Battery recycling: we need to step it up
Battery recycling is an area long neglected by battery producers. Performance and cost were much more important. So now we are stuck with a rapidly growing heap of worn-out batteries of which we don’t know how to treat it. Or even how to retrieve the valuable materials this heap contains. We need to step up
Battery technology in fast development
Much excitement in the universe of battery technology. Battery storage is rapidly growing world-wide, important for the energy transition. Batteries are improving and their costs are falling, all the time. And the million-mile battery might be coming soon. Meaning that the battery would far outlive the car and could have a second and third life.
Waltzing with Nature – a manifesto
The pressure is mounting to change our lifestyle. We humans have not taken good care of nature. Global heating, plastic littering everywhere, insect decline, nutritional diseases because of bad diets and risks of pandemics like the corona crisis. But unexpected friends come to our rescue: modern science and technology. With innovations that take up and
Biobased aromatics: Europe leads the way
Last month, Chemical and Engineering News devoted an article to biobased aromatics: aromatic compounds derived from biobased resources. Much is going on here. This developing sector holds the promise that it will be able to produce aromatic compounds cheaper than the oil industry, and sustainably as well. As Vito’s Ludo Diels, one of the researchers
Plastic recycling: many technologies available, no winner, says Lux Research
As plastic waste can now be found in the remotest areas of the Earth, plastic recycling becomes urgent. We know that biodegradable plastics are a niche solution, so we need to organize and implement recycling of non-degradable plastics fast now. A recent Lux Research report shows that four technologies will remain dominant in the near
Do not avoid risks, but contain them
Brexit and The Wall not only generate news. These issues also provide for interesting comments that ultimately can apply to other, or much broader, areas like the bio-economy. Where continuous development is hampered by risk aversion, learning to identify and manage risks better is a necessity. I read a striking comment by CNN’s Chris Cillizza
Indirect effects, we often ignore them
‘Again and again, new products fascinate us: the smartphone, the airplane wing that can be glued, new medicines,’ says Ton Schoot Uiterkamp, ‘but we do not think in terms of chains and generally ignore the indirect effects of these inventions. If the first use is wonderful, we ignore the consequences of second, third and fourth
Manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’
Biobased Press published its manifesto ‘Waltzing with Nature’ on May 1, 2020. In this manifesto, we testify to the importance of science for solving mankind’s major global problems. Like global heating, plastic littering everywhere, insect decline, nutritional diseases because of bad diets and risks of pandemics like the corona crisis. A new kind of
on: 1 May 2020