BIOCAP seeking funding increase as support of alternate energy research soars

BIOCAP Canada Foundation is hoping that a new poll suggesting that a massive majority of Canadians support alternative energy research will help convince Ottawa to renew support for its activities for the next 10 years. BIOCAP is seeking $60 million over the next decade to support its highly leveraged activities within several existing and proposed networks spanning all facets of biomass research.

The October poll of 1,201 Canadians by Ottawa-based GPC Research found that 77% of respondents supported increased government funding for research into alternative energy sources. A slim majority (53%) indicated that finding new energy sources were more important than keeping energy prices at a reasonable level.

“The poll results are fortuitous for us. Research is the key opportunity for Canada to move to a more sustainable economy. It’s Canada’s green advantage,” says BIOCAP CEO and research director Dr David Layzell. “It’s quite a remarkable story when you think about the struggle we have getting our research to address societal needs.”

BIOCAP was formed in the late 1990s to explore the potential for biomass as an alternative source for energy, chemicals and materials. It established several research programs in 2002 with federal funding of $10 million over five years. During that time, it has created four national networks (see chart), entered into co-funding partnerships with two Networks of Centres of Excellence and has three more national networks in the wings. BIOCAP initiatives have leveraged $38 million in cash from its partners, primarily from industry, provincial governments and the granting councils.

Current funding is set to expire at the end of the current FY and Layzell says it’s critical that its work continues, particularly given the heightened awareness of alternative energy sources and Canada’s ratification of the Kyoto agreement.

The reality of convincing Ottawa of BIOCAP’s merits is complicated by the fact that its research focus is spread across so many sectors and is therefore of relevance to several government departments.

“This is our greatest strength and also our greatest weakness,” says Layzell. “I’m convinced that climate change and energy are cross-cutting issues and we need to link all these areas into environmental policy. But the challenge is, it’s so cross-cutting that we’ve fallen below the radar. There’s no single departmental champion.”

Undeterred, Layzell says he’s making good progress with BIOCAP’s latest strategy of targeting the upper levels of government, penetrating central agencies such as the Privy Council Office and the Prime Minister’s Office.

“We’ve had a good reception from within the centre,” he asserts. “It’s important that we start to move in developing a national energy strategy. We’re looking at a new carbon-constrained world and we need to link research to industry and government to implement it. A lot has changed in the past year. ”

Layzell says the key is to reach out to all industries that could use or are using biomass to identify the research gaps and priorities.. But time for BIOCAP is running perilously short.

“We’ve built up real momentum and hundreds of researchers are dependent on BIOCAP for funding and coordination. We have to harness Canada’s research capacity and that’s our new model.”

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