Circa and Valmet have signed a Heads of Agreement to realise and optimise the Furacell™ production process at scale through the ReSolute project and future large-scale plants. Valmet will be the main process technology and equipment supplier, and actively contribute to accelerating the development of Circa’s large-scale production plants. The cooperation considerably strengthens Circa’s ability to build and deliver its plan to become a large-scale producer of sustainable biochemicals.
The BMW Group has chosen to use BASF Coatings’ CathoGuard® 800 ReSource e-coat at its plants in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Africa, and the iGloss® matt ReSource clearcoat throughout Europe. Using these more sustainable product versions for vehicle coatings enables CO2 avoidance of around 40% per coating layer; this will reduce the amount of CO2 emitted in the plants by more than 15,000 metric tons by 2030.
BRAIN Biotech AG and Formo Bio GmbH launched a strategic collaboration to further advance the production of animal-free milk proteins. BRAIN Biotech is a leading industrial biotechnology company, Formo is a pioneering food-tech startup in the space of alternative milk protein. As experts in their field, the two German biotech companies are powering European innovation.
Coldplay is partnering up with Neste to take steps towards the band’s target of reducing CO2 emissions from the Music Of The Spheres World Tour by 50% compared to the band’s previous world tour. Neste will provide Coldplay with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce emissions from air travels, while the company’s renewable diesel will help cut emissions from the band’s tour transports and stage power generation.
Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF, and Swiss-based nutrition think tank and incubator Sight and Life have renewed their long-term partnership to deliver better nutrition for at-risk groups in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The partners also aim to expand their work to Latin America for the first time.
In March 2022, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) partnered with the World Health Organization to push for healthy farming initiatives in former tobacco farms.
In cooperation with local Kenyan authorities, FAO and WHO created training programs that helped former Kenyan tobacco farmers switch to alternative crops, such as beans.
UPM Biochemicals and KRAHN Chemie Deutschland GmbH signed an exclusive distribution agreement to market UPM BioMotion Renewable Functional Fillers (RFF) in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. RFF are a completely new category of functional fillers, replacing fossil-based carbon black and precipitated silica. The distribution agreement covers UPM BioMotion X10, X20 and X40 product grades to be used in plastics, adhesives and sealants as well as paints and coatings.
Elanco Animal Health Incorporated and DSM have created a strategic alliance connecting two leading, sustainability-focused companies to address one of society’s most significant opportunities of the decade, mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions from farming. Elanco has secured the exclusive U.S. licensing rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize Bovaer® for beef and dairy cattle. Bovaer® is a first-in-class and best-in-class methane-reducing innovative feed additive for beef and dairy cattle, already available in Europe, Brazil, Chile and Australia. More than 50 peer-reviewed studies and 48 on-farm trials in 14 countries show Bovaer® consistently reduces enteric methane emissions by approximately 30% for dairy cows and even higher percentages for beef cattle.
Iris Lewandowski is one of the leading people of the European bioeconomy. In July 2018, she was appointed Chief Bioeconomy Officer (CBO) of the University of Hohenheim. Presently, she is Scientific Speaker of the European Bioeconomy University (EBU), an alliance of six leading European Universities in the field of the knowledge-based bioeconomy, dedicated to cooperation in bioeconomy education, research and knowledge transfer. She is also co-chair of the German Bioeconomy Council and co-chair of the Baden-Württemberg federal government’s advisory board “Sustainable Bioeconomy”. In this interview with Il Bioeconomista she talks about bioeconomy at German and European level and about the BBI JU demo project GRACE, which she is coordinating.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Biome Bioplastics and Suregreen begun large scale UK-wide field testing and initial commercial sales of their novel biodegradable tree shelters. The development of these biodegradable tree shelters aims to tackle one of the forestry industry’s plastic pollution challenges and support the UK’s afforestation efforts to reach carbon neutrality by 2050. To achieve its carbon neutrality targets by 2050, the UK government pledged to more than double tree planting rates, with an ultimate target of 30,000 hectares per year, equivalent to 90-120 million trees planted. Yet, while tree shelters are essential to protect saplings and help them grow safely, they are not collected at the end of their lifetime, already leading to an estimated 2,500 tonnes of plastic ending up annually in the natural environment after use.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 