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Clariant is ready to invest in a new full-scale commercial plant in Romania

2 November 201731 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, will invest in a new full-scale commercial plant for the production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues using its sunliquid® technology. The new plant, with an annual production capacity of 50.000 tons, will be built in the southwestern part of Romania. The facility will be a flagship site, confirming competitiveness and sustainability of the sunliquid® technology at commercial scale thus supporting Clariant’s sunliquid® licensing business strategy.

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Eni denies the Ipo of Versalis and invests €500 million for the next 4 years in green chemistry

30 October 201729 October 2017Il Bioeconomista1 Comment

Headquarter of Eni in San Donato Milanese (Milan)

“The Ipo (Initial public offering, editor’s note) of Versalis is not yet in Eni’s plans”, Massimo Mondazzi, CFO of the Italian oil giant, said last Friday during a conference call with analysts answering the question about the chemical quotation hypothesis. “We want to maintain and strengthen Versalis, there are no Ipo projects. The option is not in the plans,” he said.

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Bioeconomy leaders met in São Paolo for the Biofuture Summit

26 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

“We simply have no choice. We have to massively scale up bioenergy, and do it fast”, said Paolo Frankl, Head of the Renewable Energy Division at the International Energy Agency (IEA). “Sustainable bioenergy is an indispensable component of the necessary portfolio of low-carbon technologies in ALL climate-change mitigation scenarios”, said Frankl, based on the findings of a key upcoming report on the matter. “And there is a major, major gap between what we need and what is happening today in terms of the speed of deployment and the scale of investments in bioenergy”.   The declarations were made as part of the Biofuture Summit, the first major conference of the Biofuture Platform, a coalition of twenty country governments, industry and the research community launched in November 2016 during UNFCCC COP23 in Marrakesh, aimed at the development of a modern, sustainable, low-carbon bioeconomy.

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UPM moves forward with the development of biochemicals business in Germany

24 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Biofore Concept Car. Full rights owned by UPM. Photographer: Sami Kulju

Finnish pulp and paper giant UPM moves forward with the development of biochemicals business by evaluating the potential of building a biorefinery in the Chemical Park Frankfurt-Höchst in Germany. The new-to-the-world biorefinery would combine novel technologies and utilize sustainable wood raw material in an innovative way. This opportunity is the outcome of more than five years of extensive technology development and piloting.

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Leaf Resources enters biodegradable packaging market leveraging Glycell strategy

23 October 201721 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Australia-based Leaf Resources has secured a license for an innovative biodegradable coating product for the packaging market. The product is based on lignin and also utilizes glycerol, two of the products that Leaf’s Glycell process will produce. According to the company, “Leaf’s Glycell process break down plant biomass at lower temperature and pressure and generate a higher yield of cellulose than conventional approaches”.

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Irish Ethanol Europe Renewables works with UN to accelerate shift to low carbon

20 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Ahead of the UN Climate Conference in Bonn, COP 23, 6-17 November, the Irish company Europe Renewables Ltd and UN Climate Change have partnered to boost the deployment of biofuels in the transport sector.

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The U.S. bioeconomy moves forward in Arizona

18 October 201717 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

The U.S. bioeconomy moves forward (despite of Trump). The University of Arizona has received a five-year grant of up to $15 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to lead a new center focusing on the mass production of biofuels and bioproducts in the Southwestern U.S.

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Statoil, Shell and Total entered CO2 storage partnership to meet the global climate target

16 October 201714 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Statoil, Shell and Total entered CO2 storage partnership. The three partners aims at maturing the development of carbon storage on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The project is part of the Norwegian authorities’ efforts to develop full-scale carbon capture and storage in Norway.

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Mossi Ghisolfi is considering selling its business in the biofuels sector

11 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

The Mossi Ghisolfi Biorefinery in Crescentino, Italy

Italian biochemicals multinational Mossi Ghisolfi is considering selling its Italian business in the biofuels sector as part of a restructuring deal, a source close to the matter said to the International press agency Reuters.

The company, Italy’s second-biggest chemicals business behind that of oil group Eni, has hired Mediobanca to run the process, the source said to Reuters.

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Eight promising bioeconomy start-ups pitched in Delft at an event organized by Royal DSM

9 October 20177 October 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

A total of eight promising start-ups were invited to pitch at the event “Connecting Bright Innovations 2017” organised by Royal DSM and held this year in Delft (Netherlands), which focused on new and innovative products and biotechnologies for food, health and (bio)tech applications. A panel of expert venturing and innovation specialists is evaluating the pitches with a view to their suitability for further financing and partnering opportunities.

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