Nussbaumer, who grew up in the Yorkton area, and now lives in Saskatoon, will be in China from November 6-13. The event is a platform for top talents from all over the world, who are working on solutions to the United Nations SDGs.
Over 8,000 young people applied to attend UNLEASH and Rory Nussbaumer was one of 1,000 young people from more than 186 countries selected to attend UNLEASH after 小蓝视频 deemed one of the next leaders in their field.
The application process was in video and essay format that he submitted in competition with 8,000 other individuals across the world.聽UNLEASH picks talents based on the following five criteria:
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Demonstrated commitment to solving some of the world鈥檚 pressing challenges.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Possession of a creative and innovative mindset.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Proven track record of making contributions to solving social causes.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Willingness to engage in co-creation with peers and exports.
路聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 High proficiency in English and the ability to engage in complex discussions.
The opportunity is one that builds on a continuing interest for Nussbaumer who graduated from Yorkton Regional High School in 2010.
鈥淲hen I was in University, I got the opportunity to go to the Globe Series Forum in Vancouver in 2016 to learn about the business and economics of sustainability,鈥� he told Yorkton This Week. 鈥淕lobe Series is the longest running sustainable business summit and innovation showcase in North America. Since 1997, 170,000 people from 97 countries have come to the Globe conference to learn with industry leaders about cutting edge technology like carbon capture and storage, to the future of sustainable food production.聽This conference excited me about the future economics of sustainability and I then interviewed to be a part of a voluntary side event of the Globe Conference the following year called Leading Change Canada 鈥� a conference that brings together 150 young professionals across Canada to learn and network with fellow like-minded individuals.
鈥淎s an individual that grew up on a farm, (the son of Dave and Shelley Nussbaumer), with both livestock and grain, the Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production really interested me.聽The main target of this goal is to ensure a more circular economy 鈥� create less waste, by utilizing more by-products.聽 My interests in this are the future of how Saskatchewan agriculture can benefit from our abundance of crop by-products that can be utilized for the switch from crude oil plastics to bioplastics that can be made by using our starches from both pulse crops and canola, to the utilization of other agriculture by-products that can be used for electricity generation and renewable natural gas.鈥�
It鈥檚 a case where new markets are opening for farm products as companies look to move to renewable resources.
鈥淲e are currently seeing a boom in the demand for pulse based protein,鈥� said Nussbaumer, who is 27 years-old.聽鈥淥ne of the by-products of plant protein through the fractionation process of creating pea protein isolate, is a lot of starch. The more lower cost starch supply available is creating an opportunity for a bioplastic industry to form and be competitive with crude oil plastic. 聽
鈥淔rom the demand for grain-free pet foods to the demand for plant-based meat alternatives in the past decade, Saskatchewan鈥檚 pulse crops are currently in very high demand by consumers globally.聽The largest ingredient in the Beyond Meat burger is pea protein isolate which is derived from Yellow Peas 鈥� of which Saskatchewan produces 50 per cent of Canada鈥檚 production.聽
鈥淚 like to think that the incoming trend for both starches and proteins from yellow peas is similar to the Canola crush boom that Yorkton experienced in the mid 2000鈥檚 with the global switch in demand from butter over to margarine. The prairies are seeing a large amount of investment in pea fractionation facilities that will provide grain producers both a premium similar to what canola crush facilities offer, while also allowing them more economic freedom to add in a nitrogen fixing crop into their crop rotations.聽 To the east of Yorkton, Roquette, is currently constructing a plant that will process 125,000 metric tonnes per year of pulse crops after 2020 in Portage La Prairie Manitoba through a Wet Fractionation process, and to the North West of Yorkton, Verdient Foods is currently operating at 160,000 metric tonnes a year through a Dry Fractionation process.鈥�
During UNLEASH, the 1,000 talents will go through an immersive innovation process facilitated by Deloitte, where they will be collaborating on solutions that can help reach the SDGs by 2030. They will be guided by a group of facilitators with expertise in their field as well as global experts and mentors.
Nussbaumer said he looks forward to the challenge and opportunity the event offers.
鈥淚鈥檒l be working with talents that have a similar interest and focuses in Sustainable Development Goal 12: Sustainable Consumption and Production,鈥� he said.
鈥淲e will be working on ideas pitched both by individuals attending the event, and solutions compiled by Deloitte that potential investors are looking to have solved. 聽
鈥淔or five days the talents will work long hours together on how to address these challenges while also working with mentors ranging from experts in marketing and finance, to investors potentially interested in the solutions to the ideas after the event.聽
鈥淭he teams will be working in different locations across Shenzhen 鈥� a city of a population of over 10 million people.聽
鈥淭alents like myself focused on SDG 12 will be working at the Silver Star Science and Technology Park, an ecological science park with more than 350 organizations and 2,000 employees working for organizations including Fuji Xerox, Silver Star Intelligent Technology, Shenzhen Digital Life Research Institute.鈥澛�
Nussbaumer said in a release regarding the upcoming summit that he sees agriculture as 小蓝视频 part of the solution to key issues, not a problem itself.
