Novozymes, Danish industrial biotech giant, announces the formation of three divisions: Household Care & Technical Industries, Agriculture & Bioenergy and Food & Beverages.
The aim of the organizational change – the company writes in a note – is to enhance Novozymes’ ability to deliver more innovation to customers with more speed and commercial impact.
The Komi Republic in Northern Russia could host a plant that would produce 100,000 tonnes of bioethanol per year from wood waste. The proposal, coming from Egregor Biotech and Evolution Group, was presented last week, Komiinform news agency reported. Over 15 million rub (196,000 US dollars and 177,000 euro) have already been spent on the project. The total investment required is estimated at 136 million euro. A process to create a pool of investors is underway, with different options for the realisation of the project being considered, including a public private partnership.
Gevo, a leading renewable technology, chemical products, and next generation biofuels company, announced yesterday that it has entered into a license agreement and a joint development agreement with Porta Hnos (“Porta”), one of the leading alcohols companies in Argentina, producing almost 100 million liters annually, to construct multiple isobutanol plants in Argentina using corn as a feedstock.
“Outside of Brazil, today Europe has the most existing infrastructure, some of the most developed technologies and the most favorable policy supporting the bioeconomy. However, theoretical concerns about land use are being allowed undue sway, which makes the outlook uncertain. Climate change deniers are having a similar effect in America. In contrast, China is showing singular resolve in its commitment to climate and carbon”. To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Anna Rath, founder and Ceo of NexSteppe, the U.S. company dedicated to pioneering the next generation of scalable, reliable, cost-effective feedstock solutions for the biofuels, biopower and biobased products industries. Using advanced breeding techniques and cutting-edge analytical technologies, NexSteppe is developing Malibu sweet sorghum and Palo Alto biomass sorghum to produce feedstocks tailored for these biobased industries. With Anna we talk about biomass and bioeconomy at a Global level.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
IL BIOECONOMISTA 