Many steps needed for full-fledged green chemicals industry, says Lux report
There still are many obstacles on the road to a fully commercial green chemicals industry. That is the upshot of a study by Boston based Lux Research, ‘Pruning the Cost of Bio-Based Materials and Chemicals’ (also see the interview with the report’s author Mark Bünger on this site). Even where conventional feedstock like maize and
BASF, Cargill and Novozymes: acrylic acid production from renewable feedstock
On August 17, 2012, BASF, Cargill and Novozymes signed an agreement to develop technologies to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw materials. Presently, acrylic acid is produced by the oxidation of propylene derived from the refining of crude oil. Novozymes and Cargill have collaborated on renewable acrylic acid technology since 2008. Both companies have worked
Cargill ships first sustainable rapeseed oil to Unilever
Early July, Cargill supplied the first sustainably produced rapeseed oil to Unilever. The shipment covers about 5% of Unilever’s annual demand for rapeseed oil. Within 3 years, Cargill will be able to supply to Unilever its entire European demand for sustainably produced rapeseed oil. For Unilever, the oil is a feedstock for products like margarines
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. At present the total capacity of 25 companies amounts to 180.000 tons. Nature Works is the largest, its capacity being 140.000 tons in the US
Agro rock, agro lit, agro fashion
It seems to be an article like many thousands that are published each year; a scientific and technological article of the sort that scientists have got to publish for their careers. And yet, this article by Jean-Paul Lange (a Belgian engineer who works with Shell in Amsterdam) will probably change the world more profoundly than
Lignin, new opportunities
As researchers have discovered commercial pathways to separate cellulose and hemicellulose on a commercial scale, lignin treatment is the next step. And quite more complex. Utrecht University seems well underway to tackle this problem. Chemistry is on its way to discover many pathways for separation of vegetal fibres into green chemical building blocks. Recently, DSM
Europe’s bioeconomy: this year is decisive
That is Nathalie Moll’s opinion, secretary-general to Europabio, the Brussels lobby branch of Europe’s biotechnological industry. Industrial biotechnology is growing fast, and is selected as one of six Key Enabling Technologies for a greener and more sustainable Europe. The European bioeconomy (European shorthand for agriculture and all production from agricultural crops) by now has a
Logistics in the biobased society
It goes without saying that the biobased economy will produce major changes in society. Yet, many people do not realise to what an extent – eventually, the biobased economy will produce another society, a biobased society. Logistics is a fine example. Today, crude oil tankers make up for the biggest logistical movements around the globe,
