“We also need to careful that the warning bells don’t go unnoticed as we try to rebuild our way of life in the same mold as before. Already we are hearing murmurings about a need for cheap (and fossil) energy to stimulate ailing virus hit sectors. We do not need to go back in time, we need to move forward. Hopefully COVID will have taught us how bad things can get when we do not think, do not plan, do not collaborate, do not listen to the science, do not listen to early warnings. But the most important lesson, I think, is that through individual action and caring for others, people who were healthy and in “low” risk groups, stayed home. They were sacrificing for others; they were not thinking about themselves.”
To say it – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
A new demo plant in Örnsköldsvik will be the first in the world to produce a 2G platform for sustainable fuels, chemicals and materials, coined GOLDILOCKS®, from pulp and paper industry residues. The plant will be built by the Swedish chemical and clean tech company Sekab together with the Dutch oil company Vertoro.
We looked at the images broadcast on television from Wuhan as if they came from another planet. Until February 21, with the first case of contagion in Italy, the coronavirus seemed something that could not concern us. Then everything changes from February 23. Suddenly we plunged in fear, sometimes in panic, but above all we realized in one fell swoop that the human being is part of nature, even if at some point of the evolutionary history it seemed to break away from it to dominate it and break the balance on which it is based. The coronavirus and the disease that derives from it, called covid19, puts us again and dramatic ally in front of the limits of nature, our limits and our role on earth. It puts us in all its urgency in front of the issue of our development model, the interdependence of the globalized world, the solidarity between people and between countries, between North and South of the world.
Nouryon and INEOS Nitriles have broken ground on new facilities to be built at INEOS’ Köln site in Germany. The units will produce raw materials for Nouryon’s high-quality, readily biodegradable chelates, used in detergents and other industries. The plants are due to be completed in 2021-2022.
The Bioeconomy is led by women. This year, as every year, for the International Women’s Day, we dedicate a tribute to all women who are making the bioeconomy happen all around the world. With their huge competences and their infinite passion, they are the stars of the world bioeconomy. Our best and warmest wishes to all women.
Thailandese bio-based chemical company Advanced Biochemical Co., Ltd. announced a capacity increase at its plant in Map Ta Phut, Thailand, which will now produce 120,000 mt/year of bio-based epichlorohydrin (ECH) – an increase of 20,000 mt/year. Permission for this increase was granted by the Industrial Estate Authority of Thailand.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 