An interview with Tony Duncan, CEO Circa Group, the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2017

Tony Duncan

Last December Tony Duncan, CEO of Circa Group, was nominated by our readers the Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2017. In this long interview with Il Bioeconomista, he talks about this recognition, what is innovation, the bioeconomy and the next steps of his company.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

First of all, congratulations for the recognition as The Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEO 2017. What is innovation in the bioeconomy, from your point of view?

Thank you – it was certainly a surprise to be nominated, and the result is very much a confirmation of Circa’s approach and the efforts of the team over the past 9 plus years – staff, shareholders, researchers and partners!

Continue reading

BP Verenium Biofuels plant in Louisiana is for sale

Aaron Equipment Company in conjunction with Reich Brothers and Phoenix Equipment Corporation recently acquired the BP Verenium Biofuels plant including over 40 acres of real estate and equipment located in Jennings, LA. The group plans to first offer the plant in its entirety and then piece meal to the buying public. Consisting of a full plant made up of hundreds of individual pieces of equipment and components, the liquidation marks Aaron Equipment’s expansion into the trendy biofuels equipment market after eight decades of providing new, used and reconditioned processing equipment to other industries. The sale offers a unique opportunity to save money while getting into or extending one’s reach in the sustainable fuels game.

Continue reading

Mariagiovanna Vetere, NatureWorks: “It’s time to give clear support to biomaterials! The EU Plastic Strategy is a missed opportunity”

Mariagiovanna Vetere at Circular Bioeconomy Arena Meeting in Milan on November 22, 2017

“With the Plastic Strategy the Commission presented an ambitious plan but it focuses only on mechanical recycling of conventional plastics and falls short in considering and evaluating the big benefits for the environment and for the ‘green’ jobs in Europe that bioplastics can provide”. Mariagiovanna Vetere, NatureWorks Public Affairs manager for Europe, talks to Il Bioeconomista.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

Continue reading

Ingenza aims to develop new industrial biotech-based routes to commodity chemicals

The team of Ingenza

UK biotech company Ingenza has joined forces with leading universities and industrial partners to participate in the ConBioChem collaboration, a translational project focused on the development of novel platform technologies for the continuous bio-production of commodity chemicals.

Continue reading

Aquafil and Genomatica join forces to produce 100% sustainable nylon

Italy-based Aquafil and Californian biotech company Genomatica join forces to create sustainable caprolactam, a key ingredient to producing 100% sustainable nylon. The collaboration between the two companies aims to develop a commercially-advantageous bioprocess (Genomatica’s GENO CPL process) to make caprolactam using plant-based renewable ingredients, rather than the crude oil-derived materials traditionally used by the nylon industry.

Continue reading

Hera will guarantee clean electric energy for Bio-on’s new biopolymers plant

Marco Astorri, Ceo Bio-on

Bio-on, Italian eco-sustainable chemical company, and Gruppo Hera, one of Italy’s main multi-utility providers, have reached an agreement for the supply of clean energy thanks to the realisation and management of a new technological-energy hub that will house a newly designed trigeneration plant. The deal was signed by Bio-on S.p.A. with Hera Servizi Energia, a subsidiary of Gruppo Hera, and will guarantee clean electric energy for the new plant producing innovative biopolymers that Bio-on is currently constructing in Castel San Pietro Terme, outside Bologna (Emilia Romagna Region).

Continue reading

Synvina takes a step forward for commercial-scale production of FDCA

Avantium and Basf set up the JV Synvina

Synvina, the joint venture between Avantium and BASF, plans to extend the pilot phase in order to optimize future commercial-scale production. The company headquartered in Amsterdam has now completed a broad feasibility assessment for commercial-scale production of FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) in its Reference Plant intended to be built in Antwerp. FDCA is the main building block for the new polymer PEF (polyethylenefuranoate). The assessment looked at product performance, market appetite and technical process.

Continue reading

Biodegradable bags? Yes, thanks

In this early 2018 it seems the main problem for Italians is the price of biodegradable bags for fruit and vegetables. Many Italians complain about the cents to buy the biodegradable bags but say nothing about toxic clouds that devastate the territory from North to South. What are we talking about for the benefit of our non-Italian readers?

Continue reading

An interview with Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech: “We want to see a Carbon Smart Future take off”

Jennifer Holmgren at the Bioeconomy Investment Summit in Helsinki

“Our goal is to reduce carbon and to do this we must adopt new approaches by using alternative feedstocks, including existing wastes and residues instead of fossil. Today we have an abundance of carbon in all the wrong places. We can turn it from a liability to an opportunity by using it again and again”. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech, on of the most dynamic and growing bioeconomy companies at world level, talks to Il Bioeconomista, in an interview released after the Bioeconomy Investment Summit, which was held on December 14 in Helsinki.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

Continue reading

NUI Galway and Gas Networks Ireland lead a new transport revolution

CNG Truck travelling around Dublin City Centre.
Picture Colm Mahady / Fennells – Copyright© Fennell Photography 2016.

The Irish bioeconomy takes a step forward: NUI (National University of Ireland) Galway and Gas Networks Ireland are leading a new transport revolution as they introduce compressed natural gas (CNG) and renewable gas for trucks, vans and buses. The project, named ‘Causeway’, marks a first for NUI Galway, as this is the first time that the University has been successful in securing a funding application from the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility. The Causeway project received approval for €6.5 million co-funding from the European Commission.

Continue reading