This is a great news for the European and the world bioeconomy. Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymers, last Tuesday celebrated the Official Opening Ceremony of its FDCA Flagship Plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The plant opening was officiated by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, in the presence of international and Dutch dignitaries, partners and Avantium employees.
Neste’s renewable diesel helps Verne, a provider of sustainable data center solutions for high intensity computing, to transition its operations from fossil to renewable fuels. Verne’s data centers in Helsinki, Pori and Tampere in Finland will use Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ to power their backup generators. The switch from fossil diesel to Neste’s renewable diesel helps Verne reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from their backup generators by on average 90% over the life cycle of the fuel when compared to fossil diesel. This contributes to Verne’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of its data center operations.
Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials, started a collaboration with Royal Vezet, Europe’s largest fresh food company specializing in convenience vegetables, fruits, salads, and fresh meals. Together, Royal Vezet and Avantium will work closely to implement Avantium’s PEF for packaging of salad bowls. These PEF-based trays will be used by Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands.
The Global Bioeconomy Summit will be held in Africa this year. In Nairobi from 23 to 24 October the world bioeconomy stakeholders will gather to put once again the bioeconomy at the heart of the ecological transition. The Global Bioeconomy Summit (GBS) is a prestigious international event that brings together bioeconomy leaders from around the world, reflecting the interdisciplinary and diverse nature of the field. For the first time, GBS will be hosted outside Europe. Launched in 2015, GBS was designed to be a global, inclusive summit, uniting experts from all corners of the world to showcase the bioeconomy’s diverse and interdisciplinary features.
The ReBioCycle project kickoff took place at the University College Dublin on 2-3 October 2024. European Bioplastics and its members, including TotalEnergies Corbion, AIMPLAS, Novamont, Corbion, Sulapac, and Kaneka are amongst the 20 partners that have joined forces for developing and implementing “A new European blueprint for circular bioplastics upcycling solutions”, under the lead of the University College Dublin and BiOrbic Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre.
LanzaTech Global, Inc., the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein, will expand its biorefining platform capabilities to include operations that produce LanzaTech Nutritional Protein (“LNP”) as the primary product. LNP is a microbial protein that is a nutrient-rich alternative to plant and animal-based proteins. By using a new microbe in its proprietary gas fermentation process, LanzaTech’s biorefining platform – the US company claims – can produce a cost-competitive protein solution that supports a resilient food supply chain. LNP production has the capability to address food security issues and be produced anywhere in the world, independent of weather extremes. Notably, the production of LNP uses a fraction of the land and water resources that traditional protein sources require.
Climate change, population growth, soil degradation, biodiversity loss. These are the main challenges that humanity is called to face. The circular bioeconomy is one of the keys to tackling them and overcoming them, reconciling the economy with society and the environment. To make policy makers and public opinion aware about what exactly is the circular bioeconomy there is now a book written by Mario Bonaccorso and published in Italian by Edizioni Ambiente and in English by the Irish Bioeconomy Foundation.
bp agreed to acquire Bunge’s 50% holding interest in its bp Bunge Bioenergia S.A. joint venture, one of Brazil’s leading biofuels-producing companies. Upon completion, bp will become sole owner of the industrial scale sugarcane and ethanol business, enabling bp to accelerate value creation through integration with bp’s trading and technology capabilities.
Everything is ready in Bologna to host the new edition of IFIB, the International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy. The Italian city will be the capital of circular bioeconomy from 3 to 4 October, when world bioeconomy stakeholders will gather at the Golinelli Foundation to discuss and partner.
TotalEnergies-Corbion and Japanese Bioworks joined forces: PlaX™ developed a fabric that blends cotton with plant-based PolyLactic Acid (PLA), derived from sugarcane. Bioworks is a leading Japanese innovator in sustainable textiles, stating that PLA bioplastics enhance the antimicrobial properties of fabrics.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 