Integration of PV into the economy
Integration of PV into the economy will become the main task in the years to come. Sustainability in the production chain is becoming more important all the time. The advantage … Read more
Ambitions for solar energy
In the past few decades, solar energy (PV) has grown a lot; the number of applications has much increased and production has become much more large-scale. Costs have taken a … Read more
Chemistry vs. bacteria, # 8. The success of the sulfas; with a black rim
After Prontosil, the sulfas make a breakthrough. The success really takes off in WW II, in particular in the forces of Germany and its allies. But the success has a … Read more
CO2 utilization, a growth sector
In a report released last month, Lux Research looked into CO2 utilization. The company forecasts a growth in this sector to $ 70 billion by 2030 and to $ 550 … Read more
Renewables versus nuclear – a choice already made
The most important low-carbon energy sources, renewables and nuclear, compete for investment funds. But if we are not mistaken, the dice have already been thrown in this contest of renewables … Read more
Resilience versus efficiency
In the neoliberal climate that has reigned the past two decades, better efficiency was the ultimate goal of economic policy. So important that it could hardly be challenged. Competing concepts … Read more
PHAs on the rise: for the first time, demand outstrips supply
PHAs are versatile, biodegradable and promising, we wrote a few years ago. There was just one problem: they were not competitive. So demand didn’t develop. And therefore, they remained not … Read more
Renewable energy imports
It its latest report, Boston-based Lux Research investigates a global and sustainable energy infrastructure. Can areas with high energy demand but not endowed with much domestic wind and solar energy … Read more
European generic medicines production after corona
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
Biomedicines are coming
The major pharmaceutical industry is going through a difficult time. Industry should find a new track. Biomedicines could open up a new chapter. This is the third of four articles … Read more
Has big pharma lost track?
Major pharmaceutical companies (big pharma) are having a difficult time. Shareholders complain about falling profit margins; governments, insurance companies and patients complain about sky-high medicine prices. Industry should find a … Read more
Sustainability is crucial for success, says Lux Research
Reductions in resource use, emissions, and waste production are key strategies for corporate success. Sustainability is crucial, says Lux Research, a Boston-based technology development and advisory company. Sustainability is crucial … Read more
Don’t waste the corona crisis
Crises are an opportunity to review our present structures and habits; and to create new ones. Many observers judge that we wasted the 2008 financial crisis: the mechanisms that caused … Read more
Global warming: businessmen and central bankers come to the rescue
Figures on global 2019 climate have come in and global warming does not seem to slow down. Many new records were set, like that on ocean water temperatures. That 2019 … Read more
Pesticide resistance, a growing problem
Pesticide resistance is a brand new phenomenon, historically speaking. It was first reported in 1914, just a century ago. A result of chemical, and later biotechnological methods of pest control. … Read more
Wrong question: can we decouple environmental impact from GDP growth?
These days, my inbox is overflowing with messages from concerned scientists warning that mankind cannot pursue economic growth forever; that it should deviate quickly from such a course, in order … Read more
Perspective on renewable energy rapidly changing
IEA Global Energy Outlook 2017, released last November, marks a rapid development in the perspective on renewable energy. IEA has always downplayed the importance of renewable energy for future global … Read more
Doughnut economics, or why economists should learn more about technology
One of today’s economic bestsellers is Doughnut Economics, written by the British economist Kate Raworth. Her book is an outright attack on the dominant neoliberal economic theory. Permanent growth is … Read more
Renewable energy system costs – the untold story
In the early days of renewable energy development, its adversaries would tell the world that renewable sources would be hopelessly inadequate. Traditional (fossil and/or nuclear based) systems would be indispensable … Read more
Biobased building blocks: an update
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
We proudly present… More with Less
For us, April 21st was a day to remember. A month ahead of schedule we presented our new book: More with Less, welcome to the Precision Economy. The scene was … Read more
Precision, the hallmark of a new era
An era comes to an end. Ever since the start of the industrial revolution, mankind could only produce more, using more. Produce more food from more land. Produce more consumer … Read more
A common sense energy scenario. Part 1: global energy consumption
Two factors are underrated again and again in energy policy: the potential of better energy efficiency (check here) and that of renewable energy. In Paris, world leaders have affirmed their … Read more
PHA business case still shaky
Last week, we wrote about the versatile and biodegradable plastic PHA. The Dutch Platform Agro-Chemistry-Paper reacted to it: could you also highlight the pitfalls? Do you recognise the danger that … Read more
Biorenewables key to reduce CO2 emissions, says macroeconomic study
The launch of a new macroeconomic scenario study marked the opening of the ECO-BIO conference in Rotterdam today. Biorenewables fulfil a key role in climate policy and in future economic … Read more
Breeders’ rights, patents and genetic modification
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
Bioeconomy: much more employment in biobased chemicals than in biofuels
More than once, we devoted our attention to the negative impact of biofuels policy on the biobased chemical industry. New calculations by Nova Institute now show that in the bioeconomy, … Read more
How do biofuel developers survive when oil is cheap?
