Report of the Portfolio Committee on Science and
Technology: Visit to the PlantBio National Innovation
Centre for Plant Biotechnology and the Pebble Bed
Modular Reactor (PBMR) in Pietermaritzburg and Pretoria
respectively, 1-3 February 2010, dated 24 March 2010.
1. Introduction
The Portfolio Committee on Science and Technology visited
PlantBio and PBMR from 1-3 February 2010. The main
purpose of the visit was to strengthen the Committee’s understanding of
entities and programmes falling under or operating in collaboration with the
Department of Science and Technology. Other objectives included:
§
An initial brief on
the status of PBMR in order to position the Committee to meaningfully
contribute to the debate on the way forward for PBMR;
§
Evaluating the
extent to which financial aspects assist or inhibit the fulfilment of the
mandate and obligations of entities and institutions;
§
Determining key
areas to focus on during the development of the Committee’s long-term programme
or approach relating to the sectors visited.
Delegation:
Dr ENN Ngcobo (ANC)
Ms L Jacobus (ANC)
Ms A Nyama (ANC)
Ms S Molau (COPE)
Ms M Shinn (DA)
Mr P Smith (IFP)
Accompanied by:
Ms Shanaaz Isaacs (Committee
Secretary)
Dr Rene Osborne-Mullins (Committee Researcher)
2. Brief summaries
of presentations: PlantBio
PlantBio is the National
Innovation Centre for Plant Biotechnology. Its aim is
to lead
2.1 Introduction into PlantBio’s
investments and how African Centre for Crop
Improvement (ACCI) projects fit into the portfolio: Dr Antonio Llobell-CEO PlantBio Trust
This introductory
brief focused on the strategy, focus areas, funded projects and structure and
possible ways of speeding up innovation in
Its activities,
amongst other, focus on achieving economic growth and creating jobs through the
development of sustainable commercial entities, building capacity by assisting
the development of relevant human skills and creating technology platforms that
will serve plant biotechnology research and businesses.
The key areas of
support are investing in plant biotechnology research, creation of start-up
companies, the generation of intellectual property (IP) and the development and
commercialisation of new products. Investments in
projects are within the thematic areas of poverty alleviation/food security, biofuels and industrial crops, environmental friendly
agriculture, etc. The funding dispersed
by PlantBio is determined by their investment
criteria and identified investment areas.
2.2 African Centre for Crop
Improvement (ACCI) – Prof Mark Laing, Prof Tongo Tongoona
The main
activity of the ACCI is to train plant breeders at PhD level from 15 countries
in Africa (including
The key
is that the field research takes place in the student's home countries, using
local landraces to create locally adapted varieties. An example of the program’s success has been
that students in both
One of
the students has bred dry beans resistant to weevils, which normally eat 50-80%
of the harvested beans. In one step, the
effective harvest of beans for
These developments
are all happening in
88% of the
students have graduated after 3 or 4 years of research. All of these graduates have
successfully secured on-going funding for research.
The ACCI
research, presented to the committee is some of the research they involved in,
though additional research undertaken by some of the staff of the ACCI, in
addition to their teaching and supervisory activities, with funding from PlantBio.
2.3 Ukalinga Farm site visit
The Committee
visited one of the research farms of ACCI. Members were shown some of the work
done around maize breeding. In line with one of the thematic areas of poverty
alleviation, development of better products and improving the quality of life
through plant biotechnology, Members were presented with examples of maize
which were selectively bred to increase the Vitamin A content. This “bright
orange” maize was specifically bred for the purpose of providing a much more
nutritious staple food, which also has a better resistance to stress factors such
as pests and droughts. Vitamin A deficiency is a serious problem in the
developing world. This maize is then destined for those markets and areas where
maize is considered staple food and where less meat is consumed. This process
of selective plant breeding, leads to an increase in the nutritional value of
maize.
