Global Bioenergies, French biotech compamy that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation, announces having obtained a 4.4 million euro loan from a consortium managed by BNP Paribas, Société Générale, CIC and Bpifrance to complete the financing of its demo plant in Germany. The loan, reimbursable over 5 years, is covered by guarantee funds of the Ile-de-France Region. The construction phase began yesterday and will last one year.
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, a subsidiary of Japanese Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings Corporation, announces that it has developed the world’s first bio-based polycarbonatediol, a type of high-performance polyols, and will begin worldwide market development and sales in April of this year. MCC uses proprietary manufacturing processes to produce the new product, which is of an entirely different composition than any other currently available polycarbonatediols.
The comfortable and generously-sized Kuskoa Bi is the first chair on the market to be manufactured in bioplastic. Its particularly enveloping shell, cut out in such a way as to optimize back and arm support, is delicately placed on a solid wood trestle. The designer is Jean Louis Iratzoki. The manufacturer is Alki, a French company.
Nine partners, under the consortial leadership of German chemical giant Basf, will collaborate to develop cost and energy-efficient technologies for water purification, removal and product-recovery needed to support downstream processing in white biotechnology. This consortium of companies in the European process industry from the areas of biotechnology, renewable resources, chemistry, process engineering, equipment supply as well as research organizations recently launched project PRODIAS (PROcessing Diluted Aqueous Systems). The project focuses on unlocking the potential of renewable-based products made via white biotechnology, by significantly decreasing production costs, increasing productivity and efficiency, lowering energy consumption, and accelerating process developments.
We receive and publish with pleasure this comment by Michael Carus, managing director of the nova-Institut, regarding our exclusive interview with John Bell, Director of Bioeconomy Directorate, European Commission.
We are glad to promote the debate.
Dear Mario,
with interest, we read your interview with John Bell. While we were glad to read that DG RTD is now somewhat recognizing the adverse effects of the RED, we found the later parts of the statement concerning the RED still too short-sighted. They make clear why the sector of chemicals and materials is developing so slowly and why we are losing shares of worldwide investment.
We would like to comment on two aspects:
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Another relevant agreement in the Italian bioeconomy. Biotech company Bio-on and Pizzoli S.p.A., Italy’s largest operator in the potato sector, will collaborate to build Italy’s first PHAs bioplastic production plant using waste product from the potato agro-industrial process.
For the eighth year running the Innovation Award “Bio-based Material of the Year” will be awarded to the young, innovative bio-based material industry, finding suitable applications and markets for bio-based products. The competition focuses on new developments in these areas, which have had (or will have) a market launch in 2014 or 2015. The winners will be elected at the International Conference on Bio-based Materials, 13-15 April 2015 in Cologne, Germany, organised by nova-Institut. This year, six bio-based materials and products have been nominated for the Award by the advisory board – out of 24 submitted products. The nominated companies are from the United Kingdom, the United States and Germany.
“The next generation of innovative, bio-based film technology has arrived,” says Milan Moscaritolo, Senior Director of Sales and Marketing of Toray Plastics. The company based in North Kingstown (Rhode Island, US) announced the introduction of new bio-based lidding films.
The European bioeconomy and its contribution to the creation of jobs and economic growth. The Juncker agenda and the new plans of the European Commission to foster the development of the bioeconomy . These are just some of the topics addressed by John Bell – Director of Bioeconomy Directorate of the European Commission – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista.
“The Bioeconomy – Bell says – contributes to generating jobs and growth, whilst increasing Europe’s competitiveness worldwide as well as decreasing the environmental footprint of our economy. It is furthermore closely related with other key priorities of the Juncker Commission, such as the Climate and Energy Union.”
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
“The bio-based PolyTHF 1000 is identical in quality to the petrochemical-based product.” To say it is Andrej Brejc, director Renewable Diols from BASF’s Intermediates division (sales to third parties of about 2.8 billion euro in 2014), which has made bio-based Polytetrahydrofuran 1000 (PolyTHF® 1000) available for the first time. The chemical company headquartered in Ludwigshafen is now providing this intermediate to selected partners for testing various applications in a large scale.