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
Green Growth, much too optimistic?
Those who do not believe in the future, might be advised not to go there at all. All too often I have heard readers of our book ‘Groene Groei’ (Green … Read more
Global Divestment Day
Today and tomorrow is Global Divestment Day, the day when concerned citizens around the world ask institutional investors like universities and pension funds to withdraw their investments from fossil fuel … Read more
Now is the moment for a carbon tax, says Paul Ekins
We should create a carbon tax now, as energy prices are low, said the British economist Paul Ekins last week in The Hague, at a conference on green growth. That … Read more
Naomi Klein: everyone will be affected
Would there still be safe havens if the sea level starts rising as a result of the greenhouse effect? For the time being, people will be relatively safe in industrialised … Read more
Elon Musk and a lot of batteries
“Cheap batteries will revolutionise the renewable energy market,” wrote ex-Secretary of State for the UK Chris Huhne past Sunday in the Guardian. For the supply of renewable energy it’s usually … Read more
Innovation: the state bears the risk, companies reap the benefits
‘Socialise the risks and privatise the gains’ has been the reigning economic principle in the financial world in the past few years. Now such a mechanism also appears to be … Read more
Sustainable supply chains: much progress has been made, but now governments need to act
Sustainable supply chains are of great importance for the biobased economy, in terms of environmental conditions and respect for biodiversity, and also on issues of improving working conditions and farmers’ … Read more
Michiel Keyzer: ‘Biofuel mandates favour incumbent interests’
‘A mandatory percentage of biofuels in the national fuel mix does not make sense. In forces consumers onto a market they are not interested in. A mandatory blend is a … Read more
New technologies will boost gasoline production from natural gas or waste
The price of crude oil has risen to a level at which it will transform the fuels landscape, says Lux Research, an American advisory group. In the United States, this … 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: … Read more
Shale gas is an opportunity, for Europe too
Shale gas is not a threat, it is an opportunity. The whole world will benefit from US coal fired power stations to shift to natural gas, thereby appreciably reducing their … Read more
NGOs challenge Chinese mega investment in Canadian tar sands
Canada and China are about to sign a trade agreement which would allow China to develop tar sands in Alberta in exchange for enhanced protection of Canadian companies in China. … Read more
Count on mankind’s stupidity – and its resilience
Climate change is going to disrupt society, that is for sure, says Paul Gilding. We cannot avert disaster any more, as mankind in its stupidity does much too little about … Read more
True Price: Roefie Hueting was right
It strikes me that so many aging, i.e. retired people, attend sustainability conferences. Youngsters are present but mainly on behalf of their employers. Elderly people have been engaged in other … Read more
Crib captures CO2, as coal-fired power stations do not
During advent, almost 50 tons of olivine sand will be dumped on stately Lange Voorhout in The Hague as a construction material for a crib. Olivine is a mineral rock … Read more
Shale gas: in the Cevennes, people stay alert
Most posters against shale gas have disappeared from the streets and the municipal poster sites. Some cars still show them. But resistance has not faded away. Earlier articles on shale … Read more
Petrol from water and air, sense and nonsense
Recently, newspapers and TV abound with reports on scientists who produce fuels like petrol and diesel oil from carbon dioxide and water. Sometimes with sensational headings like in The Independent, … Read more
Green economy to overcome the crisis
Sorry, this news item on Dutch politics is only available in Dutch.
Green economy, a liberal debate
It was a historic site, in café Landtmann in Vienna, where the European Liberal Forum had organized our debate on the green economy. Historic, not merely because the café exists … Read more
China might master artificial photosynthesis and artificial meat within five years
‘Chinese concentrate in their research on four important areas: CO2-economy (of which artificial photosynthesis is a part), solar energy (PV), methanol, and artificial meat (proteins).’ According to Michael Carus, director, … 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