“Another main pillar of our strategy is to drive sustainability through chemistry from renewable sources. We already operate on two technological platforms: Proesa® starting from solid biomasses and Matrìca from vegetable oils.” Adriano Alfani, CEO Versalis – the chemical division of Italian oil company ENI, talks to Il Bioeconomista.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
Our readers have voted. The most innovative bioeconomy CEO 2010 is Jennifer Holgren, CEO of LanzaTech, the Illinois-based company that is the global leader in gas fermentation technology. The company provides novel and economic routes to ethanol, jet fuel and high-value chemicals from gas streams including industrial off-gases from steel and alloy mills; petroleum refineries, petrochemical complexes and gas processing facilities; syngas generated from any biomass resource (e.g. municipal solid waste (MSW), organic industrial waste, agricultural waste); and reformed biogas.
The circular bioeconomy is innovation, the result of the skills and passion of researchers and managers able to create value and new high-qualified jobs, reconciling economy, society and the environment. 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.
Now we ask you to choose the most innovative CEO responding to our survey (open till December 7 at 9 am, Western European Time).
The most innovative CEO 2016 was Ken Richards (CEO of Leaf Resources, Australia)
The most innovative CEO 2017 was Tony Duncan (CEO of Circa Group, Australia)
The most innovative CEO 2018 was Jürgen Eck (CEO of BRAIN AG, Germany)
The most innovative CEO 2019 was Alex Michine (CEO of MetGen, Finland)
The most innovative CEO 2020 was Simão Soares (CEO of SilicoLife, Portugal)
This is the result of 2021 (in alphabetical order)
Richard Altice, NatureWorks (USA)
Catia Bastioli, Novamont (Italy)
John Bissell, Origin Materials (USA)
Dominique Boies, Enerkem (Canada)
Jennifer Holmgren, LanzaTech (USA)
Jim Macias, Fulcrum Bioenergy (USA)
Thomas Philipon, TotalCorbion (France/Netherlands)
Jason Robinson, Evoco (USA)
Nicolas Sordet, Afyren (France)
Peter Vanacker, Neste (Finland)
Enerkem, a world leader in the production of biofuels from waste materials based in Canada, achieved a major breakthrough in converting carbon from forest biomass into sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) using its proprietary thermochemical process. This important milestone was achieved at Enerkem’s Innovation Centre in Westbury, Quebec. It will be followed by the demonstration phase, which will lead to commercialization in the near future. This research is part of The Sky’s the Limit Challenge organized by Natural Resources Canada and for which Enerkem was selected as a finalist.
With a new project organization, BASF is bundling and accelerating its extensive cross-company activities to reduce its CO2 emissions by 25 percent by 2030 compared with 2018 and become climate neutral by 2050. The unit, called “Net Zero Accelerator”, focuses on implementing and accelerating projects relating to low-CO2 production technologies, circular economy and renewable energies. “With the new project organization, we are continuing to accelerate and create more powerful structures within BASF to achieve our ambitious goals,” said Martin Brudermüller, Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. “This further step demonstrates the determination to drive forward our transformation to a climate-neutral company.”
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations’ (FAO) presented a new report on forest products and the vital role they play in the global bioeconomy and climate change mitigation.
The report, Forest products in the global bioeconomy: Enabling substitution by wood-based products and contributing to the Sustainable Development Goals, provides a set of recommendations to increase the contribution of forest products for climate change mitigation and sustainable development.
Brazilian energy company Raizen SA and its shareholder Royal Dutch Shell Plc signed an agreement with the Ferrari Formula 1 team to supply second-generation, high-performance ethanol from next year, when the main motor racing category will begin using 10% ethanol blend in gasoline.
Commitments made in advance and during COP26 have put keeping global warming to 1.5°C within reach, accelerating investment towards net zero emissions. Stronger policies and 2030 targets are still required to unlock the trillions of dollars required to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
“Global warming of above 1.5°C presents irreversible, foreseeable and large-scale risks to investors and financial markets,” Rebecca Mikula-Wright, Chief Executive Officer of the Asia Investor Group on Climate Change (AIGCC), said. “The commitments that have come out ahead and as part of Glasgow have been significant but global action is still falling short.
As part of the COP26 climate conference, Deutsche Post DHL Group has announced a further step towards introducing climate-friendly aviation logistics. The Group has agreed a new partnership with Neste1 to supply the DHL Express division with Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) at the UK’s East Midlands Airport. In total, DHL will purchase SAF for more than EUR 60 million by mid- 2022, reducing around 70,000 tons of CO2. This is a first step for the Group to reach its ambitious 2030 target of meeting at least 30 per cent of its fuel needs in aviation through sustainable fuels.
Swiss sports brand On is moving away from petroleum-based resources by creating a new foam material called CleanCloud™, made using carbon emissions as a raw material. On is the first company in the footwear industry to explore carbon emissions as a primary raw material for a shoe bottom unit, specifically EVA (ethylene vinyl acetate) foam, that could also be used in other shoe parts and products in the future.
“On – the company claims – is convinced that innovation is pivotal to cutting greenhouse gas emissions. CleanCloud™ is the result of four years of dedicated work, which began with finding the best possible partners. We are adopting a collaborative approach to overcome the challenges of connecting these technologies at commercial scale.”
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