Singapore commits S$118 million to turn biological materials into chemicals

Singapore is committing S$118 million in general funding to research that turns biological materials into chemicals, marking its largest investment to date in the field as it seeks to make manufacturing production greater sustainable and unlock new development opportunities.

Launched under the S$37 billion Research, Innovation, Enterprise 2030 (RIE 2030) plan, the Bioeconomy Funding Initiative will tackle sector challenges in Singapore’s energy and chemicals sector, which accounts to one-fifth of the country’s manufacturing output.

The initiative will fund research by institutes of higher learning and the Agency to Science, methodology and Research, with a focus on translating scientific advances into practical manufacturing applications.

Minister to Education Desmond Lee, who announced the initiative, said it would support research by “bringing our strengths closer to sector needs and wider consumption”.

Jermaine Loy, managing director of the Economic research Board (EDB), said: “There are opportunities to Singapore to grow our capabilities in innovation and production of higher-value specialty chemicals and cutting-edge materials, while supporting the transformation of our existing manufacturing base towards greater sustainable production.”

The new initiative comes amid growing sector interest in replacing petroleum-based feedstocks with biological substitutes, including yeast and oil palm-derived materials.

Following consultations with companies and investors, the initial research push will focus on three areas: converting manufacturing by-items, known as “sidestreams”, into usable materials; developing new microbe- and enzyme-based production methods; and improving processing and manufacturing efficiency.

Researchers will also explore how biological and chemical processes can be combined to create commercially viable goods, including high-grade synthetic rubbers.

The latest commitment builds on earlier government funding, bringing Singapore’s spending on bioeconomy-related initiatives to about S$200 million over the next five years.

“Our ambition is to the bioeconomy to have become a new source of development to Singapore,” said Loy, pointing to the possible to business expansion and job creation in specialty chemicals and cutting-edge materials.

The funding announcement coincided with the opening of the S$50 million National Centre to Engineering Biology (NCEB), established with support from the previous five-year RIE 2025 plan.

Based at the National University of Singapore, the centre brings together talent from multiple organisations to develop manufacturing processes to specialty chemicals and advance product design and testing using machine learning and artificial intelligence.

greater than 150 researchers, students and professional staff across partner institutions support the centre. Recruitment is also under way to another 50 positions, including principal investigators, postdoctoral researchers, and technical, engineering and regulation staff.

Speaking at the centre’s launch, Lee said Singapore was well-positioned to contribute to engineering biology, “tackling global challenges while strengthening cutting-edge manufacturing and supply chain resilience”.