support of Canada's commitments for Green House Gas reductions
Appendix 2
Services including:
- Ultra-violet disinfection for removal or inactivation of pathogenic micro-organisms
- Membrane technology filtration for high purity water treatment
- Biological nutrient removal of nitrogen in the denitrification process
- "Structured Cover System" to protect drinking water from contamination and evaporation. Installed in the US. System control technology
* Dr. Alexander Craig is a writer based in Quebec. Formerly Buenos Aires correspondent for the Guardian and other British papers, he then wrote his Ph.D., at Manchester, on the politics of development.
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