As first announced at the presentation of its 2024-2027 Strategic Plan, Italian multinational company Eni has finalized its transformation and relaunch plan for its chemicals business, also as part of its decarbonization path. The transformation plan involves about 2 billion euros of investment and aims to reduce emissions by approximately 1 million tonnes of CO2, currently about 40% of Versalis’ emissions in Italy.
This is a great news for the European and the world bioeconomy. Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymers, last Tuesday celebrated the Official Opening Ceremony of its FDCA Flagship Plant in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The plant opening was officiated by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands, in the presence of international and Dutch dignitaries, partners and Avantium employees.
Neste’s renewable diesel helps Verne, a provider of sustainable data center solutions for high intensity computing, to transition its operations from fossil to renewable fuels. Verne’s data centers in Helsinki, Pori and Tampere in Finland will use Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ to power their backup generators. The switch from fossil diesel to Neste’s renewable diesel helps Verne reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from their backup generators by on average 90% over the life cycle of the fuel when compared to fossil diesel. This contributes to Verne’s commitment to reducing the carbon footprint of its data center operations.
Avantium N.V., a leading company in renewable and circular polymer materials, started a collaboration with Royal Vezet, Europe’s largest fresh food company specializing in convenience vegetables, fruits, salads, and fresh meals. Together, Royal Vezet and Avantium will work closely to implement Avantium’s PEF for packaging of salad bowls. These PEF-based trays will be used by Albert Heijn, the largest supermarket chain in the Netherlands.
The ReBioCycle project kickoff took place at the University College Dublin on 2-3 October 2024. European Bioplastics and its members, including TotalEnergies Corbion, AIMPLAS, Novamont, Corbion, Sulapac, and Kaneka are amongst the 20 partners that have joined forces for developing and implementing “A new European blueprint for circular bioplastics upcycling solutions”, under the lead of the University College Dublin and BiOrbic Bioeconomy SFI Research Centre.
LanzaTech Global, Inc., the carbon recycling company transforming waste carbon into sustainable fuels, chemicals, materials, and protein, will expand its biorefining platform capabilities to include operations that produce LanzaTech Nutritional Protein (“LNP”) as the primary product. LNP is a microbial protein that is a nutrient-rich alternative to plant and animal-based proteins. By using a new microbe in its proprietary gas fermentation process, LanzaTech’s biorefining platform – the US company claims – can produce a cost-competitive protein solution that supports a resilient food supply chain. LNP production has the capability to address food security issues and be produced anywhere in the world, independent of weather extremes. Notably, the production of LNP uses a fraction of the land and water resources that traditional protein sources require.
Everything is ready in Bologna to host the new edition of IFIB, the International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy. The Italian city will be the capital of circular bioeconomy from 3 to 4 October, when world bioeconomy stakeholders will gather at the Golinelli Foundation to discuss and partner.
TotalEnergies-Corbion and Japanese Bioworks joined forces: PlaX™ developed a fabric that blends cotton with plant-based PolyLactic Acid (PLA), derived from sugarcane. Bioworks is a leading Japanese innovator in sustainable textiles, stating that PLA bioplastics enhance the antimicrobial properties of fabrics.
Neste is helping ST Telemedia Global Data Centres, one of the world’s fastest-growing data center providers, to become the first data center operator in Singapore to power its backup generators with renewable diesel. The switch from fossil diesel to Neste MY Renewable Diesel™ took place at STT GDS’s facilities in Singapore in late July this year. The fuel was delivered via Neste’s distribution partner, Interion Pte Ltd.
Stora Enso teams up with Swedish startup Enkei to find a smart and sustainable packaging solution to protect Enkei’s handcrafted designer table lamp Reminder (001) – without compromising on sustainability, safety or aesthetics. Packed and protected in a combination of corrugated board and the cushioning material Papira® by Stora Enso – both materials made by Stora Enso – the Reminder (001) can make its way to customers all over the world.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 