鈥淎griculture in Saskatchewan is both a solution to greenhouse gas emissions and a solution to non-biodegradable waste.聽Coming from an agriculture background in both livestock and grain production here in Saskatchewan, I鈥檝e seen opportunities to capitalize on creating value-added opportunities to not only benefit the margins of grain and livestock producers, but benefit the world by making every day consumables more sustainable.聽聽These solutions will create a more circular and sustainable economy, while also benefiting Saskatchewan鈥檚 agriculture focused economy,鈥� he stated in the release. 鈥淚鈥檓 very excited to present and build connections around Saskatchewan鈥檚 products to other upcoming leaders in the Sustainable Development Goals around the world - from starch by-products from the increased demand for plant-based proteins that can be utilized to make cost efficient biodegradable bioplastics, to the by-products from grains not useable for food consumption that can be utilized to create sustainable low greenhouse gas emitting power 鈥� Saskatchewan鈥檚 agriculture has the solutions to address climate change and create a low carbon and circular economy.鈥�
Asked to elaborate further on his vision of agriculture鈥檚 role, Nussbaumer told Yorkton This Week it is a case of melding the sector鈥檚 strengths to address specific issues.
鈥淚 think we will see more of the pulse fractionation facilities mentioned above come online into the next decade with meat production organizations like Maple Leaf and Cargill looking to diversify and capitalize on the plant-based consumer demand,鈥� he began. 鈥淥ur government and private industry is trying to capitalize on this demand with the launch of Protein Industries Canada 鈥� a supercluster that is estimated to generate over $700 million in new commercial activity and billions in incremental GDP over the next decade, along with 4,700 new jobs in Canada.鈥�
That will change the dynamics moving forward.
鈥淭he current demand for Saskatchewan pulse crops is specifically the pea protein isolate, but over time I think you will see demand for a lot of the starch for biodegradable bioplastics as crude oil plastic represents approximately 10 per cent of worldwide crude oil production,鈥� offered Nussbaumer.聽鈥淲ith countries globally banning single use plastics, I think we will also see a trend back towards compostable packaging we used to see in grocery stores, and these products can be created from fibers grown in Saskatchewan from hemp, flax, wheat straw, and more.聽
鈥淵ou are also seeing many agriculture producers growing canola year over year, and not introducing more nitrogen fixing crops like pulses in their rotations based on the economics of canola over pulses.聽
鈥淭his new demand for pulse ingredients will hopefully address this issue similar to how agriculture producers grow large quantities of soybeans - which is also nitrogen fixing.鈥�
Nussbaumer said he heads to China with a hope to promote what Saskatchewan can offer in addressing some key global issues.
鈥淢y goal at the event is promote how Saskatchewan鈥檚 agriculture by-products are solutions to many issues around low emitting energy production, and for biodegradable bioplastics.鈥� he explained.聽 鈥淔rom starch by-products from the increased demand for plant-based proteins that can be utilized to make cost efficient biodegradable bioplastics, to the by-products from grains not useable for food consumption that can be utilized to create sustainable low greenhouse gas emitting power 鈥� I will be promoting Saskatchewan agriculture, and how it has solutions to create a more low carbon economy.聽
鈥淭here is currently a global trend towards governments phasing out single use plastics ranging from plastic bags to plastic water bottles.聽Between 2010 and 2019, the number of public policies intended to phase out plastic carryout bags alone tripled. 聽One solution no longer utilized crude oil for plastics can be to utilize plant based starches from crops like yellow peas and canola for biodegradable bioplastics.聽
鈥淢any organizations are working towards a solution of creating a bioplastic from the starch from canola and pulse crops, but are still having an issue with making them fully biodegradable.鈥�
So why might the processes Nussbaumer speaks of work where others seeking global solutions have not?
鈥淭he two largest hurdles to making starch based bioplastics mainstream is the strategy on making them biodegrade and how to produce them as or more economical as crude plastic,鈥� he offered.聽鈥淏ioplastics can easily be made into identical crude plastics, but the goal is to be able to grow the plastic from crops like pulses, and then be able to throw them in either the recycling bin or the compost bin. 聽
鈥淢y background is not in chemistry but in finance, agriculture, and marketing, and my goal is to hopefully work with talents that have a background in chemistry or chemical engineering that can look at processes that make bioplastics economically viable.聽
鈥淭he initial hurdle to making bioplastics mainstream is to bring it to an economy of scale.聽Just like how iPhones are now extremely cheap thanks to everyone owning one, the process of making bioplastics won鈥檛 be cheap until a large amount of consumers have adopted the inevitable switch to the more biodegradable solution.鈥�
So what is Nussbaumer hoping comes out of the summit in China?
鈥淥n the last two days, talents pitch our ideas in teams in front of a jury,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he best solutions compete at a 鈥楧ragons鈥� Den-style鈥� event where the ideas are grilled for both their economics and practicality and if the ideas are good enough you are invited to the following year鈥檚 event to again further the ideas or work with new ideas.鈥�
And that is where Nussbaumer wants to be when the dust settles.
鈥淢y goal is to hopefully be able to pitch the idea in the Dragons Den style competition at the end, but if not, offer my skills in finance, agriculture, and marketing in another viable idea,鈥� he said.聽鈥淚t would be really exciting to see the idea I鈥檓 working on come to fruition, but the connections and experience of going to work with such talented individuals across the world is rewarding enough.鈥�
