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Isosorbide, a biobased molecule with a bright future

Roquette Isosorbide production unit. Photo: Roquette.

Last week, we could hear everything about the wonderful substance isosorbide, a biobased compound with many useful applications. We were in Lille and its surroundings, on an invitation of the regional development agency of Northern France, and among others visited the company Roquette, a major producer of chemicals derived from wheat and maize starch. Isosorbide

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on: 30 November 2015

Better biomass utilisation in the biobased economy

In classical starch fermentation, like in beer production, almost half of the feedstock is wasted in the form of CO2. That may be allright for beer, but not in an efficient biobased chemical industry.

Nova-Institute, together with industry and universities (notably the University of York), developed a new tool for policy and investment decisions: the Biomass Utilisation Efficiency (BUE). BUE analysis will answer two important questions regarding the bioeconomy and bio-based chemicals: how efficiently is biomass utilised? And: what share of biomass ends up in the final product? On

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on: 20 November 2015

Biobased polymers too have long lead times, says Jan Ravenstijn

PLA is a very versatile biobased polymer, used in 3D printers and many other applications.

The development of new polymers is a lengthy and highly underestimated process, says Jan Ravenstijn. Development of new polymers, like new drugs, will roughly cost about two decades and $ 1 billion. Therefore, it will take quite some time for new biobased polymers and biobased chemicals to reach their full potential. It is not surprising

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on: 17 November 2015

Another biobased dicarboxylic acid moves toward commercial production, by Verdezyne

Underneath the hood, materials have to conform to very high quality standards.

At EFIB in Brussels last month, Tom Beardslee proudly presented Verdezyne’s achievements in the production of biobased chemicals. His company will be the first to sell biobased dodecanedioic acid in the market; conveniently called DDDA among insiders. DDDA is a dicarboxylic acid containing 12 C-atoms. It is a component of performance products like 6,12-nylon, used

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on: 15 November 2015

Controversies on genetic modification, part 2: what’s wrong with Monsanto

Controversies on genetic modification, part 2: what’s wrong with Monsanto

In discussions on genetic modification, the name Monsanto invariably produces much controversy. Both its critics and its proponents can be very emotional. We will argue that Monsanto has taken the wrong turn in green biotechnology. This is the second article in a series on controversies on genetic modification. The articles were published on 25 October,

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on: 8 November 2015

Biobased economy: slow but steady

Biobased economy: slow but steady

Although some impatience can be heard among the stakeholders of the biobased economy, there are developments – slow but steady. Here we highlight some of them, though this might still not convince the sceptics. In a recent article, my colleague Paul Reinshagen reported about the general feeling that more ‘guts’ would be needed to drive

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on: 5 November 2015

No good complaining about European waste legislation

NExBTL plant Neste Oil, Maasvlakte, Netherlands in commission for Technip With compliments, Hugo de Wolf, De Wolf images 18 May 2011

Recently I attended several biobased networking events where utilization of waste and by-products was discussed. I found these interesting talks; both because my company Abstraction partners with ARN to supply a tool to register by-products, and because it surprises me that apparently the business community still believes that governmental rules and regulations inhibit the utilization

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on: 2 November 2015