The opportunities for the forest sector in the transition to a bioeconomy, the challenges it faces and its essential contribution to combating climate change was discussed at the high-level seminar “Forests and the bioeconomy: future steps” organised by the ThinkForest forum at the European Parliament in Brussels on 13 November.
The Eurozone economy expanded by 0.2 percent in the third quarter, official data showed Friday, a slight acceleration that will do little to quell fears that a sluggish Europe is hurting world growth, Agence France-Press reported.
Last Tuesday, Norwegian – the second largest airline in Scandinavia and the third largest low-cost airline in Europe with approximately 4500 employees – carried out its first ever flight with biofuel. Norwegian’s flight DY631 from Bergen to Oslo took off with almost 50 percent biofuel; a flight that emits over 40 percent less than an average flight with regular fuel.
Perstorp, the world leader in ε-polycaprolactones (PCL) technology, marketed under the Capa brand, is stepping up its investment into the fast growing bioplastics market. “World demand is expected to continue to grow at over 20% pa for the foreseeable future, and Capa Thermoplastics are already playing a vital role in enhancing biopolymer performance and biodegradability across a range of bioplastic applications”, Swedish company writes in a note.
The European Union will need a new political framework for rolling out its bio-based economy by 2020 at the latest. The existing framework does not create sufficient market pull for implementing innovative, bio-based technologies. To say it are Michael Carus, Lara Dammer and Roland Essel in the latest policy paper of nova-Institute “Options for Designing a New Political Framework of the European Bio-based Economy – nova-Institute’s contribution to the current debate”.
Reverdia, the joint venture between Royal DSM and Roquette Frères, has earned the USDA Certified Biobased Product Label for its Biosuccinium bio-succinic acid. The USDA Certified Biobased Product Label verifies that the product’s amount of renewable biobased ingredients meets or exceeds levels set by US Department of Agriculture.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has released a comprehensive report synthesizing current literature that explores opportunities in the emerging bioeconomy. The report, entitled “Why Biobased?”, was created as a precursor for a more comprehensive economic study to be released in the coming months by the USDA BioPreferred program on the economic impacts of the biobased products industry.
The bio-based materials and chemicals industry is poised to attract nearly $1 billion in investment this year, led notably by later-stage funding rounds, according to Lux Research. The estimated $974 million investment represents a 28% increase from 2013, suggesting companies that endured the waves of economic disruption have gained maturity and regained investors’ confidence.
Abengoa – the international company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainability in the energy and environment sectors, generating electricity from renewable resources, converting biomass into biofuels and producing drinking water from sea water – promotes the use of sustainable transport every day through various measures that it has implemented. These initiatives include a pedestrian walkway that Abengoa constructed in 2012 to link the Los Bermejales and Bellavista districts with Campus Palmas Altas.
Matrìca, the 50/50 joint venture between Versalis (Eni) and Novamont, hosted today the International Open Day, a chance for the European Stakeholders attending the third Bioeconomy Conference held in Turin to visit the newly-built plant at Porto Torres, the bio-run industrial complex utilizing the latest technologies and vegetable oils as raw materials. The project was conceived back in 2011 with the objective of converting the petrochemical plant at Porto Torres into one of the most innovative, integrated green chemistry industrial project at world level.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 