The production processes of the most important basic chemicals are responsible for around 70 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions in the chemical industry. “BASF experts – the German chemical giant claims – are working intensely on new technologies to substantially reduce emissions in these processes. The company has bundled all of this work under the roof of its ambitious Carbon Management Program”.
The European Forest Institute (EFI) and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) plan to join forces on research including the role of sustainable forest management in achieving the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals and to better connect science to policy action.
The two organizations on May 24 signed a Memorandum of Understanding in Barcelona, establishing a partnership to advance and communicate forest science and support sustainable development. The agreement will help put forests front and center on the global development agenda, according to Marc Palahí, Director of EFI, and Robert Nasi, Director General of CIFOR.
Now, for the first time, Novozymes’ enzymes are available online through Alibaba’s platform for industrial products, 1688.com.
“We want to be a front runner in providing biological solutions online as well as offline. By partnering with Alibaba, we will get even closer to our end-customers, address local market needs faster and explore new application opportunities,” says Thomas Videbæk, COO and Executive Vice President, Novozymes.
King of Prussia-based Renmatix is introducing Celltice™, the beauty industry’s first zero-chemical self-emulsifying active. A brand-new ingredient consisting of botanical building blocks cellulose and lignin, Celltice delivers a variety of benefits in personal care and cosmetic applications, functioning both as an active and an excipient in formulations.
Canada has its own bioeconomy strategy. Canada’s first national Bioeconomy Strategy released yesterday by Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, reflects the views of more than 400 industry representatives from across the country.
Italy has an updated national bioeconomy strategy: “Bioeconomy in Italy: A Unique Opportunity to reconnect Economy, Society and the Environment”. It has been officially presented this morning in Rome, at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, by the Italian government, with the presence of Waldemar Kütt representing the European Commission and Philippe Mengal, Executive Director at BBI JU.
The first-ever commercial flight to produce no landfill waste took to the skies last Wednesday, marking the start of Qantas’ plan to cut 100 million single-use plastics by end-2020 and eliminate 75 per cent of the airline’s waste by end-2021. All inflight products on board QF739, flying from Sydney to Adelaide and staffed by cabin crew from the Qantas ‘Green Team’, will be disposed of via compost, reuse or recycling.
The viability of Anellotech’s Bio-TCat™ technology has now been proven by achieving commercially-targeted yields in its TCat-8® pilot unit in Silsbee, Texas during six months of continuous process operations.
From 9 to 12 July Thessaloniki, Greece, will host a summer school focused on circular bioeconomy, organized in partnership with the Italian Master “Bioeconomy in the Circular Economy”.
Enerkem Inc., a global leader in biofuels production from solid waste, closed last April a new round of financing totalling C$76.3 million. The financing comes from Enerkem’s existing investors, as well as a new investor, Suncor Energy Inc. This injection of additional capital will help foster the company’s growth by continuing the development of its other projects, including in Varennes, Québec, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands.
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