In many discussions on sustainable energy, energy storage is a controversial issue. Particularly non-experts use the lack of simple storage technologies as an unanswerable remark: all nice and well, sustainable … Read more
Synthetic Biology (SynBio) includes a large field of applications. Within this area biochemists combine engineering concepts and techniques with biology to design new genes that produce a specific protein. When … Read more
Within one month, three reports about genetic technology in crops. And on top of that, a trend analysis for the entire biotechnology, one month before. All four of them downloadable … Read more
Vertical farming is making headway into modern cities. Fresh produce being a unique selling point for vegetables, we will see more production units coming close to the customer. Vertical production … Read more
FD, the Dutch financial newspaper, today reported that Avantium will make new steps in green chemistry. It will construct a pilot plant to produce biobased MEG, directly from sugars. MEG … Read more
At first there was just LanzaTech, about which we wrote four years ago. Now there are many others: Newlight Technologies, INEOS Bio, Mango Materials. Companies that develop gas fermentation, using … Read more
Metabolic has quickly ascended to leadership in the field of circular economy consultancy in the Netherlands since its establishment in 2012. Recent projects include the bioremediation of a waterfront industrial … Read more
I devoted many words already to the advantages of genetic engineering. On paper, in the form of books and columns, as a speaker at schools, congresses, women’s associations, service clubs, … Read more
‘If you had asked me five years ago which branch of catalysis would gain the upper hand, I would have said biocatalysis,’ says professor Sébastien Paul, head scientist of the … Read more
Cleantech might have a much better impact on the economy than just sustainable energy. In the large body of literature that investigates the economic effects of climate policy, most economists … Read more
Photanol, based in Amsterdam, has started tests in greenhouses at Bleiswijk (Nl), where cyanobacteria will produce fragrances and flavourings, and intermediates for the chemical industry, with no other feedstock than … Read more
European seed companies are worried about the future. The existing sector – particularly in the Netherlands, Germany and France – is founded upon plant breeders’ rights, but the patent system … Read more
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 … Read more
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 $ … Read more
Today at EFIB, some of the main European bioeconomy clusters, from France, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK joined forces as the 3BI intercluster. 3BI is a strategic European partnership … Read more
Genetic modification is here to stay, and not just for economic reasons. Many arguments against it do not withstand logical and intellectual scrutiny. But some do, and the GM community … Read more
Transnatural Design, located in an Amsterdam basement, is an organisation that ‘offers smart design and breath-taking art in which nature & technology come together in unison…. Transnatural explores ways how … Read more
Genetic modification is not a new technology. But a new tool, CRISPR, now elevates it to a much higher level. And op top of that, genetic modification is in the … Read more
They are so wonderful, the ads of ‘100% natural’ products. In pastels, images of cute flowers and little animals pass along. Natural is hip. For consumers who request ‘pure’, nature’s … Read more
In our interview with Rudy Rabbinge we also discussed the future of agriculture. Can it develop in such a way that it will keep on feeding the world even if … Read more
In her book ‘Nature as an inventor’ (in Dutch), Ylva Poelman beautifully paints bionics as the subject of the future. Bionics is learning from nature: applying successful solutions from nature … Read more
Green chemistry is threatened both from without and within. In the heydays of classical organic chemistry, in a way many researchers overestimated their powers: they could synthesise anything, even from … Read more
The twelfth Dutch Biobased Economy network gathering in Amsterdam, yesterday, radiated optimism. Not in the least because of the positive messages from those two award-winning flagships of the biobased economy … Read more
Green chemistry is not just another science than the existing, fossil-based chemistry; green chemistry represents another philosophy as well. Whereas chemical industry now tries to synthesise complex substances from simple … Read more
In our first article on green chemistry we stressed the role of bio catalysis. This leads to a preference for feedstock from agriculture, at first in the small-scale fine chemical … Read more
Consumer electronics constitute a rapidly increasing source of waste. Cell phones, tablets and the like are typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable, partly environmentally toxic materials. A newly developed chip, in … Read more
One often gets the impression that all fascination for modern technology concentrates on ICT: robots, self-steering cars, mobile phones and their apps. Green chemistry, a breakthrough technology too, gets little … Read more
With great speed, genetic modification penetrates into our society – the biobased economy depends on it to a large extent. It does not evoke much discussion; ignorance and complacency abound. … Read more
Sorry, we publish this article on Dutch research policy only in Dutch.
