The beautiful city of Ghent in the Flemish region of Belgium is famous for it’s medieval architecture, the beautiful waterfront Graslei, and ornate municipal buildings. But at the start of this month, the city looked to the future, rather than the past, as it hosted RRB-12, the 12th International Conference on Renewable Resources & Biorefineries.
International delegates from universities, industry, and governmental organizations came to present and discuss the future of industrial biotechnology, sustainable chemistry and agricultural policy related to the use of renewable raw materials. As many of the presenters pointed out, the world is back to period of cheap and plentiful fossil fuel, brought on mainly by the “fracking” revolution, meaning researchers and industries of the “bio-based economy” must work even harder to develop and promote renewable resources, biorefineries, and the solutions to our addiction to harmful, and finite, fossil fuels.
SpringerOpen was delighted to be able to exhibit at the conference, presenting two open-access journals in this area. The first, Sustainable Chemical Processes, covers both scientific and engineering aspects of sustainable approaches in chemistry. Present at the conference were Editorial Board Members Rafael Luque and Erik Heeres, as well as Guest Editor of the Green and Sustainable Solvents series Andy Hunt, and Vania Zuin, Guest Editor for an upcoming collection looking at sustainable chemistry in Latin America.
The second journal, Chemical and Biological Technologies in Agriculture, aims to be a platform for the exchange of advanced chemical and biochemical knowledge to develop technologies that address one of the most pressing challenges of our times: sustaining a growing world population.
As well as being scientifically fascinating, the beautiful venue and location meant it was a very rewarding conference: roll on RRB-13!
