Less than a year ago, at the Biobased Economy network conference in Amsterdam, we heard Avantium’s Ed de Jong tell the audience that the long-awaited first commercial FDCA plant would ‘most likely’ not be located in Europe. But in last … Read more
At the recent World Bio Markets conference, president Marcel Lubben of Reverdia delivered an optimistic speech on the future of biobased chemicals. There is a place in the world for its star product biobased succinic acid, he said, even at … Read more
At Cosun, the age of biorefinery has really begun. Originally a sugar producer, it now looks with a keen eye on the opportunities of value creation from all components of its main side product, beet pulp. So far, this pulp … Read more
Many biobased chemicals and biobased materials suffer from low fossil energy prices – but materials with new properties are still in demand. This was the general opinion at the 9th International Conference on Biobased Materials, organised by nova Institute and … Read more
Germany’s nova-Institute has published the first comprehensive market study on the consumption of compostable and biodegradable plastics in Europe, announced managing director Michael Carus at the 9th International Conference on Bio-based Materials, which the institute hosted this week in Cologne. … Read more
Coca-Cola and Danone have not yet decided on biobased plastics for their bottles (PET or PEF), but DuPont announces another competitor: PTF. Last month, it published its plans to construct a 60 ton/year ‘demonstration plant’ (rather a pilot plant, at … Read more
‘Consumers will soon notice that the origin of everyday products is changing, with items such as clothing, shoes, water and soda bottles, and even automobile tyres being manufactured from plant-based rather than petroleum-based materials. This quiet revolution has been steadily … Read more
Natural fibre composites are plastics reinforced with natural fibres: mostly wood, bamboo, flax or hemp. They are increasingly used in consumer goods like watchcases, toys, combs and trays. The unique look and feel of these composites give the impression of … Read more
Ludo Diels, senior researcher sustainable chemistry at Vito, the Flemish institute for research of sustainable technologies, is very positive about the future of lignin. This third major wood component (after cellulose and hemicellulose) used to be a waste product, useful … 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 regional development agency of Northern France, and among others visited … 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 $ 1 billion. Therefore, it will take quite some time for … Read more
At EFIB in Brussels last month, Tom Beardslee proudly presented Verdezyne’s achievements in the production of biobased chemicals. His company will be the first to sell biobased dodecanedioic acid in the market; conveniently called DDDA among insiders. DDDA is a … Read more
Although some impatience can be heard among the stakeholders of the biobased economy, there are developments – slow but steady. Here we highlight some of them, though this might still not convince the sceptics. In a recent article, my colleague … 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 to (re-)design our living spaces so that humans, nature and … Read more
The enormous utility of polyethylene, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyvinyl chloride, and other polyolefins cannot be disputed, but their real cost is debatable. My teenage daughter makes cookies in our kitchen. The ingredients — flour, sugar, chocolate chips, etc. — are always … 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 which the metal substrate has been replaced by wood fibrils, … Read more
Bioplastics started their development just recently, said Innovia’s Andy Sweetman at the Bio!Pac conference, last week. Fossil-based plastics are at the height of their learning curve, they cannot improve very much anymore. Whereas there is much room for improvement in … Read more
One of the discussions at the Bio!Pac conference, organised by Bioplastics Magazine and Holland Bioplastics last week in Amsterdam, was about biodegradable versus biobased. Bioplastics, around which the conference revolved, are by no means all biodegradable. Is that a problem? … 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 ethylene glycol in its trail. That is the basis for … Read more
In the future, we might not blow, mould or cast most of our materials, but grow them. That is, if we embrace mycelium, the ultimate biobased material: fully green, growing on any substrate (particularly on waste) and fully biodegradable. We … Read more
Among the surprising new companies in the biobased industry is certainly Inbiose. This spin-off from Ghent University specialises in specialty carbohydrates: very complex structures consisting of a precisely controlled sequence of simple sugar molecules. Oligosaccharides, in technical terms. Inbiose can … Read more
The Italian blog Il Bioeconomista recently announced that the American biotech company Genomatica (San Diego) intends to develop enzymatic industrial pathways for the production of the chemical building blocks hexamethylenediamine, adipic acid and caprolactam. These compounds are drop-ins in the … Read more
