From Italy word has arrived that Novamont have opened the world’s first commercial-scale facility for the bio-based production of bio-based 1,4-butanediol, in Bottrighe (Adria), North East Italy. Having licensed Genomatica’s technology, the Novamont Mater-Biotech plant will produce 30,000 tons of BDO per year from renewable sugars. First off, let’s note that the capacity is 70% […]
By Dr. Terry Mazanec, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest Biomass is a rich salad of chemicals that contains many highly valuable materials that are precursors to fine chemicals, nutrients, and pharmaceuticals. But this strength is also a weakness of biomass. The assortment of materials in biomass is bound together in a complex, stable […]
In Washington, the US Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Texas-based Mard, Inc., formerly known as KiOR, Inc., and its former CEO and President Fred Cannon for “failing to disclose important assumptions about the yield that KiOR had claimed to have achieved through the company’s proprietary process of converting wood and other biomass into crude […]
In Brussels, EuropaBio released a report concluding that Industrial Biotech contributes over €30 billion to the EU economy and around 500 000 jobs. The new study was launched in the European Parliament as part of a series of activities across Europe celebrating European Biotech Week. The Report’s employment data The report found that the core […]
You may recall that The Bloomberg investigative team of Ben Elgin & Peter Waldman in 2013 published an expose on Chevron claiming that the company had developed — then buried — a Catchlight Energy project that could profitably make renewable gasoline at $2.18 per gallon? Originally the venture was intended to build 17 plants by […]
By Mark Janeczko, Energy and Chemicals Marketing Manager, Shimadzu Scientific Instruments, Inc. Special to The Digest The Future of Renewable Fuels Whatever your thoughts regarding the future of the world’s energy supply, it is clear biofuel production and its clean implications are here to stay. On the federal level, The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program was […]
In Germany, Lanxess will acquire the US-based speciality chemical maker Chemtura, one of the major global providers of high-quality flame retardant and lubricant additives, for $2.69B, a 18.9% premium to the stock’s current share price. The transaction will be financed by LANXESS mainly through senior and hybrid bonds, as well as from existing liquidity. The […]
They called it Mission Impossible. Create a means to biodegrade any plastic out there that needs to decompose in the environment after use. Find little microbes that can break the material into something that ordinary microbes found widely in the environment can use. After all, soil microbes would love to eat plastic if they could. […]
By Lorenz Bauer, PhD., Lee Consulting Enterprises Special to The Digest Sales of biopolymers and resins are predicted to grow to over $5 billion by 2021. Biomass derived materials have been used neat and as components in composites and blends for the last decade. Products made with high contents of cellulose, starch, proteins, chitosan are common. […]
In Washington, the USDA estimates that in 2016/17 global production of vegetable oils will amount to just less than 187 million tonnes, the highest quantity ever, according to the German treade association UFOP. Palm oil, soybean oil, rapeseed oil and sunflower oil account for around 87 per cent of production. The remainder consists of coconut oil, olive oil […]
