Finnish company UPM takes the next transformative growth step and enters the biochemicals business by investing in a biorefinery at Leuna, Germany. The biorefinery will produce a range of 100% wood-based biochemicals which enable a switch from fossil raw materials to sustainable alternatives in various consumer-driven end-uses. The investment opens totally new markets for UPM with large growth potential for the future.
Clariant unveiled new high-performance additives promoting reduction in the consumption of fossil resources, to support the creation of value chain cycles which utilize viable and sustainable renewable sources and combat climate change.
SABIC, a global leader in the chemical industry, launched a polycarbonate (PC) based on certified renewable feedstock – a first in the industry, providing SABIC and its direct and ultimate customers with a solution that has the potential to reduce both CO2 emissions and the use of fossil feedstock during production.
The Italian Renewable Energy Consortium for Research and Demonstration (RE-CORD) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory for coordination on thermochemical conversion of biomass for the production of biofuels and chemicals.
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.
Australian biotech company Circa Group’s FC5 commercial demonstration plant is now online, paving the way to a regular supply of Circa’s bio-based solvent CyreneⓇ. A joint venture between Circa and Norwegian pulp and paper company Norske Skog, the FC5 plant is located in Tasmania, Australia. Now successfully commissioned and operated end-to-end, FC5 is starting to produce a steady stream of 99% pure CyreneⓇ, a non-toxic solvent made from certified and renewable cellulose waste.
Neste, the Espoo-based world’s leading provider of sustainable renewable diesel and an expert in delivering drop-in renewable chemical solutions, and Clariant, a world leader in specialty chemicals, signed an agreement for a new partnership to join forces in developing and making new sustainable material solutions accessible to a variety of industries.
“You know, the name of our company is Italian. Anello (ring in English) wants to mean the circularity, but also the bond as it is represented by the wedding ring”.
It is very pleasant to talk with David Sudolsky, one of the entrepreneurs who is making the bioeconomy happen at global level. He co-founded Anellotech in 2008, secured the initial angel funding for the company, recruited the management team and scientific advisory board, and is leading the expansion of the company.
The company based in New York develops a technology platform for producing petrochemicals and transportation fuels from renewable non-food biomass.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released a new report on the bioeconomy, “Indicators of the U.S. Biobased Economy”, which measures substantial economic growth, job creation, and household income for the agricultural sector from biofuel and bioenergy production. Moreover, it indicates great potential for additional prosperity from future growth in renewable chemicals and biobased products. BIO, the U.S. Biotechnology Innovation Organization, calculates that the global economic value of the biobased economy – including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials – is $355.28 billion.
There is a new Brazilian-Danish partnership in the world bioeconomy. Braskem, the Americas’ leading producer of thermoplastic resins, and Danish-based Haldor Topsoe, a world leader in catalysts and surface science, have signed a technological cooperation agreement to develop a pioneering route to produce monoethylene glycol (MEG) from sugar. The agreement calls for the construction of a demonstration plant in Denmark, with operation slated to begin in 2019.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 