Election debates
Sorry, this blog on sustainability in the Dutch elections is only available in Dutch.
In memory of Leo Jansen (1934-2012)
Forty years ago I met Leo for the first time, and our paths kept crossing agreeably often. In the early seventies, Leo soon joined the Reflection Group on Energy Policy, … Read more
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
Long live Europe, trend 3: new social networks are on the rise
In Europe we witness intensive social participation, coupled to increased self-confidence. People often decide to leave government and political parties aside. They seek and find each other in loose alliances, … 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
Mark Bünger (Lux Research): as yet many questions, few answers in the biobased economy
Mark Bünger, author of the recent Lux Research report on biochemicals and biomaterials (see the article on this site), holds the opinion that the viability of a green chemical industry … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
Selective usage
A recent report by the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (discussed here on the 10th of august by Diederik van der Hoeven) argues in favour of selective energetic usage of … 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
Long live Europe, trend 2: organisations will be founded on trust
In recent years, males with megalomaniac ambitions have formed absurd conglomerates which require likewise absurd controls for their management. The tops of fantasy organisations that collapsed, carrying names thought up … Read more
Use biomass selectively, says Leopoldina report
The recent report ‘Bioenergy, chances and limits’, by the German Leopoldina National Academy of Sciences, is the newest in a growing list of critical reports on bioenergy. On a macro … Read more
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 … 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
Sustainability: more focus on opportunities, less on threats
Until recently sustainability debates had a strong focus on the environmental effects of our actions. Books like Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent spring’, the Club of Rome report ‘Limits to growth’, and … Read more
Long live Europe, trend 1: women will take the lead
Women play a much larger part in the European economy than twenty years ago. The development is both almost unnoticeable and swift. In the Netherlands, women now have the majority … Read more
Why it is so hard to sell sustainability
Sustainability is a difficult subject. Many conversation partners are willing to accept that mankind pursues activities which endanger the planet, ecosystems, future generations, plants, animals. But they have a hard … Read more
Debrief Rio+20
Disappointment and resolve. Those were the general feelings in the Rio+20 debrief meeting, July 19 in The Hague. Disappointment because results had been meagre: merely the affirmation of previous agreements, … 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
Shale gas, a possible threat to green chemistry?
We all know that ‘Big Oil’ is not fond of green chemistry and the green economy. But biobased chemists trust that crude oil prices will keep rising, dragging along natural … Read more
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 … Read more
Why PEF is better than PET
Biobased PEF (polyethylene furanoate), the new feedstock for soft drink bottles (Coca Cola and Danone) is not only green, but also cheaper to produce than both fossil and drop-in green … Read more
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 … Read more
Top sector policy, a mission impossible?
Government should invest more in innovation in businesses, and less in fundamental scientific research. That is the shorthand notation for the new Dutch innovation policy, ‘top sector policy’. But this … Read more
Will there ever be a big BPM factory in Europe?
