{"id":16933,"date":"2012-09-05T16:17:25","date_gmt":"2012-09-05T19:17:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/?p=16933"},"modified":"2015-10-27T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2015-10-27T15:33:42","slug":"unbeatable-forests","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/unbeatable-forests\/","title":{"rendered":"Unbeatable forests"},"content":{"rendered":"
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L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>F\u00e1bio Carucci Figliolino (right) and his team from the industrial research areaL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Suzano, a pioneer in the manufacturing of paper and pulp from eucalyptus, is investing in various research fronts simultaneously in its search for innovations. \u201cIn a partnership with a European university, we\u2019ve developed a lignin-based polymer for different applications in the market,\u201d says chemical engineer, F\u00e1bio Carucci Figliolino, 52, executive manager of Suzano\u2019s industrial research area, who does not reveal all the details of the new discovery. Lignin is an organic polymer responsible for the rigidity of the cell wall of plants. With the University of Nova Lisboa, in Portugal, and the University of S\u00e3o Paulo (USP), in S\u00e3o Carlos, the company made a paper transistor for use in packaging. The State University of Campinas (Unicamp) is a partner in several projects, including the development of a new natural polymer-based film for packaging, which produces a \u00a0fat barrier.<\/p>\n

In collaboration with the Federal University of Vi\u00e7osa (UFV) in Minas Gerais and international institutions, Suzano is heading up the Lignodeco (an abbreviation of Lignocellulose Deconstruction) Project, designed to develop technologies for the pre-treatment of biomass from eucalyptus wood and its potential applications, such as biofuel and chemical products of an organic origin. The project was chosen from 263 works presented by researchers from all over the world in the 7th<\/sup> Framework Program, the main funding tool of the European Union for supporting research and development activities. With funding of \u20ac 5 million, the project has been developed since 2010 in a collaboration between the Pulp and Paper Laboratory of the UFV, Suzano, the Center for Biological Investigations (CIB) of Madrid, the Institute of Natural Resources and Agrobiology of Seville (Irnas), the Technical Research Center of Finland (VTT), the Danish company Novozymes (the world\u2019s biggest producer of enzymes), and the Paper Technical Center (CTP), in France. \u201cThere are more than 20 researchers involved in the project, all with a Master\u2019s degree or a PhD,\u201d says forestry engineer Augusto Fernandes Milanez, 62, a project consultant working in the industrial research area at Suzano and the coordinator of Lignodeco.<\/p>\n

The research, development and innovation area of the company, the world\u2019s second biggest producer of eucalyptus pulp, whose headquarters are in S\u00e3o Paulo, is split into two: industrial research and forestry research. There are 99 internal researchers with differing educational backgrounds, including biologists, forestry engineers, agronomists, chemists and materials engineers, of whom 50 are university graduates, 8 have Master\u2019s degrees and 5 have PhDs, as well as chemical technicians. In 2011, the company produced 1.8 million tons of pulp and 1.3 million tons of paper. The net revenue was R$ 4.8 billion, 7.4% above the 2010 revenue figure. \u201cThe R&D budget for industrial and forestry research is R$30 million a year, without counting investments,\u201d says Carucci.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Equipment for testing paper at SuzanoL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

Among these investments, for example, was the purchase of the Israeli biotech company Futura Gene, in 2011. \u201cThe genetic transformation of eucalyptus means that we shall need less land and water to produce pulp and have lower costs.\u201d The company has research laboratories in Israel, Brazil and China and is also active in the United States. In addition to being a major pulp consumer market, China is included in Suzano\u2019s policy of producing specific trees for customers in various parts of the world. In Brazil, the technology company has its headquarters in Itapetininga, in up-state S\u00e3o Paulo, where Suzano\u2019s forest research and genetic improvement center used to be. \u201cFutura Gene carries out genetic modifications for our eucalyptus varieties,\u201d says Milanez. Genetically modified plants are being assessed in controlled experiments.<\/p>\n

