Will the advent of the biobased society lead to a better world? One the face of it, one would affirm this idea: back to nature, or something like that. Jean-Jacques Rousseau and the Physiocrats, but at a higher technological level; … Read more
Whereas silicon wafer based PV technology keeps improving and production costs of PV electricity keeps falling, thin film PV is on its way to develop as a mass product as well. Most experts judge that thin film solar cells will … Read more
Biofuel, fodder, chemical platform chemicals, and high-value specialties production. From algae which grow up to ten times faster than plants in the soil. It has the appearance of the biobased economy itself: major projects, a lot of research, test sites … Read more
Arnoud van Diem, an entrepreneur, and CEO of AF&F (Algae Food & Fuel) and of Biosoil, grows algae at the ACRRES site in Lelystad, the Netherlands. He uses both sunlight and LED lamps emitting light of precisely the correct wavelength … Read more
Sorry, this column on the seventh Dutch biobased economy network meeting in Breda, is only available in Dutch.
The very moment Kenneth Epstein, an American venture capitalist, proved by solid data that the biobased economy in the United States is waning, a Reuters message arrived in our e-mail, unfolding a much more optimistic view. In both stories shale … Read more
Canada and China are about to sign a trade agreement which would allow China to develop tar sands in Alberta in exchange for enhanced protection of Canadian companies in China. The draft agreement is the subject of a heated debate, … Read more
Although the official European Commission policy still rejects GMO products for food (green biotech), there seems to be a policy change in the approach to industrial biotechnology (white biotech). In particular concerning use of genetically modified ‘work horses’, i.e. genetically … Read more
Herman Vermeer is a farmer in the Flevo polder. He grows stew (potatoes, onions, carrots), wheat, rutabaga and tulips on 70 hectares; and he is a partner in a wind collective, with his neighbours. Among them they own 10 MegaWatts, … Read more
Climate change is going to disrupt society, that is for sure, says Paul Gilding. We cannot avert disaster any more, as mankind in its stupidity does much too little about climate change. Until it is too late and disruption will … Read more
It strikes me that so many aging, i.e. retired people, attend sustainability conferences. Youngsters are present but mainly on behalf of their employers. Elderly people have been engaged in other sectors and now concentrate on sustainability issues. Quite enthusiastically. And … Read more
‘The unsuccessful energy transition stands in the way of the biobased economy,’ says Jan Rotmans. ‘Whereas the energy sector is going to disappear. In the future transition, the chemical sector will take its energy supply in its own hands. Above … Read more
I had looked forward intently to the report that Oxfam in the Netherlands (Oxfam Novib) would publish on 26 November, which would justify its campaign against European biofuel policies. They said, this would ‘conclude clearly’ that the economic and political … Read more
It was a wonderful reunion, Forty years of wind power in the Netherlands, organized by Chris Westra, the man whose self-built wind turbine in 1972 marked the beginning of an upsurge of sustainable energy. Many stories about the past forty … Read more
During advent, almost 50 tons of olivine sand will be dumped on stately Lange Voorhout in The Hague as a construction material for a crib. Olivine is a mineral rock which captures CO2. It would seem to be a ridiculous … Read more