BioRefine Program

BioRefine is a national Technology Program of Finland to promote and enable both Finnish and global innovation and progress in new biomass products.

The BioRefine Program is managed by TEKES (Finnish funding agency for Technology and Innovation) and Finpro (Finnish International Trade Promotion Organization) with a 2007 - 2012 budget of USD 187 Million. (http://www.iea.org/Textbase/pamsdb/detail.aspx?mode=gr&id=3592)

Aleksi Rastela will be attending the Investing in Agriculture conference (pdf document) in Pewaukee, Wisconsin, on the 16^th of August. He is interested in introducing companies to a collaboration opportunity in the field of biorefining through a Finnish Technology Program. Aleksi is interested in meeting with different companies and organizations involved in biorefining and related industries during his visit to Wisconsin (August 16 - 17). Here is a link to a recent article about Aleksi:

http://www.mininggazette.com/stories/articles.asp?articleID=8058

Aleksi will compile a list of interested organizations for Finpro to review in their panel discussion on September 3 in Finland. Appropriate companies will be invited to meet in Wisconsin with a BioRefine team, with the meeting being targeted for October 2007. Interested organizations are asked to meet with Aleksi at the August 16 conference or send the information to him by no later than noon on Monday, August 20. (aleksi.rastela {at} gmail {dot} com).

The information sent should contain the following:

· Organization (Name, industry type/ Department and website)

· Contact person (Name, title, email, phone)

· Two or three sentences describing the organization’s core competencies and/or technologies and other possible connections to biorefining or related industries.

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I'm involved with Aleksi on the BioRefine topic because he's an exchange student at my alma mater, Michigan Technological University, because I'm very interested in the biorefinery sector, and because I'm working with the New North (www.thenewnorth.com) on their cellulosic ethanol working group.

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