The investment in biotechnology is part of the company\u2019s growth plan, which has been drawn up with a 10 to 15 year timeline, and is supported by innovative projects and actions on new fronts, which include biorefineries and renewable energy, in addition to paper and pulp. A pilot biorefinery project for extracting lignin from black liquor, which results from the wood cooking process, is in operation in Limeira, up-state S\u00e3o Paulo, with capacity to produce a ton a day. Present in around 25% of eucalyptus wood, lignin can be used both for generating energy for pulp and paper manufacturing processes, and in the production of chemical products that replace oil products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking to use it in various products to substitute everything from composites for asphalt to petrochemicals in general,\u201d says Milanez. \u201cIn the tests carried out on eucalyptus lignin, we\u2019ve identified 18,000 chemical substances that are also found in oil.\u201d Oil has around 32,000 chemical compounds. The technological challenges for the operation of the biorefinery on an industrial scale are still in the adjustment phase, but the research carried out shows potential for using the products extracted from lignin, particularly in civil construction, as a component of concrete and cement. \u201cJust as an oil refinery separates out the products and keeps adding value to each of them, a biorefinery transforms biomass into products with greater added value,\u201d says Milanez, who for the last 35 years, since he finished his Master\u2019s degree in forestry sciences at UFV, has been working in the paper and pulp area. He started his career in other companies of the sector and has been with Suzano since 1994. The idea of the lignin extraction project was born in 2007, during a visit that the consultant made to a biorefinery in Sweden, when he was taking part in a congress on the topic.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Black liquor used to extract ligninL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe pilot plant has our technology, but Brazilian suppliers helped us in this process,\u201d says Vinicius Lobosco, 39, a chemical engineer with a degree from USP\u2019s Polytechnic School, and responsible for the lignin extraction project. After finishing his degree, Lobosco did a Master\u2019s and a PhD at the Royal Technology Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. \u201cI was hired by Inventia, a renowned paper and pulp research institute, and did a PhD at the university,\u201d he says. After 12 years he decided to return to Brazil. He worked in another company in the sector for a year and half, but was delighted with the possibilities offered by Suzano in research, innovation and, mainly, entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n

Researcher S\u00e9rgio Saraiva, 33, who has been with the company for two years, is working on new applications for lignin and is responsible for the interface of the biorefinery project with the Brazilian and international universities and research institutes. Saraiva has a degree in Chemistry from USP and did his Master\u2019s degree in organic chemistry at Unicamp, where he also currently doing a PhD, the theme of which is one of Suzano\u2019s biorefinery projects. The investment for installing the pilot plant was R$ 1 million, obtained from the Studies and Projects Funding Agency (Finep<\/em>). The forecast is that the biorefinery will have been set up by 2013 or 2014, but the choice of the location is still being studied.<\/p>\n

The research carried out during the scientific initiation of Mariana Domingues Mendon\u00e7a, 25, helped her to join Suzano, where she has been working as a researcher for two and a half years. \u201cI was studying the development of natural polymer-based cardboard packaging,\u201d says Mariana, who did chemical engineering at Unicamp. In the laboratory, she analyzed water-barrier properties and physical property gains for paper. In an innovation course at the university, Mariana\u2019s supervisor, Telma Teixeira Franco, met F\u00e1bio Carucci, who was interested in the project, but the focus of the research changed to paper with a fat barrier. After a six-month internship at Suzano in the paper and cardboard area, she was hired.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>Chemist S\u00e9rgio Saraiva carries out research in the company\u2019s R&D laboratoryL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

On the other action front, Suzano Renewable Energy was formed in 2010 to produce wood pellets \u2013 dehydrated and pressed particles with high calorific power \u2013 that can be used as fuel for residential and industrial boilers and in thermoelectric power stations. To produce energy, eucalyptus clones were selected that enable a greater number of trees to be planted per hectare and that have a reduced harvesting cycle of two to three years. The planted eucalyptus cycle for paper and pulp is around seven years. Production on an industrial scale, which will target the external market, is planned to start in 2014, with a production capacity of 3 million tons of pellets a year.<\/p>\n

Suzano has been investing heavily in open innovation and has worked with various companies, universities and research institutes. Among the most constant partners are Unicamp, USP at S\u00e3o Carlos, the Federal University of S\u00e3o Carlos (UFSCar), UFV, the University of Hamburg in Germany, the Paper Technical Center in France, the Natural Resources and Agrobiology Institute of Seville in Spain, the Technical Research Center of Finland and the University of North Carolina in the USA. \u201cToday, we have contracts with 51 overseas partners,\u201d reports forestry engineer Elenice Pereira Maia, who is responsible for prospecting new projects in the industrial research area.<\/p>\n