2.4 PlantBio investment portfolio and successes – Dr Siya Ntutela
The presentation
focused on their key thematic areas of investment. These were as follows, as
well as the percentage of accumulative investment and the number of projects in
each:
§
Poverty alleviation/food security, 13% of accumulated
investment and 5 projects;
§
Biofuels and industrial
crops, 19% of accumulated investment and
8 projects;
§
Technology platforms: creating national capacities for
innovation, 22% of accumulated investment
and 5 projects;
§
Exploitation of South African Bio-resources, 32% of
accumulated investment and 3 projects;
§
Environmental friendly agriculture 14% of accumulated
investment and 2 projects
The performance
summary presented for the financial year ending March 2009 illustrated the
following:
§
accumulated expenditure of R124m;
§
investment in projects R95m;
§
raised R45m external funding;
§
24 funded projects (22 active, 15 collaborative);
§
Over 90 proposals evaluated;
§
Accumulated turnover of six late stage projects R28M
§
One startup company reached profit breakeven and two more
expected in the current financial year;
§
More than 180 jobs created;
§
11 products/technologies/services commercialized.
3. Brief summary on
presentation: PBMR
Pebble Bed Modular
Reactor (Pty) Limited is a public-private partnership comprising the South
African government, nuclear industry players and utilities. SA government invests 82%, IDC 5%, ESKOM 9%
and Westinghouse 4%. Until recently, PBMR was seen as a strategic national
project and had potential to become a prospective provider of safe, clean
energy in international markets.
The PBMR
design is aimed at process-heat applications utilising
steam at temperatures of up to 750°C, which provide the basis for penetrating
the nuclear heat market as a viable alternative for carbon-burning,
high-emission heat sources. Heat from
the PBMR can be used for a variety of industrial process applications,
including process steam for cogeneration applications, in-situ
oil sands recovery, ethanol applications, refinery and
petrochemical applications.
PBMR reported
that the reality of the global economic downturn and the immediate funding
challenge of meeting
Presenters
highlighted that there was a lack of sustainable funding for long term
infrastructure in
PBMR
reported to the Committee that they were faced with three main options:
§
Closure of PBMR Co and the transfer of skills to the rest of
the nuclear industry;
§
Incorporation into Eskom;
§
Continue with PBMR and looking at self funding options up to
September 2010 and then to March 2011.
Presenters
assured the Committee that employees at PBMR were informed in December 2009
about the retrenchment processes.
On a
question about collaborative initiatives, PBMR reported that a visit was scheduled
by the Algerian state owned nuclear company (COMENA) to discuss investment. A
MOU for potential co-operation with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries was pending.
PBMR
reported that a political decision was required around potential new
investments.
3.1 Site Visit to
the Fuel Development Laboratory
After the presentation, the members of the Portfolio
Committee were taken to the Fuel Development Laboratory where the process of
manufacturing the pebbles, were demonstrated. The entire process was shown and
explained, starting with graphite powder which was mixed with chemicals such as
alumine and phenolic and
processed through the machines until it became a shiny solid pebble ready to be
put into the reactor.
4. Summary of
discussions
4.1 PlantBio
The reason why PlantBio was
registered as a Trust as opposed to a company, was
explained to the Members. Primarily, PlantBio is
involved with projects which require risk-taking. When PlantBio
becomes part of the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), the risk-taking part might
become a challenge as TIA would be differently classified. A new strategy would have to be devised to
work around this issue.
In response to a question on PlantBio’s
role in indigenous medicine development, presenters explained their involvement
was limited to identifying new crops, and in doing that, bring optimisation and
innovation to such a project, but it was essentially the role of other
innovation initiatives to look at indigenous medicine development.
In terms of the collaborative relationship with institutions
such as the CSIR, CSIR was described as demanding an unacceptably high stake or
financial return for their involvement in IP, which was found to be
unacceptably high.
Reference was made to the Fischer–Tropsch
technology used by Sasol as a possibility to explore
the viability of applying it to biomass instead of coal in ethanol production activities.
PlantBio further indicated that for the production of
biodiesel, investment in algae would be key.
Members were keen to understand the how the process
“idea” to “commercialisation,” has evolved. Presenters said that often when
research was published, it ended there. They identified some of the obstacles to
commercialisation as the funding criteria and were of the view that this had to
change so that the innovation, invention and commercialisation chain were given
preference. In this regard, reference was made to the National Research
Foundation. The same applied to the Department of Education which has to start
looking at changing criteria regarding publications. Plantbio
argued that a mind-shift is required, as there is the need to see value of commercialisation,
not just an obligation to publish but also to innovate.