They were not overly optimistic, the industrialists gathered at the conference on Biobased Performance Materials, last week in Wageningen, on the future prospects of the bioplastics industry in Europe. There … Read more
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 … Read more
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 … Read more
Ruud Lubbers: Rotterdam is going to be the biohub for North-western Europe
Ruud Lubbers, long standing prime minister of the Netherlands, now is one of the main advisors of the Rotterdam Climate Initiative. Energy efficiency, sustainable energy, carbon capture and storage, and … Read more
Marcel Wubbolts: DSM is the first in second generation biobased
‘We had quite some response, and congratulations from peer companies too, as we announced our next step in the implementation of bioalcohol production from corn waste end January 2012, a … Read more
Synbra takes the biobased economy to your home
Synbra Technology, an Etten-Leur (the Netherlands) based company which produces sustainable bioplastics, is small (90 employees); but as a part of Synbra Holding (26 branches throughout Europe) it is a … Read more
Cosun and the unbeatable beet
For Cosun, the beet is exceptionally suited as a starting point in the bio-based economy. ‘The sugar beet has by far the highest yield in the Netherlands (and elsewhere), and … Read more
Avantium’s furanic technology, a giant awakening
Just two years ago Tom van Aken, Avantium’s CEO, called its 2,5-furanic dicarboxylic acid (FDCA) a sleeping giant. But since Coca-Cola and other big players are putting bags of development … Read more
Annita Westenbroek: biorefinery is at the heart of the biobased economy
Annita Westenbroek, director of the Dutch Biorefinery Cluster, a partnership of agricultural and biobased industrial companies, holds the opinion that the Netherlands can easily produce enough biomass to feed the … Read more
Jos Keurentjes: at AkzoNobel, sustainability is our license to operate
‘Last year we worked on a road map for AkzoNobel’s green chemistry,’ says Jos Keurentjes, Director of Technology in AkzoNobel and a Technical University Eindhoven professor. ‘We have already reached … Read more
Lubbert Dijkhuizen, a man of many research projects
Biotechnology and Microbial Physiology is one of several chairs held by Lubbert Dijkhuizen at the University of Groningen. Enzymatic modification of starch is one of his many research projects, in … Read more
Johan Sanders: efficient use of biomass is the key
Johan Sanders is a professor in valorisation of biomass chains at Wageningen UR. According to Johan, the key to successful deployment of biomass is its efficient use: efficiency in use … Read more
Essent: important sustainability efforts from a major utility
RWE-daughter Essent is the main importer of biomass for energy purposes in the Netherlands. It has gone to great lengths to improve the sustainability of its imports, and in doing … 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 … Read more
Wageningen University and Research Centre (WUR)
Wageningen UR is the focal point of the strong Dutch knowledge base in agribusiness. Traditionally, there has been a strong connection between Dutch agriculture and knowledge development; Dutch farmers and … Read more
Biogas is big in Niedersachsen
In the landscape, differences between Niedersachsen and the Northern Netherlands are almost unnoticeable. On both sides of the border, biobased economy is in full development. A lot of research and … Read more
DSM was the first to discover biocatalytic ‘Green Pathways’
‘In the ‘80s we at DSM felt that antibiotics should be synthesised differently. Although at that time, we did not produce those medicines ourselves.’ Says Alle Bruggink, former Nijmegen professor, … Read more
Grass, a valuable feedstock for the biobased economy
We should take another view of grass, according to Grassa. Cows in meadows are beautiful, but grass contains too much proteins for the cow. Why not extract that excess first? … Read more
Biorefinery, a new model for farmer’s incomes
‘Cows in the meadow in a real Frisian landscape will always be the subject of romanticism’, says Gjalt de Haan, ‘but the dairy farmer as the producer of milk as … Read more
Enzymatic polymerisation. New!
‘Enzymatic polymerisation is a totally new branch of science and technology’, says associate professor Dr. Katja Loos of the Zernike Institute for Advanced Materials (ZIAM), the top research school of … Read more
Biogas: the logic behind our process is strong as iron, says BioSys Group
‘The Netherlands lag behind in biomass use. Germany, for instance, has more than 3.000 maize fermentation units, the Netherlands just a few. On the other hand, now we have the … Read more
Biomethanol in the Netherlands
Methanol, commonly produced from natural gas, is an interesting transport fuel, and a feedstock for products like plastics and paints. Natural gas feedstock contributes to almost three quarters of methanol’s … Read more
Bioclear: we concentrate on the niche of the biological solution
Groningen based Bioclear bacterially purifies soil and water pollution. ‘Most bacteria we find ourselves, in nature’, says Sytse Keuning, founder and manager of the company, started in 1988 as a … Read more
API, Cumapol: biobased is a megatrend in polymers
API Institute (Applied Polymer Innovations) and Cumapol (CUstom MAde POLyesters) are neighbouring companies at Emmtec Industry & Business Park in Emmen (the Netherlands). Both have their own way to anticipate … Read more