Hardwood from Softwood
New vision, new venture
Using government funding as venture capital, Forest Research is focussing on the areas of science that underpin advances in biomaterials, and is recruiting specialist staff in key areas such as biotechnology, bioconversion and biomaterials engineering.
Before committing itself to the change, Forest Research spent 18 months considering the social, technological, economic, environmental and political changes likely to occur in the next half-century. After mapping a series of likely scenarios, Forest Research staff set about predicting appropriate technological responses.
Their results confirmed that biomaterials are the way of the future, representing a major opportunity for New Zealand. Forest Research is picking that within a decade, biomaterials will become a major influence in global manufacturing. This shift is being driven by a growing demand for renewable and biodegradable products. Forest Research cites a projection made by the US Office of Industrial Technologies (OIT) that at least 10 percent of basic chemical building blocks will be sourced from plant-derived renewables by 2020, 50 percent by 2050.
This change in direction is also a pragmatic acknowledgement that times have changed for Forest Research. Commercial demand for their traditional capabilities has diminished as the domestic forestry industry has become technologically self-sufficient; and science has become so competitive and technological change so fast, that it is difficult to compete on multiple fronts. Focusing on a niche makes sound commercial sense.
Forest Research has restructured into six business units and three "transformational science platforms" – biotechnology, bioconversion and biomaterials engineering. Of these, bioconversion, which involves processes such as fermentation and the production of bioplastics from waste streams, may become Forest Research's particular niche.
