Neste and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) have signed a new agreement for the purchase of Neste MY Sustainable Aviation Fuel™, to be delivered to airlines SAS and Finnair, covering the volume of all the flights with these carriers taken by BCG employees in the Nordics. Through this new partnership, BCG expects to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions on flights with these airlines.
Nouryon has signed a 10-year agreement with Metsä Fibre, part of Metsä Group. Under the long-term agreement, the Dutch company will provide Metsä Fibre with sodium chlorate for its new bioproduct mill in Kemi, Finland.
Metsä Group is investing 1.6 billion euros to build the mill which, once operational, will produce 1.5 million tons of softwood and hardwood pulp each year. As a key element of the partnership, Nouryon will invest in its Oulu production facility in Finland by expanding its production capacity and upgrading the facility to manufacture sodium chlorate with renewable energy.
Evonik has made a follow-up investment in the biotechnology start-up In Ovo through its venture capital unit. The investment comes as the young company reaches the commercialization stage for its technology and is bringing its gender-testing machine for eggs to the market. Together with co-investor VisVires New Protein Capital, Evonik Venture Capital has provided several million euros in further funding. Evonik Venture Capital first invested in the Leiden, Netherlands-based company in 2018, providing support for a technology that helps solve one of the egg industry’s biggest ethical problems.
The Spanish private research organisation CARTIF has completed the first assessment focusing on the environmental and social performance of Metsä Group’s Kuura textile fibre. Kuura is still in a R&D phase and the production process to make it is currently being tested and further developed at a tonne per day demo plant in Äänekoski, Finland. The outcome of the assessment conducted by CARTIF is very good for Kuura. In regard to environmental performance, when comparing to other commercial man-made cellulosic fibres (viscose and lyocell), and to cotton, Kuura shows the lowest impact on climate change, supporting its viability as a sustainable solution in the market of textile fibres.
Until now, there have been no commercial drop-in solutions for replacing fossil gasoline to reduce high amounts of greenhouse gas emissions from conventional petrol cars, without investing into new vehicles or modifying the old ones.
Neste, the world’s leading producer of renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), may be the first to have developed a renewable gasoline for such commercial use in the existing fleet. The final phase of testing is now beginning with the target to complete commercial tests of the fuel, and thereby enabling significant reductions of greenhouse gas emissions from gasoline and hybrid cars.
Stora Enso and packaging technology company Pulpex joined forces to industrialize the production of eco-friendly paper bottles and containers made from wood fiber pulp. These renewable products will offer an alternative to PET plastics and glass. The exclusive partnership leverages Stora Enso’s formed fiber technologies and ability to convert end-products at an industrial scale.
Nouryon has signed an agreement with Renewcell to provide specialty chemicals and engineering solutions for its new textile recycling plant in Sundsvall, Sweden. The facility will recycle textile waste, including items such as worn-out jeans and production scraps, to manufacture 60,000 metric tons of Circulose® dissolving pulp per year.
Denver, Colorado
DMC Biotechnologies and Conagen Inc. have entered into a manufacturing agreement for the commercial production of DMC’s first product, L-alanine. L-alanine is a naturally occurring amino acid used widely in homecare products, human nutrition, and pharmaceutical applications. DMC’s fermentation technology enables L-alanine to be produced with attractive economics as part of a regional supply chain with increased reliability and greater sustainability.
Univar Solutions Inc., a global chemical and ingredient distributor and provider of value-added services, and Novozymes, the world leader in biological solutions, signed a new agreement to expand the partnership into the United States and Canadian food ingredients markets. The new food ingredients agreement takes effect May 1, one month after the companies announced an exclusive agreement expanding the partnership into the United States and Canadian beverage production, homecare, and industrial cleaning markets.
Innovative sugar beet processor Cosun Beet Company, part of Royal Cosun, and Avantium N.V., a leading technology company in renewable chemistry, will jointly construct and operate the first commercial plant for the production of plant-based glycols using Avantium’s Ray TechnologyTM. To this end, Cosun Beet Company and Avantium entered into a Term Sheet to establish a joint venture in which Cosun Beet Company will take a substantial share.
