Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels, an industry coalition to promote advanced biofuels, yesterday met stakeholders at the European Parliament in Brussels to urge for a tough EU-wide sub-target for advanced biofuels in the context of ILUC (indirect land use change) directive.
UPM and WWF Finland have engaged in a dialogue on the status of wood-based liquid biofuels in Finland and present a list of joint measures to be carried out to promote sustainability.
Marc Delcourt, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Global Bioenergies, has clear ideas: “Our aim is to take advantage of the existing infrastructures of the petrochemical industry by producing exactly the same molecules through sustainable processes. By this way, the end of oil will not mean the end of the existing industrial world”.
His company is one of the most dynamic industrial biology companies in Europe. It is developing more efficient ways to convert renewable resources such as agricultural waste, sugar and starch into chemical key building blocks and drop-in fuels, drastically decreasing C02 emissions as well as generating new jobs in rural areas.
After his scientific training (Ecole Normale Supérieure, PhD in Molecular Biology in Canada), Delcourt turns towards R&D activities in the field of bioprocesses and founds in 1997 the industrial biotech company Biométhodes. He leaves Biométhodes in 2008 to found Global Bioenergies. In this interview we talk with him about Global Bioenergies and the bioeconomy.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
“Biofuels are expected to play a major role in road transport but the regulatory environment remains uncertain. Legislation is required for the EU to grow in locally produced sustainable biofuels. Therefore the rules need to extend beyond 2020. The long lasting policy processes are now creating uncertainty. Industry and investors need a stable, long term regulatory framework for biofuels”. To say this was Marko Janhunen, Vice President of Stakeholder Relations, UPM Biorefining, last Thursday in Brussels in the framework of CEPI European Paperweek, where the Finnish company presented its Biofore Concept Car, an example of how new biomaterials can be applied in the automotive industry.
Global Bioenergies, one of the few companies worldwide and the only one in Europe that is developing a process to convert renewable resources into hydrocarbons through fermentation announces having succeeded in the production of bio-sourced butadiene by direct fermentation. It is the first time ever an entirely biological production process – i.e. without any chemical step – is reported for butadiene, one of the most important petrochemical building blocks.
The European institutions adopted a legislative proposal amending the Packaging and Packaging Waste Directive (PPWD) that addresses the challenge of conventional single use plastic carrier bags consumption, and explicitly sanctions the actions of several member states that have already recognized the benefits of compostable bags.
The next economic development of Malaysia will be biobased. Brooke Renewables and Hock Lee Group – which has experience in manufacturing of industrial glue and plywood and has investment in oil palm plantation – have presented a Letter of Intent (LOI) to the state government, marking their intention to invest in the 2G (second generation) bioethanol and biochemical plant as the first phase of the Sarawak Biomass Hub project.
“We see Europe as leading the way in bio-based innovation. There is a much closer lens on renewable chemistry from consumers in the EU, which compels companies to act faster. In general, European corporations tend to be more progressive and take more of a longview perspective than those in the US”. To say it, in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista, is Mike Hamilton, Ceo of Renmatix, a company based in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania, US), which is the leading technology licensor for the conversion of biomass into cellulosic sugar, an enabling feedstock for petroleum alternatives used in the global biochemical and biofuels markets. The company’s proprietary Plantrose process challenges conventional sugar economics by cheaply converting cellulosic biomass – from wood waste to agricultural residue – into useful, cost-effective sugars. With Hamilton we talk about Renmatix, Plantrose technology and bioeconomy.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
SkyNRG Nordic, the partnership between SkyNRG and Statoil Fuel & Retail Aviation, announced the supply of the first commercial quantities of sustainable bio jet fuel to Avinor’s airport Gardermoen (Oslo) in 2015. Lufthansa has signed up for 5% sustainable bio jet fuel on more than 5000 flights annually. KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and SAS are also participating in the initiative.
ENI goes green. Oil giant reached an agreement with labour unions and Sicilian authorities on upgrading its oil refinery near the town of Gela to make it environmentally friendly. Under the deal ENI will invest 2.2 billion euros in the 60-year-old refinery to make it eco-friendly.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 