PlantBio was hopeful that under TIA, there was the potential for
new partnerships, cohesion and collaboration amongst entities.
With regard to human capital development, sufficient skills
development needs to take place in order to take ideas to the market place. PlantBio explained how they are aligned with DST’s human capital development strategy and how their projects
and initiatives were informed by what the country required.
A number of Ministries and Departments such as Agriculture,
Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry and Education and
Health are involved in innovation, but tighter synergy is required.
4.2 PBMR
Members of the Committee enquired about what would
happen with the technology (intellectual property protection) if PBMR closed
down and whether technology and skills would be lost to international nuclear
players. PBMR reported that there has been
significant investment in human capital infrastructure, systems and the
development of a knowledge base. PBMR cautioned that
The Committee attributed the current state of PBMR to
the fragmented manner in which it was moved from under one Department to
another and therefore lacked co-ordinated and coherent decisions regarding the
project and its future.
The Committee was further of the view that part of the
current predicament could also be attributed to PBMR’s
operation as a stand alone project with too little national and international
collaboration.
The Committee expressed a view that excessive amounts
of money were spent on consultants which might have been unnecessary in some
instances.
The Committee was displeased that representatives from
the Equity Committee were not present at the meeting as that would have
provided the Committee with a first hand sense of how workers viewed and felt
about the restructuring and retrenchments.
Members enquired about timelines and, how PBMR
intended to deal with closure, and at what cost. Members were assured that
consultations with the Equity Committee, Trade Unions and work place committees
will take place in accordance with the Labour Relations Act. Closure cost, was
estimated at R200 million.
PBMR explained that there was always the misconception
about their role and explained that it was essentially a nuclear design and
engineering company and not directly responsible for electricity provision.
PBMR reported their collaboration with the
Westinghouse team and how they were the main contenders in the Next Generation
Nuclear Plant (NGNP) programme in the
In response to questions raised by Members relating to
the future of PBMR, one of the possibilities alluded to, was that Westinghouse was
the most likely company to take over PBMR upon closure.
PBMR indicated to the Committee that they were hopeful
that a March Cabinet meeting would provide clarity on future prospects for
PBMR.
5. Conclusions and Recommendations
5.1 PlantBio
The Committee acknowledged that their knowledge around
the details of existing biotechnology projects and programmes was limited. They
are even more concerned about the level of public understanding and awareness
around these. The Committee resolved to engage with the relevant structures
under DST and NRF to explain what biotechnology awareness programmes exist and
how it is promoted at the different levels in our society (educators, learners,
consumers, communities).
The
Committee will incorporate more visits to other biotechnology initiatives,
specifically those falling under the Biotechnology Innovation Centre’s (BIC’s) in their programme.
The Committee raised their concerns regarding human
capacity in biotechnology innovation. They would like to see the number of
experts in specific areas increased and attention should be given to develop
women scientists and those from previously disadvantaged communities.
The Committee in assisting with this process undertakes
to engage with other Portfolio Committee’s in Parliament as well as the Departments
of Education and Science and Technology to facilitate a resolution to this very
challenging situation.
Another area which the Committee wishes to explore,
although alluded to in the presentations, is the extent of collaboration with biotechnology
projects with our African counterparts, recognising that most of the African
countries in the southern parts face similar challenges and conditions.
The Committee questions whether enough was being done
to transform the research or data produced into a commercial product, process
or service.
The Committee will engage with DST and NRF to look at
this challenge and with specific focus on funding criteria, so that publishing
and innovating have an equal weighting.
The Committee will meet jointly with committees and
departments of Education and Science and Technology around this issue.
5.2 PBMR
The Committee resolved that further discussion was
necessary with DST and the relevant Departments involved with PBMR to ascertain
the impact of the current status of PBMR on scientific knowledge, technology
and the infra structure acquired by PBMR over the years.
Report to be considered.