Collaboration is Critical to Advance New Bio-Based Technologies

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan. 28, 2011 ─ Citing the “vast opportunities” where industrial biotechnology can address emerging challenges resulting from global population growth, DuPont Chair and CEO Ellen Kullman told attendees of the World Economic Forum annual meeting that bio-based technologies can expand economic opportunities in rural areas while reducing the burden on the environment.

“Bio-based technologies are an evolution, not a revolution,” Kullman said. “Modern uses of biotechnology, including industrial biotechnology, are just starting and there are vast opportunities to use these tools in new and valuable ways.”

Kullman participated in a forum panel on “Delivering Bio-Driven Development” that discussed how bio-based technologies can change the future of development in rural areas. Panelists were asked to consider the prospects for bio-based technologies to grow and change the future of economic development, and how governments can introduce policies to facilitate a transition to bio-based energies. Kullman noted that the world’s population will surpass 7 billion later this year and 9 billion by 2050, meaning 150,000 new people in the world every day and an increasing need for energy. Kullman said industrial biotechnology can provide additional sources of energy and help reduce dependence on fossil fuels.

“We recognize that the future of industrial biotechnology will be based on collaborative partnerships and no one company or country can go it alone given the complexities involved,” said Kullman. “That is why DuPont is actively engaged in global partnerships on biofuels technologies that produce energy from farm wastes and fuels with unique performance properties and are delivering products from renewable feedstocks that are enabling everything from clothing, carpets, car parts and cosmetics to airplane de-icing fluids.”

Kullman noted, “To succeed in world markets, new bio-materials cannot be simple substitutions. They must result in innovations that are more environmentally sustainable with cost parity and performance superior to petrochemical-based equivalents.” She cited various DuPont science-powered innovations that will yield products with fuller renewable and recyclable content, and the use of non-food feedstocks for larger volume technologies.

Kullman specifically pointed to the impact biotechnology has on rural development where renewable feedstocks are abundant. For example, she noted that DuPont currently has industrial biotechnology manufacturing capacity in the United States, United Kingdom, China and Brazil.

“Our approach in every instance is one of inclusive innovation,” Kullman noted. “We have worked closely with customers and research partners on feedstock assessment studies in China and the agricultural belt of the United States. There is tremendous power in partnership.”

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas. Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org).

DuPont (www.dupont.com) is a science-based products and services company. Founded in 1802, DuPont puts science to work by creating sustainable solutions essential to a better, safer, healthier life for people everywhere. Operating in more than 90 countries, DuPont offers a wide range of innovative products and services for markets including agriculture and food; building and construction; communications; and transportation.

01/28/11