In March of 2008, Suzano put into practice its new research and business strategy. \u201cWe reviewed our processes and began an important change, which is to see ourselves more as a forest-based company,\u201d says Carucci, who has a degree in chemical engineering from Mogi das Cruzes University (UMC) , an MBA in business administration from the Get\u00falio Vargas Foundation (FGV), a specialization course in graphic printing from USP, and one in strategic technological innovation management from Unicamp. \u201cSuzano always invested in R&D, but we saw that we could be even better if we had a clear innovation process within the company.\u201d<\/p>\n

A consultancy company was hired to help in the change process, which took 15 months to formulate and implement. \u201cThe strategy was so strong and the speed of implementation so fast that 90% of the projects that were on-going were suspended,\u201d says Carucci, who has been with the company for 28 years. \u201cWe started again from practically zero.\u201d Among the various lines of research that became part of the portfolio of projects are biotechnology, improvements in eucalyptus clones, cost reduction, an increase in productivity, new applications for pulp, new chemical products from wood to substitute oil, nanotechnology, and biorefining.<\/p>\n

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L\u00e9o Ramos<\/span>One of Suzano’s research laboratoriesL\u00e9o Ramos<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

The process began with a question posed by Suzano\u2019s directors: \u201cWhere does the company want to go over the next 10 to 15 years?\u201d Externally, there were 51 interviews, asking the question: \u201cWhere do you see the pulp and paper segment going in the future and what would be your technological bets for this sector over the next 10 years?\u201d The interviewees included members of the company\u2019s value chain (suppliers, producers, distributors), research centers around the world, other companies, and regulatory and government sectors. \u201cInternally, we wanted to know the direction to be taken and externally how to get there,\u201d says Carucci. \u201cIt was a very rich process, because in the end we had clear goals for paper, pulp and forests and with this we built a fast growth strategy for the next 10 to 15 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Around 30% of the projects in the current portfolio are the so-called radical projects \u2013 renewable energy, chemicals from wood, biorefining. They are the company\u2019s bet for a substantial leap in growth in the future. The rest comprises incremental projects, which deal with small changes in products and production processes and will be responsible for continuous growth in the first phase.<\/p>\n

Each of the two research areas \u2013 industrial and forestry \u2013 has an executive manager, a consultant for assessing projects and an R&D assistant, who is responsible for the budget and for seeking out new projects. The teams are divided into research areas with a market-based view, and not by technology, as usually happens in the business world. \u201cWe have a dedicated team for pulp and new business, another for paper and cardboard for packaging, a third that develops new inputs and a team that looks after project prospecting and innovation,\u201d says Carucci. There is no division between technicians and researchers, because the work is done jointly. They organize themselves on their own in accordance with the projects, since there is no laboratory head.<\/p>\n

\"050-054_Suzano_196\"<\/a>The innovation process comes from the technical prospecting, which identifies and selects the partnerships. \u201cOpportunities are mapped out using specific tools,\u201d says Elenice Maia, who has a Master\u2019s degree and a PhD in pulp from UFV. One of them, for example, is the purchase of prospection services that provide access to a worldwide network of researchers at universities and research institutes. The first time Suzano used the service it received 62 proposals from researchers in 6 weeks, in response to a technological challenge. Of these, five were chosen, which resulted in new projects for the company.<\/p>\n

\u201cBrazil\u2019s competitiveness in pulp is based on our competence in creating very productive eucalyptus forests,\u201d says Carucci. Brazilian eucalyptus plantations produce an amount of biomass that is greater than that of the rest of the world for a series of reasons that involve everything from the climate, the availability of land, and the forestry competence of companies in the sector, based on their skill in choosing the plants that are the most appropriate for each region planted. On average, the country produces 41 cubic meters of pulp per hectare. \u201cToday we have eucalyptus planted that produces 50 cubic meters per hectare and clones with figures of 100 cubic meters,\u201d says Milanez.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Suzano invests in energy and products to replace oil derivatives","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1567,169],"tags":[259,243],"coauthors":[115],"class_list":["post-16933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-corporate-research-en","category-technology","tag-chemistry","tag-innovation"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16933\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16933"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revistapesquisa.fapesp.br\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=16933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}