An exclusive interview with Daniele Ferrari, CEO Versalis (ENI) and President CEFIC

Daniele Ferrari. Courtesy of Versalis

“The bioeconomy offers great opportunities for the European chemical industry to create new products, diversify its raw material base and reduce its dependence on non-renewable resources”. To say it – in this long exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Daniele Ferrari, CEO Versalis, the Chemical Division of Italian oil giant ENI, and President CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council. Ferrari talks with us about the main challenges the European chemical industry is facing, the circular bioeconomy and the next steps of Versalis in the green chemistry field.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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We don’t take this planet for granted. A new Manifesto for the circular bioeconomy: BioRev

A new movement focused on a circular bioeconomy, which brings together all people who strongly believe that a more sustainable world is possible. A movement which takes the leadership at global level to make the circular bioeconomy happen.

Manifesto

We want to launch the BioRev, a movement open to anyone who believes that the bioeconomy and the circular economy need joint forces to reconcile economy, society and the environment.

The two concepts have advanced in parallel but in order to become mainstream they need to mutually reinforce each other to be the basis of a new economic paradigm. We want to promote the spread of a new economic and social model, not only to preserve our environment and protect biodiversity, but also to reduce the social inequalities that the current model has produced. We are convinced that the circular bioeconomy is democracy.

We want to lead a movement that addresses the challenges that this millennium presents us with the awareness that there is no time to lose and that today we have all the knowledge and material conditions to generate wealth and qualified jobs without polluting the planet and compromising the health conditions of workers and citizens. Over fifty countries in the world, from north to south and from east to west, have included the circular bioeconomy in their programs of sustainable development and the fight against climate change. Yet still today there is a huge resistance from those who defend positions no longer defensible, without looking to our future and the one of new generations.

This generation, our generation, has an essential task: to reverse the trend, to create a new development within the limit of the planet that is inclusive for all, men and women, in the North and the South of the world. For this reason we launch this manifesto asking you to join the BioRev.

To join us leave a comment with your name, surname and country.

BioRev is Bioeconomy Revolution and also BIOeconomyREnewableVision

Mario Bonaccorso, Italy

Felice Amori, Italy

Tatjana Schwabe, Germany

Bernardo Silva, Brazil

Peter Flippo, Netherlands

Irene Baños Ruiz, Spain

Simão Soares, Portugal

Gianluca Carenzo, Italy

Marguerite Braudel, France

Emanuele Bompan, Italy

Domenico Centrone, Italy

Vito Carofiglio, Italy

Filippo Martinelli, Ireland

Ulrich Baumann, Germany

In Germany in 2020 the topic of the annual “Year of Science” is Bioeconomy

2nd Global Bioeconomy Summit, Berlin, April 2018

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Science announced that in 2020 the topic of the annual “Year of Science” will be Bioeconomy.

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John Bell in Helsinki: “In the Bioeconomy we need more Finlands”

John Bell in Helsinki

“We need more Finlands in the Bioeconomy”. This is what John Bell, director Bioeconomy at the EU Commission said yesterday in Helsinki at the European Bioeconomy Scene 2019, organized with the objective to achieve an inclusive and sustainable bioeconomy for Europe.

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Novozymes inaugurated its new Innovation Campus in Denmark

Novozymes Headquarter

Novozymes inaugurated its new Innovation Campus in Lyngby, 13 kilometers north of Copenhagen and seven kilometers from its headquarters in Bagsværd. With the location near the Technical University of Denmark, it is Novozymes’ ambition to create a global hub for biotech research.

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All Nippon Airways signed an agreement with LanzaTech to be carbon smart

All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest and 5-Star airline for seven consecutive years, signed an offtake agreement with Illinois-based LanzaTech that will allow the company to purchase sustainable aviation fuel, a significant step in ANA’s efforts to minimize its environmental impact and meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This is not the first time that ANA has utilized sustainable aviation fuel, and the current agreement targets 2021 for the delivery of the sustainable aviation fuel making ANA a leader in putting its green principles into practice.

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Neste’s Zero Island project cuts emissions in Lidö in the Swedish archipelago by 78%

Neste’s headquarter in Espoo, Finland

Sweden is aiming to become climate neutral by 2045. However, it has been estimated by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) that we may have as little as twelve years to tackle climate change. To examine what it takes to reduce CO2 emissions as fast as possible, Neste and its partners set to turn the island of Lidö in the Swedish archipelago into a climate neutral Zero Island in just twelve months. As a result of the project, the island’s emissions were brought down by an impressive 78 percent from their previous levels.

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The Embassy of Italy in London joins Novamont and Green Network for its zero-waste initiative

Last Wednesday Theresa May announced a statutory instrument to amend the UK Climate Change Act of 2008. The law currently prescribes an emissions cut of 80% by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. The new law will aim for net zero emissions by 2050, making the U.K. the first G7 nation to pass such legislation.

In the same day, against a backdrop of growing global awareness of the importance of environmental protection, the Embassy of Italy in London launched Zero-Waste Embassy, aiming to reduce significantly the environmental impact of the mission’s energy supply, waste management and consumption.

The initiative falls under the umbrella of Farnesina Verde (Green Foreign Ministry), a plan for the Italian diplomatic network worldwide, overseen by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs Continue reading

Novozymes’ enzymes are available online through Alibaba’s platform

Source: Novozymes

Now, for the first time, Novozymes’ enzymes are available online through Alibaba’s platform for industrial products, 1688.com.

“We want to be a front runner in providing biological solutions online as well as offline. By partnering with Alibaba, we will get even closer to our end-customers, address local market needs faster and explore new application opportunities,” says Thomas Videbæk, COO and Executive Vice President, Novozymes.

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Renmatix launched Celltice, the beauty industry’s first zero-chemical self-emulsifying active

Mike Hamilton, Ceo of Renmatix

King of Prussia-based Renmatix is introducing Celltice™, the beauty industry’s first zero-chemical self-emulsifying active. A brand-new ingredient consisting of botanical building blocks cellulose and lignin, Celltice delivers a variety of benefits in personal care and cosmetic applications, functioning both as an active and an excipient in formulations.

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