Urban agriculture, a new economic branch
At least one hundred projects have applied for a stand on the second exhibition day for urban agriculture in the Netherlands. ‘The sector is growing so fast that next year, … Read more
Demand-driven research? Nothing of the sort!
Sorry, this column on Dutch innovation policy and biobased SMEs is only available in Dutch.
Much romanticism in the food/fuel discussion
There is a lot of emotion in the food/fuel discussion. Of course in the disguise of academic arguments, and supplied with discourses on LCA and ILUC, but nevertheless firmly rooted … Read more
Steve Hartig (POET-DSM): Europe develops the knowledge, the US builds the factories
‘Americans act and deliver, Europeans doubt and talk.’ Says Steve Hartig, General Manager to POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels, the joint venture of the Dutch biotech company and the largest alcohol producer … Read more
An autarkic building
Sorry, this review of the sustainable restaurant ‘Aan Zee’ (By the Sea) in Oostvoorne near Rotterdam is only available in Dutch.
Liquefied Bio Gas (LBG) in the polder
Trucks and even airplanes can run on Liquefied Bio Gas. Jan Cees Vogelaar, an innovative farmer in the Dutch province of Flevoland, and founder of HarvestaGG company in Lelystad, has … Read more
The quagmire of Dutch innovation policy
Sorry, this column on Dutch innovation policy is only available in Dutch.
CO2 will substitute sugars as an industrial feedstock, in due time
In our minds, Photanol is one of the potential winners among start-ups, the company owned by professors Joost Texeira de Mattos and Klaas Hellingwerf of the University of Amsterdam. Their … Read more
Biobased polymers will make a breakthrough within ten years
Biobased polymers will triple in capacity to 12 million tons by 2020. That will equal 3% of total polymer production. The most important biopolymers will be biobased drop-in PET and … Read more
Innovation, will we ever see it coming
Sorry, this article on Dutch innovation policy is only available in Dutch.
Cold recovery of potato proteins, a wonderful innovation
Potatoes contain a lot of proteins. Up to two percent. Moreover, the potato contains its proteins in a special way, i.e. in an aqueous solution. AVEBE, the Dutch potato starch … Read more
Ton Runneboom: industrial sugar might be a breakthrough for the biobased economy
In 2015, an entirely new agricultural policy needs to be in place in Europe. Hopefully, this new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will offer new opportunities for innovation, and for the … Read more
No glass wool, but flax wool
Three years ago, I attended a DPI (Dutch Polymer Institute) meeting, on the question to what extent sectors had embraced the biobased economy. Everyone present made much of the achievements … Read more
Shale gas and biobased, parallel and non-conflicting
If shale gas would have entered the US market five years earlier, this might have had very adverse consequences for the entire biobased economy (BBE). It might even have been … Read more
‘Actively waiting’
Sorry, this column on research on the common Dutch citizen’s approach to the biobased economy/society is only available in Dutch. Please mail us (through the contact form) if you are … Read more
The biobased society, a better world?
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 … Read more
Algae: continued high expectations
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 … Read more
Stressed LED algae produce more oil
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 … Read more
First European GM algae project
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 … Read more
Biobased economy in the polder
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 … Read more
True Price: Roefie Hueting was right
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 … Read more
Crib captures CO2, as coal-fired power stations do not
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 … Read more
Parents, let your children be operators in the bioeconomy
Let nobody accuse the European Commission of not engaging itself in what it calls the bioeconomy. Last month, the Commission held a kind of hearing on the part played by … Read more
BioAmber: the success of open innovation and partnering
It is just a small company, BioAmber, and it is quite young as well. Yet, is has concluded a large number of cooperation agreements, and many chemical companies are interested. … Read more
Biofuels without agro
They were awarded many prizes for their innovative technology. New Zealand’s LanzaTech owns an entire fleet of bacteria, fit to process industrial waste gases and waste products directly into biofuels … Read more
Innovative Dutch chemical industry in a Northwest-European cluster
Sorry, this article on Dutch innovation policy is only available in Dutch.
Europe hesitates and lags behind
‘You always want to employ the perfect technology right away’, the Americans mirrored us, Europeans, at the occasion of last week’s EFIB final debate, in Düsseldorf. Where EFIB is the … Read more
Green economy to overcome the crisis
Sorry, this news item on Dutch politics is only available in Dutch.
