Business

U.S. Advanced biofuels companies threaten Obama to invest abroad if adopted the EPA’s RFS reform

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US Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz

“EPA is proposing to change the rules in the middle of the game.” The representatives of advanced and cellulosic biofuels industry – a nonprofit educational organization advocates for the adoption of advanced biofuels as an energy security, military flexibility, economic development and climate change mitigation/pollution control solution – recently sent a letter to President Barack Obama regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s renewable fuel standard (RFS) volume requirement proposal.

In the letter it was emphasized that the May 29th proposal represents a broken promise that is negatively impacting investments and partnerships in advanced biofuels, is sending projects and jobs overseas, and is at odds with the president’s initiatives to combat climate change.

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Bio-on and Moore Capital together for the first Brazilian facility to produce PHAs bioplastic

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Marco Astorri, CEO of Bio-on

Bio-on and Moore Capital signed a license agreement to build the first Brazil-based facility to produce PHAs bioplastic from sugar cane co-products.

The two companies, operating in sustainable biochemistry and in the development of eco-sustainable industrial solutions, will work together to build a production site with a 10 thousand tons/year output, in the state of São Paulo and/or Acre State.

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Benjamin Gonzalez talks to Il Bioeconomista. An interview with the CEO of METEX

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Benjamin Gonzalez

“I am convinced that what we lack today to confirm the value creation potential of the industrial biotechnology are concrete examples of investments to construct real industrial operations that are profitable and that create manufacturing jobs.  
So all national and European initiatives – co-investment, easing of regulatory procedures, tax incentives, etc. – that will facilitate risk-taking in the industrial phase will be welcomed to demonstrate the industrial biotechnology’s potential and accelerate its development”. To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Benjamin Gonzalez, founder and CEO of METabolic EXplorer, a French green chemistry company that develops and patents innovative, fermentation-based industrial processes.  Waiting for EFIB, the European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Bioeconomy – which will take place next October 27-29 in Brussels – Il Bioeconomista will host a series of interviews with CEOs, who will be guest speakers in Brussels. Today we offer the second, after the first with Ilkka Hämälä, CEO of Metsä Fibre, published last 21 August.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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The Secos Group starts trial production of hygiene film made from bioplastics

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Melbourne
Melbourne

SECOS Group, a leader in sustainable packaging formed through the merger of Cardia Bioplastics and Stellar Films Group in April 2015, announced the successful scale-up production of its “environmentally friendly, high quality and cost competitive Biohybrid™ films” tailored for the global personal care and hygiene product markets. The company manufactures a broad range of Biohybrid™ hygiene films at its Stellar Films Australian cast film manufacturing plant.

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The popular music band Pearl Jam supports the bioeconomy

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Pearl Jam

They are known throughout the world and admired for their music. Jeremy, Black, Last kiss, Better man: they are just some of the titles of their most famous songs. But Pearl Jam are also supporters of the bioeconomy. The band originally from Seattle and Green Dot, working together with Sea-Lect Plastics, have created a biodegradable luggage tag manufactured locally in the Seattle area. The tags were made as a special gift to members of the band’s popular fan organization, the Ten Club.

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BioAmber announces opening of world’s largest biobased succinic plant in Sarnia

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BioAmber, a leader in renewable chemistry, announced opening of world’s largest succinic plant in Sarnia, Canada, that was built with Mitsui & Co and uses biotechnology to produce sustainable chemicals from sugar.

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UPS signed agreements for up to 46 million gallons of renewable fuels over the next three years

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United Parcel Service, the world’s largest package delivery company, has signed agreements for up to 46 million gallons of renewable fuels over the next three years. The company, also known as UPS, says the deal represents a 15-fold increase over its prior contracts and make it one of the largest users of renewable diesel in the world.

The agreements with three leading suppliers of renewable fuels, secure access to an advanced renewable diesel fuel in order to meet the company’s objectives for alternative fuel utilization. Neste, Renewable Energy Group and Solazyme will supply renewable diesel to UPS to help facilitate the company’s shift to move more than 12 percent of its purchased ground fuel from conventional diesel and gasoline fuel to alternative fuels by the end of 2017.

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Genomatica and Cargill to accelerate the production of renewable chemicals

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Christophe Schilling, CEO of Genomatica

Genomatica and Cargill have entered into a collaboration agreement to accelerate the production of renewable chemicals for industrial applications. The collaboration will give chemical producers, distributors and users access to a reliable, cost-effective source of carbohydrate feedstocks, co-location support services and production partnerships, based on GENO™ process technologies.

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GFBiochemicals has started commercial production at its levulinic acid plant in Caserta

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Marcel van Berkel at Biobased World Asia last April in Bangkok
Marcel van Berkel at Biobased World Asia last April in Bangkok

Biobased chemical company GFBiochemicals has started commercial production at its 10,000 MT/a capacity levulinic acid plant in Caserta, Italy. The announcement was made at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Montréal (Canada). GFBiochemicals is the first company to produce levulinic acid at commercial scale directly from biomass.

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A prototype of the first all-biobased PET bottle showcased by The Coca-Cola Co. at Expo 2015

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The Coca-Cola Company pavilion at Expo Milano 2015
The Coca-Cola Company pavilion at Expo Milano 2015

The bioeconomy is a great protagonist in Milan, at Expo 2015, a world-class exhibition celebrating sustainable innovation. The breakthrough bottles use BioFormPX® produced at Virent’s Madison, Wisconsin demonstration plant, are showcased as part of The Coca-Cola Company’s pavilion. BioFormPX paraxylene was used in the world’s first demonstration scale production of a PET plastic bottle made entirely from plant-based materials.

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