Roctool, a French company specialised in mold heating and cooling technologies for plastics and composites, strongly accelerated its partnership with the CEA to create the photovoltaic panels of the future. This partnership was set up via the EasyPOC program, supported by the Région Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, which helps to de-risk innovation. Roctool is a high-potential company identified by the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes entreprises agency.
Versalis Sunpower is the name of the broad spectrum herbicide from renewable sources marketed by Versalis that controls annual and perennial weeds in urban and industrial areas. From pelargonic acid produced at the Porto Torres, Sardinia, plant, Versalis, based on the agreement with AlphaBio Control, a research and development company specialized in the creation of natural formulations for crop protection, offers to the market the product derived from vegetable oils which controls weeds by acting in synergy with solar radiation.
Contribute to the sustainability of society by designing a bio-based product or process. This was the task set for pioneering student teams participating in the third edition of the European Biobased Student Innovation Challenge 2021. The five finalists presented their innovative projects to a jury consisting of leading experts from across the bio-based sector. The combined votes from the expert jury and an audience of bio-based industry representatives decided which of the top five teams was the overall winner of BioSYNERGISE 2021, an event organised by the Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC). Team WaterSkins from the Netherlands rose to the top with their innovative idea to harness wastewater to produce a leather-like material.
Swiss chemical company Clariant reached an agreement with the WEF (World Economic Forum) and major chemical companies to establish a breakthrough development platform by 2023. A Project Development Company will be designed as a new stand-alone entity operating on a pre-competitive basis and supporting partners in setting set-up joint projects aiming to share early-stage development risks and invest jointly in the development and implementationof low-carbon technologies.
Eni has launched the production of alternative sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that will significantly contribute to the decarbonization of aviation in the short to medium term. Eni SAFs are produced exclusively from waste and residues, in line with the company’s strategic decision not to use palm oil from 2023.
Clariant, a focused, sustainable and innovative specialty chemical company, last Friday announced the official completion of its sunliquid® cellulosic ethanol plant in Podari, Romania. The completed construction is an important next step for the commercial deployment of sunliquid® technology and thus supports Clariant’s sunliquid® licensing business strategy. The facility will be operational in the fourth quarter, producing cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues.
LanzaTech and LanzaJet last Monday welcomed Secretary of Energy Jennifer M. Granholm and Senator Jon Ossoff to the Freedom Pines Biorefinery in Soperton, Georgia. The site is a center of research, development, and scale-up for LanzaTech’s commercial carbon capture and utilization technology with a specialized biomanufacturing center producing the “secret sauce” that is shipped from the United States to commercial partners around the world.
In addition to mattresses, sports floors and textile fibres, Covestro has opened up a further area of application for the use of CO2 in plastics production: now foams for the automotive industry can also be produced partly using carbon dioxide instead of fossil raw materials such as crude oil. The innovative precursor cardyon® is used for this purpose, with which the Swiss company FoamPartner produces foams for various areas in the vehicle interior.
Metsä Group is planning to construct a new Kerto® LVL mill on its expanding mill area in Äänekoski, Finland. The final decision on the investment, the value of which is approximately EUR 200 million, is pending the completion of a local detailed plan for the area. The new Kerto LVL mill is expected to use around 375,000 cubic metres of log procured from Finland.
Evoco is an innovative cleantech company. Its CEO, Jason Robinson, talks to Il Bioeconomista. “We’re focused on developing and producing renewable, sustainable and plant-based chemistry as alternatives to petroleum-based materials and products”, he tells us.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
IL BIOECONOMISTA 