Danish biotech giant Novozymes last week broke ground for its new innovation campus in Lyngby, close to the Technical University of Denmark and seven kilometers from Novozymes’ headquarters in Bagsværd.
Finally Italy has its own strategy on bioeconomy. This was announced by Paolo Bonaretti, representative of the Ministry of Economic Development, last week in Rimini, Emilia Romagna Region, during an event on the bioeconomy in the Mediterranean organized within the Ecomondo Fair, with the presence, among others, of John Bell, Director for BioEconomy, DG Research & Innovation EU Commission, and Philippe Mengal, executive director of the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking. Good news, then, for the bioeconomy in Italy. The new strategy will be published on the web site www.agenziacoesione.gov.it starting from 20th November for an open public consultation, which will last a month.
Biossance™, the consumer beauty brand from Amyris, Inc., the US integrated renewable products company, announced its planned launch in Sephora’s retail stores where the brand’s expansive line of high-performance skin care products will be available to consumers. The rollout to initial participating stores will begin in February 2017 and coincide with launching on Sephora online. Additional in-store and online marketing activities with Sephora to highlight the Biossance brand shortly following launch are planned.
“Scotland has under 10% of the UK population and over 30% of the land mass giving it considerably more capacity for growing biomass as feedstock for the bioeconomy. Scotland has great research capabilities, a strong base of SMEs looking to develop its bio-capabilities and the joined up support of the government with all its agencies in developing this opportunity”. Roger Kilburn, CEO IBioIC (Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre) Scotland, talks to Il Bioeconomista. In this long, exclusive interview, he talks about UK and Scottish bioeconomy, the role of industrial biotechnology and Brexit. “The fundamental reasons for developing the bioeconomy – he says – are the positive impact it has on sustainability, the environment and the ability to produce new and improved materials. None of these fundamentals are affected by Brexit”.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Another brick towards the European Bioeconomy, starting from regions. The European Commission together with the Slovak Presidency, and under the auspices of Standing Committee of Agricultural Research (SCAR), organised today in Bratislava a conference on the role of EU regions in developing a sustainable European Bioeconomy. The aim of the conference was “to discuss with national and regional stakeholders the new bioeconomy context for the agriculture, forestry and fisheries, the role of research and innovation to overcome the big societal challenges ahead of us and also to identify the barriers in the regions in adapting the bioeconomy strategy”.
Scotland is set to create waves among the global biotechnology arena as its Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC) announces over £3 million of investment across six game changing synthetic biology projects including greener skincare products, more sustainable plastics and improvements to personalised medicine therapies.
BASF and the Dutch leading chemical technology company Avantium yesterday announced that they have established a joint venture (JV) called Synvina for the production and marketing of furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA) produced from renewable resources (fructose from plants as feedstock rather than conventional oil derivatives), as well as marketing of polyethylenefuranoate (PEF), based on this new chemical building block.
Published “to take part in a severe contest between intelligence, which presses forward, and an unworthy, timid ignorance obstructing our progress.”
We can borrow this mission statement written on the contents page of the first issue of The Economist, published by James Wilson in September 1843, to define exactly the reason that today, 173 years later, leads to the launch of The BioJournal.
She has created the Italian bioeconomy. Thanks to her passion, her tenacity, her ability, Italy today can rightly claim to be a leading country in this field. All this in the total lack of an Italian strategy on bioeconomy.
The inauguration last Friday of Mater Biotech’s plant in Bottrighe di Adria, the first in the world capable of producing butanediol from renewable sources, is her umpteenth great victory. The demonstration that the bioeconomy is a reality, that creates wealth and jobs in an environmentally friendly way. That the goals can be achieved with passion and determination, putting into practice a new idea of sustainable enterprise.
Virent established a strategic Consortium with Tesoro, Toray, Johnson Matthey and The Coca-Cola Company focused on completing the development and scale up of Virent’s BioForming® technology to produce low carbon bio-based fuels and bio-paraxylene (a key raw material for the production of 100% bio-polyester). The Consortium members will work together to finalize technical developments and commercial arrangements, with the objective of delivering a commercial facility to produce cost effective, bio-based fuels and bio-paraxylene.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 