Technology – Page 76 – IL BIOECONOMISTA

Biobased Industries and the Vanguard Initiative sign MoU for interregional cooperation

21 June 201622 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Two leading European bioeconomy players, the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) and the Vanguard Initiative, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for better interregional cooperation on the bioeconomy.

The collaboration will support improved access to funding and awareness-raising activities, marrying BIC’s bioeconomy expertise with the Vanguard Initiative’s regional network to help steer Europe away from its fossil-based past and develop novel products for new markets, creating more jobs.

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Novamont’s bio-based butanediol plant will be on stream by the next September

20 June 201620 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Novamont’s bio-based butanediol (BDO) plant in Bottrighe di Adria (Veneto, North-eastern Italy), established as a joint venture (Mater Biotech) with San Diego-based Genomatica and now entirely controlled by the company headquartered in Novara, will come on stream by the end of September. It is a big step forward for the Italian bioeconomy, which is confirmed in its leading role in Europe.

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A U.S. warship took its first delivery of Italian-made biofuel

18 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

A U.S. warship took its first delivery of Italian-made biofuel on Thursday as part of the Navy’s program to use more alternative energy. The USS Mason was refueled alongside an Italian vessel, the Andrea Doria, in the seas off of Italy’s southern coast with a mix produced by Italy’s Eni that has 5.5 percent palm oil biofuel blended into marine fuel.

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The Dutch government is planning to join the Mission Innovation coalition

9 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

The Dutch government is planning to join the Mission Innovation coalition. The global initiative aims to accelerate public and private innovation in order to make clean energy affordable for consumers, as well as creating “green” jobs and commercial opportunities. Mission Innovation was announced by former Microsoft leader Bill Gates at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP21) in Paris last year. At the launch, 20 countries – Australia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Denmark, EU, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Republic of Korea, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, UAE, UK and US – committed to doubling their respective clean energy R&D by 2020.

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Global Bioenergies, IBN-One, Cristal Union and L’Oréal launch a new bioeconomy project

7 June 20167 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Waiting for the French national strategy, the bioeconomy moves forward in France. Global Bioenergies, IBN-One, Cristal Union and L’Oréal announced yesterday the launch of a 44-month industrial and commercial project focused on the first bio-isobutene plant.

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Global companies unite in below50 to scale up sustainable fuels

3 June 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Forward-thinking businesses are partnering with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD), Roundtable for Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) and Sustainable Energy for All (SE4ALL) through a new global initiative called below50, to promote the best-of-breed of sustainable fuels that can achieve significant carbon reductions, and scale up their development and use.

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ETLA confirms the strong impact of the Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill on Finnish economy

30 May 201630 May 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Mesa Group Aanekoski pulp mill. Source: www.metsafibre.com — Metsa Group Aanekoski pulp mill. Source: http://www.metsafibre.com

Bioeconomy is economic growth and new green jobs. A new evidence comes from Finland. The Research Institute of the Finnish Economy (ETLA) studied the impact of Metsä Group’s bioproduct mill being constructed in Äänekoski in terms of revenue, value added and employment. The impact of the largest investment to date in the history of Finnish forest industry has significant repercussions in the economy during both the construction and the operation of the mill.

According to ETLA’s calculations, the 1.2 billion euro investment in the bioproduct mill will increase the revenue of companies operating in Finland by around 2.4 billion euro at the construction stage, and it will generate value added that will be directly reflected in economic growth in the amount of nearly 1 billion euro during 2015–2018. The annual employment effects arising from construction during 2016 and 2017 total nearly 4,000 person-years when the effects on the value chain and consumption are included in the calculation. This equals 0.16 per cent of the total employed workforce in Finland.

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Eni integrates its traditional business and energy from renewable sources

26 May 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Waiting for the new buyer of Versalis, Eni – the Italian oil giant – has made new and important progress in its commitment to combatting climate change, creating an original model of integration between its traditional business and energy from renewable sources.

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The conclusion of the Versalis deal is near: the final decision in late May, early June

21 May 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Claudio De Scalzi, Ceo of Eni. Source: www.eni.com — Claudio De Scalzi, Ceo of Eni. Source: http://www.eni.com

The conclusion of the Versalis deal is near. Claudio De Scalzi, Ceo of Eni, told the trade unions the company will decide whether to sell 70% of its chemical division to the US fund SK Capital in late May, early June.

The three main Italian trade unions in the chemical sector have reaffirmed the Ceo of the Italian oil giant their clear opposition to this possibility and asked to seek alternatives; one of these would be the CDP (Cassa Depositi e Prestiti), which is is an Italian bank founded in 1850 and constituted in its current form as a joint-stock company on 12 December 2003: 80.1% of the share capital is owned by the Italian Ministry of Economy and Finance, the 18.4% is held by various banking foundations, while the remaining 1.5% in treasury shares.

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Bioeconomy in Transport Decarbonisation: an offer they can’t refuse

17 May 201617 May 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Marlon Brando as don Vito Corleone in The Godfather

During my ten years at Accenture in Rome my boss always made a point of checking that in our bids for client work we were making them offers they couldn’t refuse. He’d been inspired by Marlon Brando in the Godfather, without the gun parts clearly. Our business grew from 300 to 3000 people.

The guys and gals at the European Commission in Brussels are right now putting the finishing touches to a Communication on Transport Decarbonisation, due out this summer. A Commission Communication is the closest thing there is to an EU law without actually being a law. If it’s any good it will set direction on transport decarbonisation for the next twenty years and go a long way to saving the planet from catastrophic climate change.

by James Cogan*

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