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Editorial: Together for the Bioeconomy Revolution

1 July 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Dear Readers,

thank you. You are more and more every day to read Il Bioeconomista, from all over the world. And that flatters us and encourages us to move forward with our project for an online journal that has in the bioeconomy its inspiring principle. You are a signal that the world is in turmoil, that the search for a world free from fossil fuels, a post-petroleum world, is increasingly an utopia that has decided to roll up its sleeves to become reality every day. The path is still long, but the road is mapped out and we can’t go back.

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European Commission appoints the members of the Bioeconomy Panel

29 June 201329 June 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Berlaymont, European Commission's Headquarter in Brussels — Berlaymont, European Commission’s Headquarter in Brussels

The European Commission has selected and appointed the 30 members of the Bioeconomy Panel, a new platform for informed discussions on the Bioeconomy.

These experts represent a wide variety of interests – scientific community and researchers, primary producers, industry, policy-makers, and civil society – and they are nominated for an initial mandate of 2 years.

Their role is to closely assist the Commission in the implementation of the Bioeconomy Strategy in Europe.

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Airbus, Air France, Safran and Total together to create a French biofuel industry

27 June 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Total's headquarter in Paris — Total’s headquarter in Paris

At the Paris Air Show 2013, Airbus, Air France, Safran – a leading international high-technology group with three core businesses: aerospace, defence and security – and oil giant Total organized the “Joining our Energies – Biofuel Initiative France” flight to illustrate the French industry’s technical capacity to integrate aeronautical biofuels. The four players underline the need to improve research into the development of sustainable biofuels with a view to creating a French biofuel industry.

Today, the air transport sector generates around 2% of global man-made CO² emissions. Manufacturers are fully mobilized to reduce the impact of air transport by all possible means. As the aviation industry has no alternative to liquid fuels of fossil origin, the use of biofuels is essential for drastically reducing CO² emissions.

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EU Stakeholders of the Bioeconomy meet in EFIB to prepare the Biorevolution

25 June 201326 June 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Leading companies and policy makers are collaborating to fuel the growth of the bioeconomy in Europe. The partnership of Biobased and Renewable Industries for Development and Growth in Europe (BRIDGE) is industries vision for building stronger more sustainable value chains, based on renewable raw materials, across Europe. It is the result extensive dialogue between a broad range of sectors, SMEs, Research Institutes and policy makers and, if adopted, will form part of the EU’s new Research and Innovation programme, Horizon 2020. Continue reading →

Bye Bye Europe. British Petroleum Invests in Advanced Biofuels in America

22 June 201322 June 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Oil major BP is directing investment in advanced biofuels to the United States and South America due to uncertainty about the European Union’s future regulatory environment.

“At the moment we are not contemplating investing in second-generation cellulosic (ethanol) in Europe simply for the reason that there is not enough certainty on what the market conditions will be like,” Phil New, head of BP Biofuels, said in an interview with Reuters UK.

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In Scotland Advanced Biofuels from the By-products of the Malt Whisky Industry

15 June 2013Il Bioeconomista1 Comment

Lagavulin Distillery in Port Ellen (Scotland)

A Scottish energy start-up commercialises a process for producing a superior next generation biofuel (and other high value sustainable products) from the by-products of biological industries. The company – Celtic Renewables is its name – is initially focused on the £4 billion Scottish Malt Whisky industry as a ripe resource for developing bio-butanol – a next generation biofuel. Biobutanol has 25% more energy per unit volume than bioethanol; it has a lower vapour pressure and higher flashpoint (making it easier to store and safer to handle); it can be blended without requiring modifications in blending facilities, storage tanks or retail station pumps; in sharp contrast to ethanol, it can run in unmodified engines at any blend with petrol and may also be blended with diesel and biodiesel; it is less corrosive than bioethanol and can be transported using existing infrastructures. Biobutanol was legally recognised as a biofuel by incorporation in the 2009 amendment to the Road Transport Fuel Obligation (the UK implementation of the EU Renewable Energy Directive, which dictates that 5% of the UK’s transport fuel comes from a renewable source by 2013, and 10% by 2020).

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Novozymes and Novo Nordisk utilize wastewater to produce biogas

8 June 2013Il Bioeconomista1 Comment

Novo Nordisk's production site in Kalundborg — Novo Nordisk’s production site in Kalundborg

Novozymes and Novo Nordisk, Danish big companies, have in collaboration installed a 36 meter tall, high-performance biogas reactor. The new biogas reactor utilizes wastewater from both Novo Nordisk and Novozymes’ large production in Kalundborg for an efficient production of biogas.
There are two specific reasons for Novozymes’ investment in the new biogas reactor. “Firstly, we can reduce CO2 emissions from our production. This enables us to reduce our CO2 emission with 21,000 tons annually, equivalent to emissions from 12,000 households or 1000 trucks each driving a 1000 kilometers,” explains Line Sandberg, Vice President in Novozymes’ Danish production.

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In Vienna Molecular Switch for Cheaper Biofuel

5 June 20137 June 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

At the Vienna University of Technology, genetic engineers have found a trick, thanks to which fungi can be used for the production of biofuels far more cost effectively than before.

Lignocellulosic waste such as sawdust or straw can be used to produce biofuel – but only if the long cellulose and xylan chains can be successfully broken down into smaller sugar molecules. To do this, fungi are used which, by means of a specific chemical signal, can be made to produce the necessary enzymes. Because this procedure is, however, very expensive, Vienna University of Technology has been investigating the molecular switch that regulates enzyme production in the fungus. As a result, it is now possible to manufacture genetically modified fungi that produce the necessary enzymes fully independently, thus making biofuel production significantly cheaper.

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BASF announced new investments in Asia Pacific

23 May 201323 May 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Today BASF’s Crop Protection division (with sales of around €4.7 billion in 2012) presented its solutions for the future of food availability and quality of life in Asia Pacific. BASF aims to address these challenges by introducing new technologies, broadening farmer education and co-creation initiatives, increasing investments in production capacity and R&D as well as collaborating with food value chain partners. These initiatives will enable BASF to support growers in Asia Pacific more efficiently and broadly.

From 2008 to 2012, the Crop Protection division’s R&D expenditures have grown annually by 7% on average, from €325 million to €430 million. The company will continue to invest heavily in R&D projects in the future. Over the next few years, BASF also plans to spend on average €300 million annually on additional production capacities globally for its portfolio of agricultural solutions. “These investments mean that BASF can continue to support food availability in Asia Pacific and around the world more broadly,” said Markus Heldt, President of BASF’s Crop Protection division. “We are specifically investing in research, development and production in Asia Pacific as part of BASF’s globalization efforts, which will enhance our collaboration with growers in the region.”

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Interview with Simão Soares, Ceo of SilicoLife. The bioeconomy is the key to overcome the economic crisis in Portugal

20 May 201321 May 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

In Portugal, the unemployment rate has reached a record level of 17.7 percent, the highest in the European Union after Greece (26.4%) and Spain (26.3%), compared to an EU average of 10.9%. 952,000 people are unemployed, out of a total population of 10,5 million inhabitants.

For 2013, the center-right government led by Pedro Passos Coelho provides additional anti-crisis measures to comply with the financial assistance program of the Troika (EU, ECB, IMF), whose inspectors have already been twice in Lisbon to control the progress of the accounts. Among the measures there is the reduction of approximately 5 percent of public employees (30,000 of 700,000).

The bioeconomy could also be for Portugal an important way out of the crisis. We speak with Simão Soares, Ceo of the young company SilicoLife, one of several companies involved in the fields of bioeconomy created in Portugal in recent years, specialized in bioinformatics.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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