Green, oil-producing algae appear to be able to remove problematic pollutants from waste water. So they clean up the waste and produce fuel at the same time. Researchers of the … Read more
So far, the laws of marketing have been insufficiently dealt with in our articles on biotechnologically produced food, and consumer reaction to it. In marketing, all revolves around a very … Read more
Industry is going to embrace synthetic biology. It can hardly do otherwise, following the promises of higher yields, purer products and greatly reduced environmental impact. But will their customers accept … Read more
Synthetic biology offers us a countless number of opportunities to reshape natural materials, and even our food. Yes, that would mean synthetic food. Many people would dismiss this right away … Read more
Yesterday’s article was about Friends of the Earth’s problems with vanillin sold on the market by Evolva. This substance is produced by organisms modified by synthetic biology, but nevertheless called … Read more
Last year, Friends of the Earth launched a campaign called ‘Extreme Genetic Engineering in Your Ice Cream?’, directed against ‘natural’ vanillin produced by genetically modified yeasts. It got assurances from … Read more
One of the main concerns about world food supply is the production of proteins. Lux Research, in a new study, suggests that ‘the current dominance of meat and seafood will … Read more
Public judgement surprises biotechnological researchers again and again. Sometimes it is surprisingly favourable, like in the case of the development of artemisinin, an anti-malarial drug, using modified organisms. Often it … Read more
This site recently ran fine stories about more sugar, soon on the market in North-western Europe; industry will process that to bioethanol and further to bioethylene, with ethylene oxide and … Read more
Marine biotechnology is a challenging field of research with the prospect of very interesting discoveries like new antibiotics, cosmetics and food additives – albeit with few commercial projects so far. … Read more
Biorefinery will come to the farm. On the basis of small-scale equipment that fits in a container; that allows farmers to create more value from their crops. The BioProductProcessor feeds … Read more
Insect biorefinery. Almost unimaginable, a few years ago. And yet, it is in full development. Its products will come to the market soon. The insect world will show us many … Read more
‘As a company, we want to feed the world, save CO2, move to a greener and more biobased economy, improve lives. But we always want to remain innovation-based and bring … Read more
‘In twenty years’ time, SeaLife Pharma will not exist anymore,’ says its CEO Alexander Pretsch. In many companies, such a statement would be cause for concern. But Pretsch implies that … Read more
The problem surfaces everywhere: how to organise successful R&D in a cooperation between research institutes and businesses. Two worlds with very different cultures. Each with their proper rules and their … Read more
Local initiatives often have tremendous potential. They use social media in their communication and derive great strength from that. Says David Trap, online media expert, in an interview with us. … Read more
In the end of 2013, EuroBioRef came to a close, a major European R&D project in the field of biorefinery. The project included 29 partners in 15 countries and had … Read more
Claude Roy is a man who paints wide views with inexhaustible energy. As the chairman of the French Club des Bio-économistes his message, voiced for many years is that we … Read more
Over the past ten years, we witnessed a very unbalanced development in the global solar cells sector. China rapidly expanded its production capacity, and could therefore use the latest technology … Read more
The meeting of the Public Servants’ Sustainability Network in The Hague was innovative. Artistic contributions like paintings, a performance and positioning turned it into more than a purely intellectual exercise. … Read more
Our industrial society exposes us to low doses of toxic substances. These are known to have health effects – but to what extent? For some time, air pollution and lung … Read more