Global Bioenergies expands in the Netherlands. The French biotech company led by Marc Delcourt signed a contribution agreement with the shareholders of Syngip B.V. to transfer all Syngip shares to Global Bioenergies S.A. The transaction’s completion remains subject to the fulfilment of several suspensive conditions including approval by the shareholders of Global Bioenergies.
Technology
2016: a great year for Il Bioeconomista. Thank you and happy 2017!
Dear Readers,
thank you very much, again. 2016 was another great year for Il Bioeconomista: 14% more visits to our blog. This shows us how the bioeconomy is increasingly a phenomenon that attracts the attention of global public opinion and gratifies us as journalists, observers of a reality that we have always defined as the industrial revolution of the Third Millennium.
UK bioeconomy supports over 5 million jobs. An interview with Margaret Smallwood, CEO BioVale

“In 2015 the UK Government published its first report demonstrating how important the bioeconomy is to the UK. They commissioned a second report in 2016, ‘Evidencing the bioeconomy’, which estimated the bioeconomy generated £220bn in Gross Value Added and supported over five million jobs in the UK”. Margaret Smallwood, CEO of BioVale, an innovation cluster supporting development of the bioeconomy in Yorkshire and the Humber, talks to Il Bioeconomista. In this exclusive interview she talks about the bioeconomy in UK after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump as US President.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
A EU project for efficient algae cultivation integrated into wastewater treatment

Ken Richards, CEO of Leaf Resources, is the most innovative bioeconomy CEO 2016

Our readers have voted: the most innovative bioeconomy CEO 2016 is Ken Richards, CEO of Leaf Resources, the Australian company focused on making sustainable products from plant biomass.
We heartily congratulate him on this important recognition and sincerely thank our readers for the great participation in the survey. Our blog has seen a boom of visits in these two days. The bioeconomy revolution is a reality thanks to visionary managers like Ken Richards, the other nine selected along with Richards in the list of the 10 most innovative bioeconomy CEOs and to all those who in different roles contribute to research, develop and commercialize new bio-based products.
The 10 Most Innovative Bioeconomy Chief Executive Officers in 2016
The bioeconomy is innovation, the result of the skills and passion of researchers and managers able to create value and new high-qualified jobs. At the end of 2014 Il Bioeconomista launched a new initiative: The 10 Most Innovative Bioeconomy CEOs.
We have asked a panel of world bioeconomy experts to tell us the Chief Executive Officers that have stood out as the most innovative during the last year. This year we want to engage our readers, asking you to choose the most innovative CEO responding to our survey.
This is the result in 2016 (in alphabetical order)
Leaf Resources and Novozymes join forces in the conversion of biomass to functional sugars

Leaf Resources, the Australian company which is focused on making sustainable products from plant biomass, today announced a collaboration with Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, to further increase the yields and efficiency associated with Leaf Resources’ innovative biomass conversion technology, Glycell, which is a unique combination of well-established process engineering and advanced chemistry.
Christophe Schilling talks to Il Bioeconomista. An exclusive interview with the CEO of Genomatica

“Biotech is becoming increasingly important to the mainstream chemical industry as the demand for more sustainable solutions intensifies. Biotech is especially well-suited to help with some of the industry’s biggest challenges”. To say it – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Christophe Schilling, founder and CEO of Genomatica, a widely-recognized bioengineering leader for the chemical industry. The San Diego-based biotechnology company develops and licenses bio-based manufacturing processes for the production of intermediate and basic chemicals.
Since being named CEO in May 2009, Christophe Schilling has led Genomatica to widespread recognition as a leader in industrial biotechnology, with a commercialized first process, top-tier licensees, strong investors and an unrivaled string of awards for engineering (Kirkpatrick), science (EPA Presidential Green Chemistry), industry leadership (voted #1 Hottest three years in a row by Biofuels Digest), and company culture (The Scientist as a Best Place to Work). Schilling frequently speaks on industry trends at major conferences and serves as a member of the World Economic Forum Global Agenda Council on Biotechnology.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Who is afraid of the bioeconomy?

There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things.
Bioplastics: Perstorp calls for action

Perstorp, a world leading specialty chemicals group headquartered in Sweden, has initiated a campaign called “Time to act” where they are launching “The Challenge”, a quiz with the aim to spread knowledge. For each person joining, Perstorp will make a donation to preserve our planet. The initiative is in line with Perstorp’s focus on sustainability and its aim to offer sustainable solutions. The motto is: No-one can do everything but everyone can do something!