After announcing its €15 million Serie A funding round, the sustainable chemical company GFBiochemicals entered into an agreement with German chemical giant BASF. Specifically, BTC Europe GmbH, BASF’s European distribution organization, and NXTLEVVEL Biochem, a joint venture and manufactoring arm of GFBiochemicals, signed an agreement on the distribution of biobased and biodegradable solvents derived from levulinic acid for the European market.
A consortium, including LanzaTech and Danone, led to the discovery of a new route to monoethylene glycol, (MEG), which is a key building block for polyethylene terephthalate, (PET), resin, fibers and bottles. The technology converts carbon emissions from steel mills or gasified waste biomass directly into MEG. The carbon capture technology uses a proprietary engineered bacterium to convert carbon emissions directly into MEG through fermentation, bypassing the need for an ethanol intermediate, and simplifying the MEG supply chain. The direct production of MEG was proven at laboratory scale and the presence of MEG was confirmed by two external laboratories.
The US is ordering refiners to boost the use of biofuels such as corn-based ethanol, as the Biden administration tries to strike a balance between competing political and economic pressures while gasoline prices soar.
The upcoming Bonn Climate Change Conference (6-16 June) is set to kick off next week, designed to prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP27) in November of this year. COP27 in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt, will build on the positive outcome of last year’s UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) in Glasgow, which finalized operational details of the Paris Agreement and identified work going forward in the key areas of mitigation, adaptation, support – particularly finance – and loss and damage.
The US bioeconomy takes a step forward. Genomatica, Cargill, HELM and Qore completed a groundbreaking ceremony in Eddyville, Iowa, to celebrate the construction of the first, bio-1,4-butanediol (BDO) facility to be built in the U.S. and the second bio BDO commercial scale plant for Geno. It’s a major milestone for biotech to supply more sustainable materials to meet surging consumer demand, while advancing manufacturing right in America’s heartland.
Circa and Valmet have signed a Heads of Agreement to realise and optimise the Furacell™ production process at scale through the ReSolute project and future large-scale plants. Valmet will be the main process technology and equipment supplier, and actively contribute to accelerating the development of Circa’s large-scale production plants. The cooperation considerably strengthens Circa’s ability to build and deliver its plan to become a large-scale producer of sustainable biochemicals.
The BMW Group has chosen to use BASF Coatings’ CathoGuard® 800 ReSource e-coat at its plants in Leipzig, Germany, and Rosslyn, South Africa, and the iGloss® matt ReSource clearcoat throughout Europe. Using these more sustainable product versions for vehicle coatings enables CO2 avoidance of around 40% per coating layer; this will reduce the amount of CO2 emitted in the plants by more than 15,000 metric tons by 2030.
BRAIN Biotech AG and Formo Bio GmbH launched a strategic collaboration to further advance the production of animal-free milk proteins. BRAIN Biotech is a leading industrial biotechnology company, Formo is a pioneering food-tech startup in the space of alternative milk protein. As experts in their field, the two German biotech companies are powering European innovation.
Coldplay is partnering up with Neste to take steps towards the band’s target of reducing CO2 emissions from the Music Of The Spheres World Tour by 50% compared to the band’s previous world tour. Neste will provide Coldplay with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) to help reduce emissions from air travels, while the company’s renewable diesel will help cut emissions from the band’s tour transports and stage power generation.
Royal DSM, a global purpose-led science-based company, the United Nations’ children’s agency UNICEF, and Swiss-based nutrition think tank and incubator Sight and Life have renewed their long-term partnership to deliver better nutrition for at-risk groups in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The partners also aim to expand their work to Latin America for the first time.