Automotive industry does seem willing to use biobased materials in the motor car. But only if they comply with the industry’s demands: lighter, or cost reducing, or more comfortable, or of better longevity. Moreover, industry would like more to know … Read more
The Italian petrochemical group Versalis is working on the conversion of two European sites. It has decided to develop itself, particularly in the biobased materials. Versalis, the chemical department of the Italian petrochem giant Eni, and Elevance Renewable Sciences, a … Read more
In the future, wood fibres can be processed to be as strong as steel, or as soft as cotton. These wood fibres are biodegradable, but stronger than steel or aluminium per kilogram. KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm developed … 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 a budget of € 38 million, of which € 23 … 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. The meeting’s workshops were about material waste streams like metals … 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 degradation have been a focus of debate; now researchers started … Read more
Researchers of the University of Amsterdam (UvA) have made a new step in the development of glycix, the only thermoset plastic that is both biobased and biodegradable. All inflexible plastic items used in homes and buildings can be made from … Read more
Pharmafilter is a Dutch company that has developed a new and sustainable system for processing hospital waste. It produces devices like bed-pans and urinals from a biobased and biodegradable plastic; these can be ground after single use, and processed in … Read more
The recent report ‘Strategy for a green society’ (in Dutch) of the Scientific and Technological Committee for the biobased economy (WTC) puts an emphasis on biobased materials. Biobased materials are the driving force for the biobased economy, according to the … Read more
Last month, the Danish ombudsman spoke out against Coca-Cola. His verdict amounted to the assertion that the soft drink bottling company had greenwashed the plant bottle: suggested matters to be greener than they were. The company hardly reacted. The project … Read more
Synthetic and glass fibres have never completely substituted natural fibres. On the contrary, there is a growing interest for application of natural fibres in composite materials – biobased or not, biodegradable or not – and as an insulating construction material. … Read more
‘We passed the 400 ppm CO2 mark in the air this year, and it will not stop there. To put things into perspective: in 1960 we passed the 300 ppm level. What should we do now? Produce virtually CO2-free products. … Read more
Europe has the best feedstock for producing biopolymers, beet sugar, but instead aims at developing cellulosic crops. An example of Europe’s ineffectiveness. ‘A Southeast Asian delegation recently remarked to me: While Europe talks, we build,’ says Marc Verbruggen, CEO and … Read more
How does one draw public attention to the new, green economy? And the industry’s attention? The answer: call in the creative people, the industrial designers, the architects, the game and the fashion designers. In short, the people with creative ideas. … Read more
Plexiglas emits 2½ kilos of CO2 per kilogram of product, Geo and I find. We looked it up on the internet. Glass is much less CO2-efficient, 8.4 kilos of CO2 per kilogram of glass. Unless one uses recycled glass, then … Read more
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 PE/PP, and new biopolymers like PLA and PHA. Hardly any … Read more
Energy throughput in the biosphere is very small, actually. Biomass production from incident light is relatively inefficient, also in Russian wood or Sargasso seaweed. The earth receives an amount of solar irradiation equal to 160.000 TW; less than 100 TW … Read more
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. The secret? BioAmber is the first company to offer biosuccinic … Read more
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 cycle. Its main economic uses are in oil recovery, beverages … Read more
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 surprisingly: the entire chemical network buzzes with enthusiasm. Just a … Read more
In a column on this site, dated 21 August, Lucas Reijnders is of the opinion that presently available bioplastics are more environmentally harmful than the most common fossil-based plastics. He refers to the ‘Pittsburgh Study’, a heavily criticized source with … Read more
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 biomass. That is good advice. Photosynthesis is beautiful but its … Read more
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 … Read more
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 PET (polyethylene terephthalate). It also has better properties. Tom van … Read more
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 were quite a few of them. And they were very … Read more
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 big player. Synbra Holding in all its European branches produces … Read more
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 money into the product, this giant is coming to life … Read more
‘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 Groningen University. ‘Most of the enzymes we need for this, … Read more