Key performance indicators

By 2021, at least six new polymeric material products with renewable content have been developed to prototype stage using existing (e.g. extrusion, injection moulding) and emerging technologies (e.g. 3D printing or electrospinning), and two of these prototypes have been incorporated into new product offerings by firms.

Achievements

Scion developed materials with renewable content for aquaculture applications and demonstrated how 3D printing can be used to produce prototypes and short production runs.

Scion also developed new temperature-responsive material prototypes based on renewable materials that are currently in commercialisation stage.

By 2020, two different genetically modified biotech tree lines have been developed and existing trees evaluated to determine their viability as alternative feedstocks for producing high-value chemicals and/or processability for fibre or bioenergy.

A field trial was terminated in March-April 2020 when the trees were destroyed owing to COVID-19 disruption and possible cone formation.

By 2021, Scion has identified technology innovations to deliver the Biofuels Roadmap outcomes and has secured funding to progress them.

Scion continued developing a thermal approach to produce a biofuel for ships. Technical and industrial collaborators were formed, and early proof-of-concept experiments performed.

By 2020, Scion and commercial partner(s) have developed a viable and New Zealand-specific biorefinery business case including Scion-developed high-value bioproducts and cost-efficient technology platforms for commodity fibres and bioenergy, including criteria for new short-rotation forest trees systems.

An exemplar biorefinery that integrates into an existing industry using native seaweed was developed for manufacture of high-value nanocellulose. This was trialled at lab and pilot plant scale with a commercial scale plant designed for construction in mid-2021. Nanocellulose can be used in high value products providing a range of benefits such as providing an oxygen barrier.

By 2022, New Zealand has new industries using new high-performance products enabled by Scion-developed technologies (on-demand degradable plastics, green electronics, biobased composites, lignin products and new compounded materials containing biopolymers), using existing (e.g. extrusion and/or injection moulding) and emerging technologies (e.g. 3D printing or electrospinning).

Scion worked closely with New Zealand industry partners to demonstrate what new processes and technologies offer to produce high-performance products. We worked with companies to develop new extrusion processes that convert cellulose-containing textile waste in performance enhancing additives for the construction sector.

Scion, together with partners, created a roadmap for New Zealand’s plastic industry towards a circular economy for plastics, including an outline of a potential new circular processing technology scenario.

By 2022, Scion has identified commercial opportunities that have led to drop-in replacement of coal with wood residues or wood-based solid fuel products to generate heat in industrial processes. This will help drive a 1 per cent reduction in GHG emissions per annum from the sector, aligned with the New Zealand Energy Efficiency and Conservation target.

Scion developed a solid biofuel from wood that has similar physical characteristics to coal (e.g. energy density, hydrophic, lower ash), and therefore can be burnt in existing coal boilers. Combustion emission tests need to be performed and the route to market explored.

By 2023, Scion has demonstrated the feasibility of converting forest and other biobased materials through distributed and mobile processes into chemicals and biopolymers and has identified a group of interested industrial partners to progress one of the technologies to pilot/demonstration scale.

Scion continued to assess the feasibility of converting biomass resources into platform chemicals. With partners from the primary and manufacturing industry, Scion started feasibility studies of mechanochemical conversion of biomass to chemicals and demonstrated the feasibility of the process on a lab-scale.

By 2023, at least two new growing regimes have been established with the aim of demonstrating how to sustainably grow resilient short-rotation fibre products with either biotech trees or new germplasm with high production of fibres or chemicals.

Scion continued to identify species with high-value chemical potential that can be grown either seasonally, or in few years, and in environments that do not conflict with current land usage. For example, an indigenous species that is often classed as a weed has mātauranga Māori-identified health benefits, and the bioactive compounds have been described in modern literature.

By 2020, Scion has worked with Māori, and at least one Māori entity has included new biobased materials in their product portfolio.

Scion partnered with the Hokotehi Moriori Trust in a Vision Mātauranga Capability Fund project on sustainability and waste reduction on Rēkohu (Chatham Island), which included collaboration with the local industry and communities.

Scion worked with Māori partners to develop Māori-inspired renewable composite materials based on indigenous fibres.

New Zealand’s first seaweed-based nanocellulose manufacturing plant was co-developed with Māori family-owned business AgriSea. This technology is additional to their current business and provides high-value materials from industries such as cosmeceuticals.

Continue to demonstrate new biotech solutions to improve productivity and add new traits in modified Pinus radiata through the application of gene-editing, and transgenic technology through to field trial.

Experiments did not prove the hypothesis and are likely to end this line of investigation.

Ongoing: Support bioproducts and bioenergy industries to grow and develop by (a) addressing standards that create artificial barriers to products accessing markets or applications, (b) developing technologies and IT systems that allow bioproducts to be traced within the value chains they are transacted in and for their source to be verified, and (c) ensuring environmental compliance for regulators and customers.

Scion contributed to several government consultation documents, including those on process heat and the biofuels mandate.

Ongoing: Quantify risk profiles and mitigation methods for densely stocked forest systems, and delivery of ecosystem services (both positive and negative) for new forest systems to underpin environmental certification and sustainability credentials.

Scion started a project to look at issues associated with energy-specific plantation regions, such as what species, planting density, impact of pests, disease and fire.

We are currently assessing what Scion knows and what we need to know to develop a ‘how to guide’ for energy-dedicated forestry.

Obtain funding to carry out pest risk analysis/risk mitigation research for highly stocked/short rotation and/or GM tree regimes.

Funding not yet obtained.