India’s Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi unveiled first Indian 2G Ethanol Bio-Refinery at Panipat Haryana. This project is based on Praj’s proprietary technology processing rice straw as feedstock for production of Ethanol.
Politics
USA launched the Bioproduct Pilot Program funded by Bipartisan Infrastructure Law
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting applications for a new pilot program created under President Biden’s historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support the development of biobased products that have lower carbon footprints and increase the use of renewable agricultural materials, creating new revenue streams for farmers. This $10 million investment is part of the Biden-Harris Administration’s ongoing work to rebuild our infrastructure and create good-paying jobs and economic opportunity in our rural communities.
The EU bioeconomy stakeholders will gather in Brussels on 6-7 October
The EU Commission will celebrate the 10th anniversary of the first Bioeconomy Strategy, by organizing a high-level conference in Brussels. The conference “The Bioeconomy – Enabling the European Green Deal in Challenging Times” will take place on 6 and 7 October in the Charlemagne building. In addition, all sessions will also be live-streamed to allow everyone to get involved from anywhere.
IFIB goes to Bari. From 28 to 30 September the Italian city will be the capital of circular bioeconomy
Bari, in South-eastern Italy, will be the capital of circular bioeconomy from 28 to 30 September. The International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (IFIB) will be held in this city this year at the Kursaal Santalucia Theather. And it will be completely in presence.
New Report: In France, Germany, Italy and Spain the bioeconomy is worth €1,500 billion
In 2021, the bioeconomy in EU4 (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) has reached a value of production of €1,500 billion, employing over 7 million people. Germany is confirmed as a leader with a value of €436.6 billion, then France (379.4 billion), Italy (364.3 billion) and Spain (251.5 billion). This is according a new Report realized by the Intesa Sanpaolo Research Department (Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the major banking group in Europe), in collaboration with Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster SPRING and Assobiotec, and today presented in Salerno (South Italy), which is dedicated to bioeconomy, which, in line with the definition of the European Commission, was defined as the set of activities using renewable natural resources to produce goods and energy, generating great advantages in terms of sustainability.
The US is ordering refiners to boost the use of biofuels while gasoline prices soar
The US is ordering refiners to boost the use of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, as the Biden administration tries to strike a balance between competing political and economic pressures while gasoline prices soar.
Bonn Climate Change Conference Set to Kick off Next Week
The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is set to kick off next week, designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November of this year. COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
DSM, UNICEF and Sight and Life renewed their partnership to deliver better nutrition in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia
Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF, and Swiss-based nutrition think tank and incubator Sight and Life have renewed their long-term partnership to deliver better nutrition for at-risk groups in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The partners also aim to expand their work to Latin America for the first time.
FAO Partners With WHO and Local Authorities to End Tobacco Farming in Kenya
In March 2022, the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) partnered with the World Health Organization to push for healthy farming initiatives in former tobacco farms.
In cooperation with local Kenyan authorities, FAO and WHO created training programs that helped former Kenyan tobacco farmers switch to alternative crops, such as beans.
An interview with Iris Lewandowski: “It is needed for industry to look for more sustainable resource supplies and more efficient production processes”
Prof. Dr. Iris Lewandowski. Courtesy of University of Hohenheim
Iris Lewandowski is one of the leading people of the European bioeconomy. In July 2018, she was appointed Chief Bioeconomy Officer (CBO) of the University of Hohenheim. Presently, she is Scientific Speaker of the European Bioeconomy University (EBU), an alliance of six leading European Universities in the field of the knowledge-based bioeconomy, dedicated to cooperation in bioeconomy education, research and knowledge transfer. She is also co-chair of the German Bioeconomy Council and co-chair of the Baden-Württemberg federal government’s advisory board “Sustainable Bioeconomy”. In this interview with Il Bioeconomista she talks about bioeconomy at German and European level and about the BBI JU demo project GRACE, which she is coordinating.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
IL BIOECONOMISTA 