FROM: Daesung Group

Daesung Group to host

‘2019 Daesung Haegang Microbes Forum’

‘Seize the Opportunities in a USD 472 billion

white biotechnology market’

- Participants to discuss current status of commercialization and what’s in store for bioenergy and environmental technologies

- Can ‘white biotechnology’ provide solutions for energy and environmental challenges?

Daesung Group will host the 2019 Daesung Haegang Microbes Forum on June 20, 2019 at the Chosun Hotel in Seoul. The forum will survey the latest trends and prospects for clean energy and environmental technologies using microorganisms, especially those close to commercialization, and look for ways to revitalize the biotech market.

The title of this year’s forum is “Lab to Industry for Bioeconomy” and focuses on “white biotechnology,” a term that encompasses both the energy and petrochemical sectors. The development of white biotechnologies is slower than, and in contrast to, red biotechnology (pharmacy) and green biotechnology (agriculture) in Korea. The forum will also discuss the technological and political difficulties facing white biotechnology at the commercialization stage. According to a recent study, the scale of the global white biotechnology market is USD 238.9 billion (KRW 280 trillion) in 2017 and is expected to rise to USD 472.3 billion (KRW 557 trillion) in 2025 with CAGR of 8.9%.

The speakers this year will include Derek R. Lovely, Distinguished Professor at the Department of Microbiology at the University of Massachusetts.  Dr. Lovely has helped to create a new field of study around a microorganism he discovered, Geobacter.  Geobacter offers a cheap and simple alternative to the generation of cleaner forms of energy. He will be joined by Dr. Kristala L. Jones Prather, who is the Arthur D. Little Professor of Chemical Engineering at MIT. Also speaking will be Professor Park Sung-hoon from UNIST, an expert in metabolic engineering. Cho Byung-kwan, a professor at KAIST who is leading the synthetic biology engineering scene will be at the top of the table.

Joerg Fischer CFO of EnviTec Biogas, a leading firm in the white biotech industry.  Mr. Fischer has been invited to present business models for producing electricity with bio-produced methane and related state-of-the-art technologies and processes. His company is currently operating 500 biogas plants around the world and Mr. Fischer will share his technical and operational expertise with bio-methane technologies.

Also, a separate session for budding scientists in the white biotech field will be held. Jeong Wook Lee from POSTECH and Won-Ki Cho from KAIST will present the development of biological control systems, research on original technology development that is the basis for commercializing white biotech such as biotech imaging or crispr technology.

Daesung Group Chairman Younghoon David Kim noted, “We believe that 'white biotechnology' can reduce dependence on fossil fuels and dramatically decrease carbon emissions. White biotechnology is expected to actively enter commercialization phase in the near future and accordingly market size will grow rapidly.” He added, “The support of the government and close cooperation between the private and academic sectors are necessary more than ever to ensure that microbial technologies can overcome the limitations of certain types of renewable energy such as solar and wind.”

Chairman Kim, who also chairs the World Energy Council, sponsors the Daesung Haegang Microbes Forum annually in the belief that the future of energy and environment are in biotechnology. First held in 2017 with the theme of developing a new energy source using microorganisms, the forum has received accolades for tackling topics such as “From Waste to Energy,” in other words, utilizing synthetic biology to turn waste into energy.

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