A team of Northwestern University presents a cheap nickel catalyst that may appreciably simplify everyday plastics recycling. The catalyst breaks down polyolefins to oils and waxes. We use these plastics, … Read more
Exports of medicines from India and China haven’t taken place because the Western world invited them to do so. To the contrary, there were many visible and invisible obstacles. The … Read more
This month, BioBTX collected the € 80 million it needs for construction of its first commercial-sized factory. It will produce benzene, toluene and xylenes (BTX) from mixed plastic waste. A … Read more
PFAS is a generic term for a large group of fluor containing organic chemicals. They are being used as water repellents, like in non-stick pans, paper and coatings, packing materials … Read more
Hydrogen is at our disposal, so it seems, in many colours: black, grey, green, blue, turquoise, purple, aquamarine, pink, red, blue, yellow, orange, white, … [1, 2, 7]. Some colours … Read more
In a previous article, we wondered if the world will continue to produce food in sufficient quantities. What would prevent that? Population growth, increasing meat consumption, climate change, water scarcity … Read more
In industrial production of the major cephalosporins, we witness a development quite similar to that in the major penicillins. Using very clever chemistry, the 6-APA nucleus of penicillin is transformed … Read more
In 1972, almost 10 years after Ampicillin, Amoxicillin is introduced on the market. As it seems, to stay there forever. Both products are developed in the lab of the British … Read more
In these golden years 1960-1980, semisynthetic antibiotics are produced with very advanced chemistry and technology, in the eyes of contemporaries. But from today’s point of view, many primitive aspects are … Read more
Quite admirable, the fast development of a penicillin of their own at the Gist. And subsequent developments are at least as impressive. In November 1945 already, the Dutch government poses … Read more
Many of our readers will know the prominent role played by Germany in the development and the many applications of synthetic dyes. They will also know the name of Justus … Read more
‘The chemicals and materials industry is going to see more dramatic change over the next 20 years than it has in at least the last 50,’ says Anthony Schiavo, Senior … Read more
For those living in the 19th century, it was by no means evident that we could use chemistry as a weapon against bacteria. Chemistry was a young science. It found … Read more
Bio is in. Chemistry is out. Green is in. Grey is out. And the Netherlands (my home country) should rid itself from its dependence on natural gas. These are popular … Read more
By the end of 2019, both USA and EU became aware of their dependence on China and India in generic medicines supply. Particularly the dependence on China was judged to … Read more
Frances Arnold won the 2018 chemistry Nobel prize for her research on directed evolution. Directed evolution speeds up nature’s variation and selection process, and researchers use it to find the … Read more
Michael Carus, managing director of the German nova-Institute, has stirred up the plastics debate. While plastic waste is piling up and the seas get filled with plastic soup, Carus makes … Read more
Eco-friendly personal care is one of the topics in the coming BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Des Moines, Iowa, July 8-11. Other topics include of course biotechnology and … Read more
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ (Nelson Mandela). Hans Tramper is professor emeritus in Bioprocess Technology at Wageningen University and reflects on … Read more
The world needs to start purposely to restructure chemical industry in such a way that it is based on renewable carbon instead of fossil fuels, says nova-Institute in its latest … Read more
Biobased chemical building blocks go through a difficult phase: with falling crude oil prices over the past years, these chemicals had a hard time to remain competitive to fossil-based chemicals. … Read more
Bioplastics markets show a stable growth overall; but within them, the emphasis shifts to disruptive newcomers; so we learn from two reports issued last month. Synthetic biology (synbio) technologies are … Read more
Separation and purification are essential processes in the production of bio-based chemicals. This is challenging because bio-based compounds can only be manipulated under mild conditions. Scientists and engineers are trying … 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
‘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 … Read more
Last week, Reverdia and BioAmber announced that they signed a ‘non-assert agreement’. The companies are both involved in the production and commercialisation of biobased succinic acid. They agreed that BioAmber … 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
Nova-Institute, together with industry and universities (notably the University of York), developed a new tool for policy and investment decisions: the Biomass Utilisation Efficiency (BUE). BUE analysis will answer two … 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
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 … 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
North-western Europe has the best feedstock in the world for biobased industries, says Marc Verbruggen, NatureWorks’ CEO and largest PLA producer in the world. He could have added: also the … 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
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
A decade ago, in an authoritative scientific magazine, we published a prediction (1) on the synthesis of complicated molecules, primarily medicines. We foresaw the integration of chemo and bio catalysis … 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
Biofuels had an obvious appeal when oil prices were well over $ 100 a barrel. Developers thrived and almost a thousand flowers started to blossom. But then oil prices plummeted … Read more
Last month, the European Parliament finally agreed on a new compromise on the use of biomass for energy. Nova Institute listed the main effects of the new regulations on the … Read more
The production of levulinic acid is gaining momentum. Levulinic acid is one of the chemicals on the famous list of green ‘chemical building blocks’ of the US Department of Energy, … Read more
A ‘disruptive technology’, that is what Elevance Renewable Sciences calls the metathesis reaction on which the company is built; never omitting the proud words ‘Nobel Prize winning’ (Chemistry, 2005). They … Read more
Novamont is an Italian company that aims to develop materials and biochemicals through the integration of chemistry and agriculture. It is one of the flagships of the rapidly expanding Italian … 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
‘Companies that consider the construction of a factory for biobased bulk chemicals, will have to consider Europe. Some years ago, this was quite different. Nobody even considered the option of … Read more
This is going to be another story than told so far about the development of a green chemical industry in Europe. So far, the news was mostly negative: too little … Read more
Europe should develop a more practical vision on its future sustainable industry, says Dirk Carrez. ‘We do not have to stretch ourselves to be as sustainable and as cost-effective as … 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 … Read more
Butadiene is an important petrochemical with a market size of more than $40 billion, and around 60% of butadiene goes into synthetic rubber production. The relatively recent exploitation of shale … Read more