The entire potato

‘We should again valorise the entire potato.’ In one sentence, AVEBE’s ambition in the biobased economy. In order to realize this goal, the corporation has many ideas for opportunities in research. ‘More than we can finance. We will have to … Read more

Long live Europe, trend 5: decentralisation of industry in a biobased society

The environmental movement of the seventies, precursor to the present movement for sustainability, was largely anti-technological. Technology seemed to be inherently large-scale; it produced nuclear power stations and polluting chemical complexes. But technology has taken a turn into the opposite … Read more

Carbohydrate Competence Centre (CCC) takes 70% of all living matter as its research object

The Carbohydrate Competence Centre performs in-depth scientific research on carbohydrate synthesis, modification and degradation. CCC thus aims to generate and develop high-quality knowledge in the field of carbohydrates, to stimulate innovation and contribute to a healthier and more sustainable society. … Read more

Avans

Avans University of Applied Sciences is one of several dozens of its kind in the Netherlands. These are meant to give hands-on education for students with practical rather than theoretical careers in mind. Local companies cooperate closely in their science, … Read more

Regulation as a bottleneck

Ancient regulation might stand in the way of biobased economy development in many forms. These bottlenecks differ among countries; here we offer an overview with some examples. Waste regulation Waste regulation is intended to serve public health. Manure and offal … Read more

Phosphate and soil carbon

High yields generally require sufficient fertilizer, e.g. phosphate. Phosphorus is an element essential to plant growth. But whereas nitrogen fertilizer is synthesized, the only way to produce fertilizer containing phosphorus, is to mine it as phosphate. World phosphate resources are … Read more

First versus second generation

In the biofuel debate, it important to distinguish first and second generation technologies. First generation technologies produce biofuel from edible feedstock like starch (from maize), sugar (from sugar cane) or rape seed oil. Second generation technologies produce biofuel from wood … Read more