Economy

The world of biomass is meeting in Vienna

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20th European Biomass Conference in Milan

This week the global bioenergy community gathers in Vienna. From today to 4th June, more than 1,200 registered participants from 76 countries and 40 associations and International organizations will animate the 23rd European Biomass Conference and Exhibition. With over 803 presentations from 2,650 authors and co-authors, 3 parallel events and 7 workshops, the EUBCE has become a world leading event to get the latest results from top research organizations, as well as to discover the most innovative bioenergy applications from industry and to hear from international subject experts about the state of play and the policy context that are shaping this sector.

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A new study by nova-Institut: EU-28 bioeconomy is worth 2 trillion euro, providing 19 million jobs

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European Parliament, Brussels
European Parliament, Brussels

The EU-28 bioeconomy is worth 2 trillion euro, providing 19 million jobs, according to a new study by nova-Institute that Il Bioeconomista can publish in preview. The two authors of the study, Stephan Piotrowski and Michael Carus, present an estimation of employment and turnover in the European bio-based economy mainly based on available statistical information from Eurostat (referring to 2011).

“Most of the sectors – Piotrowski and Carus say – can be regarded as fully bio-based (agriculture, forestry and fishery as well as the manufacture of food products, beverages, tobacco products, paper and paper products, forest-based industry and biofuels).

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A new coalition speeds up the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy

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Palm plantation in Malaysia

As part of the 2nd Annual Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) Forum, a new multi-stakeholder coalition, co-chaired by the UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB), announced last week its intention to speed up the development and deployment of sustainable bioenergy in order to contribute to meeting the SE4ALL goals of doubling the global use of renewable energy and ensuring universal energy access by 2030.

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Bio-on bioplastics suitable also for extremely advanced applications such as drug delivery

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Marco Astorri, Bio-On Ceo
Marco Astorri, Bio-On Ceo

With the bioplastic developed by Bio-on, it is now possible to create capsules for controlled drug administration inside the human body or for gradual release of active substances in agriculture. The properties of MINERV PHA bioplastic, completely “biobased” and 100% naturally biodegradable, enable the creation of micro and nano particles, both full and hollow, in which the trapped active substance is released gradually, even after months, exploiting the biodegradability of bioplastic. In this way, it is possible to administer directly in the human body numerous types of drugs such as anaesthetics, antibiotics, anti-inflammatories, antitumor, hormones, steroids and vaccines. Cosmetic or agricultural use is equally broad.

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Novozymes supplies enzyme technology to a new biorefinery in Finland

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Novozymes Headquarter
Novozymes Headquarter

Novozymes announced a deal to supply enzyme technology to a new biorefinery that will be built by St1 Biofuels in Kajaani, Finland. The facility will be co-located at a sawmill site, and will be the first facility in the world to use sawdust (sawdust or wood dust is a by-product of the forestry industry and is composed of fine particles of wood) from softwood as feedstock to produce cellulosic ethanol at commercial scale. The process uses steam-explosion to open up the cellulosic structures of the sawdust, followed by enzymatic hydrolysis to extract the sugars for ethanol fermentation.

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Renewable Energy: The path to global sustainability

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alaska-airlines-biofuelFor as long as we can remember, oil has been the key source to fueling factories, heavy machinery, vehicles, and airplanes. However these days, investors are looking at renewable energy producers, hoping that they would come up with sustainable solutions that could possibly work as a substitute for oil. With companies perfecting a new technique in making silicon wafers that will reportedly cut future solar power costs by 20 percent, most of those that switched to alternative markets have directed their attention toward solar energy.

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Global Bioenergies and Audi: The first batch of renewable gasoline has been produced

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Marc Delcourt, co-founder and CEO of Global Bioenergies

French biotech company Global Bioenergies and Audi announce that the first batch of renewable gasoline has been produced. It will be presented to Audi by Global Bioenergies during a press conference to be held in Pomacle on the 21st of May.

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Fast growth of bio-based polymers: production capacity will triple by 2020

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Avantium and Coca-Cola together to produce bio-based bottles

The production capacity for bio-based polymers boasts very impressive development and annual growth rates, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 20% in comparison to petrochemical polymers, which have a CAGR between 3-4%. The 5.1 million tonnes bio-based polymer production capacity represent a 2% share of overall structural polymer production at 256 million tonnes in 2013 and a bio-based polymer turnover of about €10 billion (5 Mio. t (production capacity) x 2.50 €/kg (estimated average bio-based polymer price) x 0,8 (capacity utilization rate).

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Abengoa will construct Fulcrum’s first MSW to transportation fuels facility

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Jim Macias, Ceo of Fulcrum Bioenergy

Fulcrum BioEnergy has awarded a $200 million fixed-price engineering, procurement and construction (“EPC”) contract to Abengoa for the construction of Fulcrum’s first municipal solid waste (“MSW”) to transportation fuels facility, the Sierra BioFuels Plant. The Sierra BioFuels Plant will utilize Fulcrum’s process for converting everyday household garbage that would otherwise be landfilled, into renewable syncrude that will be upgraded to jet fuel.

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Saxony-Anhalt focuses on bioeconomy to find new markets and opportunities for growth

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Prof. Dr. Markus Pietzsch at his talk Copyright Bioeconomy Cluster
Prof. Dr. Markus Pietzsch at his talk Copyright Bioeconomy Cluster

“The bioeconomy provides new markets and opportunities for growth, which we would like to take advantage of.” To say it was last Friday Herman Onko Aikens, Minister of Agriculture and the Environment of German Region Saxony-Anhalt at the fourth International Bioeconomy Conference was held in Halle (Saale). It was organized by the ScienceCampus Halle – Plant-based Bioeconomy and the BioEconomy Cluster, a Leading-Edge Cluster of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. More than 180 international experts in science, politics and the economy discussed the conditions and opportunities surrounding the transition away from petroleum towards renewable, bio-based raw materials. The conference at the Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies (IAMO) demonstrated the key role the bioeconomy will play in Saxony-Anhalt’s future.

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