Virgin Atlantic and Rolls-Royce confirmed the successful Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) blend ground test on the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engine. The test marks a key milestone in the project which will see the world’s first 100% SAF flight travel across the Atlantic from London Heathrow to New York JFK on a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, set to take off on 28 November 2023.
Origin Materials, California-headquartered carbon negative materials company with a mission to enable the world’s transition to sustainable materials, began startup of Origin 1, the world’s first commercial CMF plant, located in Sarnia, Ontario, in-line with prior guidance.
On 6 and 7 July, the partners of B-FERST, a project financed by Bio Based Industries Join Undertaking (now CBE JU) under the Horizon 2020 program, met in Caserta to discuss developments in project activities and define the following actions to be undertaken.
Eni Sustainable Mobility Spa and PBF Energy Inc. announced the closing of a 50-50 joint venture partnership in St. Bernard Renewables LLC (SBR), an operating biorefinery co-located with PBF’s Chalmette Refinery in Louisiana (US). PBF’s affiliate contributed the biorefinery and other assets comprising the business to SBR and Eni Sustainable Mobility’s affiliate has committed to make capital reimbursements and contributions totaling $835 million to PBF, of which $431 million was paid at closing. The remainder of the total consideration will be contributed by Eni Sustainable Mobility upon start-up of the pre-treatment unit (“PTU”). An additional $50 million in contingent consideration will be paid by Eni Sustainable Mobility subject to the achievement of certain project milestones and performance criteria.
The Biden-Harris Administration released a new action plan to rapidly and equitably expand biotechnology and biomanufacturing education and job training programs in the United States. The action plan accompanies the second round of the Administration’s Investing in America tour, where President Biden, Vice President Harris, First Lady Jill Biden, Cabinet members, and Senior Administration Officials will visit communities benefitting from the historic levels of private sector investments mobilized by the President’s Investing in America Agenda. Since the beginning of the Biden-Harris Administration, private companies have announced $470 billion in manufacturing and clean energy investments, including in biomanufacturing.
Global Bioenergies’ process becomes one of the very few Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technologies in the world certified by ASTM International. Global Bioenergies’ fuel can now be blended up to 50% with fossil kerosene in existing airplanes, the French company claims.
New legislation to tackle waste by improving recycling rates and increasing reuse has been published by the Scottish Government. The Circular Economy (Scotland) Bill was introduced by Lorna Slater MSP, the Minister for Green Skills, Circular Economy and Biodiversity. The ambition of a circular economy is to generate a society where products are used and re-used for as long as possible, maximising their value and minimising waste, and where by-products are captured and used to create additional valuable commodities.
BASF will expand its global alkyl polyglucosides (APG®s) production capacity with two expansions at its sites in Bangpakong, Thailand, and Cincinnati, Ohio. By expanding in two regions in parallel, BASF, the global market leader for APGs, can strengthen its position and serve customers even faster and more flexible from the regional supply points, while at the same time reducing cross-regional volume flows. The additional capacities are expected to come on stream in 2025.
Rio Tinto has successfully completed the full transition of its heavy machinery from fossil diesel to renewable diesel at its Boron, California operation, making it the first open pit mine in the world to achieve this milestone. The change to renewable diesel brings an anticipated CO2 equivalent reduction of up to 45,000 tonnes per year, comparable to eliminating the annual emissions of approximately 9,600 cars.
Finnish beauty brand LUMENE is the first to launch a biobased packaging application with both the jar and label made with UPM’s innovative wood-based material, further processed by SABIC. LUMENE’s new jar and the self-adhesive label originate from renewable UPM BioVerno™ naphtha, produced by UPM in Finland. The naphtha is processed into certified renewable polypropylene by SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, and then converted both into commonly recyclable cosmetics containers and product labels printed on UPM Raflatac Forest Film label material.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 