It does not work
Sorry, this column on Dutch innovation policy is only available in Dutch.
Shale gas is responsible for a gas price seven times as low in the US as in Europe
‘Even in 2011 we could not imagine the magnitude of the impact of shale gas on energy supply and chemical industry. Shale gas recovery, and fracking as a technology, have … Read more
European Commission takes a closer look at the regions
The bioeconomy is regional in nature, and now Europe has discovered that, too. At a ‘hearing’ in Brussels it became apparent that the new wealth will be rural in nature, … Read more
Bioplastics from carbon dioxide, new and biodegradable
Carbon dioxide is the final product of the carbon cycle, either by biological processes or by incineration. It disappears into the atmosphere or is taken up in a new photosynthetic … Read more
The carbon dioxide economy, the next revolution in chemistry
Carbon dioxide is not a waste material but a feedstock. That was the idea behind the German nova-Institut’s conference, one of the first CO2-conferences to be held in Europe. And … Read more
China might master artificial photosynthesis and artificial meat within five years
‘Chinese concentrate in their research on four important areas: CO2-economy (of which artificial photosynthesis is a part), solar energy (PV), methanol, and artificial meat (proteins).’ According to Michael Carus, director, … Read more
Rein Willems, outgoing chairman of Dutch Topsector Chemistry
Sorry, this blog on Dutch innovation policy is only available in Dutch.
Jos Keurentjes (AkzoNobel): green base chemicals production to slow down because of shale gas
Will shale gas – soon to be in abundant supply – become a threat to the green chemical industry? Jos Keurentjes (AkzoNobel) judges it too early to make a verdict. … Read more
Gunter Pauli and the ‘Blue Economy’
The interesting thing about festivals like Springtij at Terschelling is, that out of the blue you run into people with a completely new line of thinking. Someone like Gunter Pauli, … Read more
A sustainability festival
Sorry, this blog on a sustainability festival on the Dutch island of Terschelling is only available in Dutch.
The European Commission’s alcohol problem
The European Commission may renounce its former renewable fuel directive, and plans to lower the required renewable fuel percentage from 10 to 5%. The ethanol industry is furious, and accuses … Read more
SeaGriculture
Seaweed for human consumption. In the Far East, it has been on the menu for ages. In our bioshops it is quite expensive nowadays – but in the Western world, … Read more
EuropaBio’s Most Innovative Biotech SME Award 2012
The Austrian healthcare Biotech SME ProtAffin AG and the French Global Bioenergies are the joint winners of the Most Innovative Biotech SME Award 2012. EuropaBio names three other outstanding runners … Read more
Shale gas in Europe
Item in the discussion series on shale gas on this site. The European Parliament Environmental Committee is of the opinion that member states should be prudent in drilling for shale … Read more
No chemistry
Sorry, this column about a discussion in The Hague, 17 September, on biobased business opportunities, is only available in Dutch.
Election debates
Sorry, this blog on sustainability in the Dutch elections is only available in Dutch.
Carbon dioxide economy
German Nova-institute released an interesting press release, August 15: ‘The next revolution: CO2 plus renewable energy can serve as a feedstock for fuels, chemicals and plastics’. According to Nova’s CO2 … Read more
Futureland
Just for a second, one forgets Europe and feels a one hundred percent Dutchman on a hot Sunday afternoon. Where? In ‘Futureland’. Again please? Right, nowadays that is the name … Read more
How the West was lost
‘Everyone should read this book’ is a thought which does not come up often. But it did come up with me as I read ‘How the West was lost’ by … Read more
PLA to become a major biobased plastic
An estimated production capacity of almost 800.000 tons per year of polylactic acid (PLA) polymer in 2020. That is the outcome of a study by nova-Institute, based in Hurth, Germany. … Read more
DSM, a smart player in the biobased economy
There is a big opportunity for the Dutch chemical industry beyond bulk products. A small country, with a strong agro-food sector and specialized technology, should aim to develop knowledge and … Read more
An avalanche on wheels
Having been the owner of a little house in the French campagne, visited each year, I had not been in the mountains for some twenty years. But finally we went … Read more