(From left to right.) Life Sciences Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mario Pennisi and Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett visit Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada Advisor Murray McLaughlin. May 31, 2018 (Photo by Melanie Irwin)(From left to right.) Life Sciences Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mario Pennisi and Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett visit Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada Advisor Murray McLaughlin. May 31, 2018 (Photo by Melanie Irwin)
Sarnia

Delegation From Down Under Upbeat About Sarnia Bio-Cluster

Sarnia-Lambton's growing biohybrid chemistry cluster attracted visitors from Down Under Thursday.

Two delegates from Queensland, Australia stopped in Sarnia on their way to a weekend conference in Boston.

Gladstone Regional Council Mayor Matt Burnett says they're paying close attention to what we're doing here.

"We weren't going to let the opportunity go by without seeing the good work that's been done here in Sarnia," says Burnett. "You've basically reinvented your economy, from what we can see, and we want to make sure we can do something like that in Gladstone."

Burnett says Sarnia and Gladstone are practically sister cities when it comes to population, industry and their economies.

He was keen to visit the Western Sarnia-Lambton Research Park.

"I want to see how the research is going and how it's delivering jobs and changing the economy here in Sarnia," says Burnett.

Australia's first biofuels pilot plant opened in Gladstone last June.

"Our Northern Oil Refinery has five demonstration plants for bio-diesel," says Burnett. "We're very excited about that. Last year we met with the U.S. Navy and hopefully, in the coming years, we'll be able to produce the bio-diesel that they can use to run their great green fleet."

Burnett hopes Sarnia's success can help them.

"We can take the learnings back. I think what [Sarnia] did, 18 to 20 years ago, was start something pretty amazing. It's certainly paying off now and I want to see if we can do that in a lesser time frame," he says.

Queensland is the largest exporter of seaborne sugar in the world, with China, Japan and Korea being its major trading partners.

Life Sciences Queensland Chief Executive Officer Mario Pennisi says sugarcane and the bagasse, the waste product that remains after the sugarcane and stalks are crushed, present a huge opportunity for them.

"You've gotta march on the world, so why wouldn't we come here and learn what you've done and how you're doing it," says Pennisi. "At the end of the day, learn from the best and that's why we're here."

The pair was also interested in visiting our solar power plant, because they've just announced plans to build a $500-million solar farm at the Gladstone State Development Area.

Burnett and Pennisi had a flight to Toronto Thursday afternoon and planned to catch another to Boston Friday for the sixth annual World Life Sciences Conference.

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