The Bioprocess Pilot Facility in Delft

New prospects in industrial biotechnology (processes, new products) developed in the lab will have to be tested at a relevant scale before they can be taken into commercial production. A test facility that imitates the production process at a semi-technical … Read more

EFIB, now is the time!

Whereas last year, EFIB was still under the aegis of high hopes on this new phenomenon, the biobased economy, this year in Brussels the main sentiment was ‘this is the time for Europe, otherwise others will take the lead’. There … Read more

Marc Verbruggen (Natureworks): ‘Europe has the sugar beet, the best crop for biopolymers, but does not use it.’

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

Danish Novozymes and Italian Beta Renewables join forces in cellulosic biofuel projects

In Denmark and Italy, Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, and Beta Renewables, a global leader in cellulosic biofuels and part of Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi, announced an agreement to jointly market, demonstrate and guarantee cellulosic biofuel solutions. … Read more

Europe hesitates and lags behind

‘You always want to employ the perfect technology right away’, the Americans mirrored us, Europeans, at the occasion of last week’s EFIB final debate, in Düsseldorf. Where EFIB is the acronym for: European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased … Read more

Long live Europe, trend 5: decentralisation of industry in a biobased society

The environmental movement of the seventies, precursor to the present movement for sustainability, was largely anti-technological. Technology seemed to be inherently large-scale; it produced nuclear power stations and polluting chemical complexes. But technology has taken a turn into the opposite … 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 higher-value products in the biobased economy. One of the first … 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 production costs. This implies a major advantage for countries which … Read more

R&D in chemistry and process technology

In the biobased economy, green chemistry will play an important role. But many aspects of it need further research and development. Almost all petrochemical technology will have to be adapted of even reinvented: separation and process technologies, catalysis, and analytical … Read more

Much biobased economic activity in France

Northern France’s agricultural areas host many biobased initiatives. Both in Picardy and in Champagne-Ardennes, French government invests in joint chemistry/agriculture projects. There are pilot and demo plants for ethanol production, and the French produce second generation biofuels, and biochemicals like … Read more

Three development phases in green chemistry

Green chemistry development will take place in three overlapping phases, up to 2050. The first has been developing for some time now, the second started recently, and the third is in the research phase. 1.    Biofuels in the petrochemical infrastructure … Read more