Ecover: it is all about sustainability
As companies strive to be more sustainable, their customers might grow more critical on their performance rather than less, asking questions that were never raised. At least, that is what … Read more
Design rules for the biobased industry #4: elegance is beautiful
In this series, we discussed three design rules: reduce capital costs and create jobs, be lean on materials flows, and preserve structure. Our last guideline, elegance is beautiful, sums up … Read more
Design rules for the biobased industry, #2: be lean on materials flows
A biobased industry should not copy petrochemical industry’s structure: that structure has been optimised for over a century, for this particular feedstock. In order to compete, the biobased industry should … Read more
Green chemistry, rather than green energy
Most people, when talking about a sustainable future for Europe, think in terms of energy supply. That is one-sided. It is true: the energy conflict still deepens, as the incumbent … Read more
Almost until the very end
Why on earth do we human beings have so much difficulty changing our thoughts – and our actions? For instance, change from a fossil economy to a green economy, from … Read more
First fair-trade and climate-neutral coffee on the market
Coffee-roasting house Peeze in Arnhem introduced the first fair-trade and climate-neutral coffee on the market, last month. In the production chain of this fair-trade coffee, CO2 emissions are first reduced … 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
Sustainability requires another corporate decision making model
Corporate strategies are a shaky basis for getting society on a sustainable track. They may change, if other strategies would incur more profit. The green CEO may be replaced by … Read more
Coca-Cola blunder: non-information on the plant bottle – latest in a series of incidents
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 … Read more
The battle of the burgers
Juiciness, that was the missing element in this week’s synthetic burger. But hopes are high. Within twenty years we will all have the opportunity to buy a burger that did … Read more
Biofuels hardly competed with food production, so far
ILUC may have been nonexistent in 2000-2010 – the surprising result of our research at Biomass Research, using statistics that were not before analysed for this goal. Yes, farmers grew … Read more
Sustainability a difficult issue even in the biobased economy
Sustainability – here to stay, or the issue of the day? We think it is here to stay. All the more important to be very critical about sustainability, and the … Read more
Green Deals open doors that would have remained closed
Stimulation of the biobased economy can be done in many ways. Even without subsidies. As a part of its innovation policy, the Dutch government in 2011 called into existence the … Read more
In search of sustainable materials
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 … Read more
Old leftist demons in the perception of sustainability
Old patterns are pervasive in the perception of sustainability. Motor car journalists do not like the Toyota Prius, not because it would be a bad car, but because it has … Read more
Much romanticism in the food/fuel discussion
There is a lot of emotion in the food/fuel discussion. Of course in the disguise of academic arguments, and supplied with discourses on LCA and ILUC, but nevertheless firmly rooted … Read more
An autarkic building
Sorry, this review of the sustainable restaurant ‘Aan Zee’ (By the Sea) in Oostvoorne near Rotterdam is only available in Dutch.
Patricia Osseweijer: infrastructure is important for sustainability
Sustainability is growing in importance for the biobased economy, says Patricia Osseweijer. She is a professor in Science Communication at Delft Technical University, and she heads among others the Biotechnology … Read more
Respectful treatment of the complexity of biomass
Many scientists from the molecular sciences, like chemists and biotechnologists, regard the use of biomass for energy production almost as a capital sin. It would be equal to burning down … Read more
No glass wool, but flax wool
Three years ago, I attended a DPI (Dutch Polymer Institute) meeting, on the question to what extent sectors had embraced the biobased economy. Everyone present made much of the achievements … Read more
The biobased society, a better world?
Will the advent of the biobased society lead to a better world? One the face of it, one would affirm this idea: back to nature, or something like that. Jean-Jacques … 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
Oxfam still much too harsh
I had looked forward intently to the report that Oxfam in the Netherlands (Oxfam Novib) would publish on 26 November, which would justify its campaign against European biofuel policies. They … 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
Oxfam Novib: present developments lead us to act against biofuels
Diederik van der Hoeven appears to appreciate our moral position, but questions the practicality. But it is the practical consequences of the EU’s biofuel policy that prompted us to take … Read more
The moral judgment ‘food should not be used as a fuel’ is untenable
In two columns on this site I went into the food/fuel problem. Oxfam reacted to my first piece. But they did not answer some pressing questions. Therefore, once more the … Read more
Do we need to produce biofuels? Yes, we do!
Recent food price increases have fuelled a new round in the food/fuel debate. They have had a major influence on EU policies, putting a halt to ambitious renewable fuel targets … Read more
Oxfam: better sooner than later
One thing that I have learned in my NGO experience is that it is better to work on investment than on trade. If I would manage to convince a producer … Read more
Oxfam food/fuel report: conclusions do not follow from evidence
Oxfam working paper 161, entitled ‘The hunger grains’ has had a profound influence on the EU decision to scrap its stricter biofuels mandate for year 2020. But this influence is … 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
Long live Europe, trend 6: small-scale energy systems
Energy systems will revolutionise even more radically than industry. The price of solar cells has taken a dive. They are modular in makeup, i.e. they can be applied both on … Read more
Gunter Pauli and the ‘Blue Economy’
The interesting thing about festivals like Springtij at Terschelling is, that out of the blue you run into people with a completely new line of thinking. Someone like Gunter Pauli, … Read more
A sustainability festival
Sorry, this blog on a sustainability festival on the Dutch island of Terschelling is only available in Dutch.
Lars Hansen (Novozymes): Europe should synchronize its policy and funding
The biobased industry is going to alleviate the CO2 problem and create rural employment and development. Says Lars Hansen, President Region Europe of Novozymes, one of the main European companies … Read more
Sustainability and the bonobo
Upon hearing the word bonobo, many (in particular intellectual males) exclaim: sex!, and they beam all over. Yes, it is true: sex is important in the life of the bonobo, … Read more
Bioplastics sustainable after all: Pittsburgh study inadequate
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 … Read more
Long live Europe, trend 4: sustainability as a common goal
Sustainability has been a topic for some time: for forty years (counting from the ‘Limits to Growth’ report), or even for fifty years (counting from Rachel Carson’s ‘Silent Spring’). During … Read more
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
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
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
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
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