EU – IL BIOECONOMISTA

An exclusive interview with Gregory Jaffe (former USDA). “The Trump Administration will need to ensure the US has an enabling environment that supports the bioeconomy”

31 March 202530 March 2025Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Gregory Jaffe was Senior Advisor for Regulatory Affairs in the Office of the Secretary at USDA during the Biden Administration. He is now Founder and President of a policy consulting firm based in Washington DC, specializing in agriculture, food, environmental, and climate policy, both domestic and international.

In this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista, he talks about the prospects for the bioeconomy in the United States under the new Trump Administration and the relations between the United States and the European Union in this new era of tariffs.

“The Trump Administration – Jaffe says – will need to ensure the United States has an enabling environment that supports biotechnology, biomanufacturing, and the bioeconomy”.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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An interview with Dirk Carrez, Executive Director of BIC (Biobased Industries Consortium).

17 February 202514 February 2025Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

“Currently, there are policy frameworks for food, feed and bioenergy, but not for bio-based chemicals and derived materials. This gap puts the bio-based chemicals and derived materials sector at a disadvantage, and has also an impact on investments in Europe.”. Dirk Carrez, executive director of BIC (Biobased Industries Consortium) talks to Il Bioeconomista.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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EU Parliament votes to ban the use of palm oil in biofuels

10 April 2017Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

The European Union should introduce a single certification scheme for palm oil entering the EU market and phase out the use of vegetable oils that drive deforestation by 2020 to counter the impact of unsustainable palm oil production, such as deforestation and habitat degradation, particularly in South-East Asia. This is what said MEPs in a resolution voted last week.

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A EU project for efficient algae cultivation integrated into wastewater treatment

19 December 201619 December 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

algaebio — Pilot glasshouse for algae production, Budapest Sewage Works Ltd

We received and publish with pleasure this contribution by a project consortium coordinated by Miklós Gyalai-Korpos at PANNON Pro Innovations Ltd. about a project that develops protocol and operational strategy for efficient algae cultivation in wastewater treatment using the leachate of sludge dewatering and flue gas.

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EU Bio-based industries show 600 billion euro turnover and 3.2 million employees

3 March 2016Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Berlaymont, European Commission's Headquarter in Brussels

The Bio-based Industries Consortium (BIC) announced at its general assembly the results of the first extensive macro-economic study on the European Bioeconomy. The study, performed by nova-Institut, shows a turnover of 2.1 trillion EUR and employment of 18.3 million jobs for the European Bioeconomy.

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European Union agrees a deal to limit production of food-based biofuels

16 June 2014Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

Crescentino Plant View: 2G biofuels biorefinery

EU energy ministers agreed a deal on Friday to limit production of biofuels made from food crops, responding to criticism these stoke inflation and do more environmental harm than good. The ministers’ endorsement of a new compromise overcomes a stalemate hit late last year when European Union governments failed to agree on a proposed 5 percent cap on the use of biofuels based on crops such as maize or rapeseed.

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Interview with David Newman: The Italian approach in reducing the use of plastic bags

18 July 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

David Newman, Secretary General of Assobioplastiche

Marine litter caused by plastic bags is threatening the oceans and causing already an ecological disaster . The European Commission is pushing for an ambitious resource efficiency agenda and is struggling to reduce landfills and enforce waste prevention across all Member States. Europe is a leader in the bioeconomy. What do all these facts have in common? More than we think. Italy demonstrated to the world that substituting traditional plastic bags with reusable and biodegradable and compostable ones can be, even at times of crisis, a solution to trigger separate collection rates, enhance waste prevention and unleash new investments in ground breaking technologies. We discussed the Italian case study and the recent reaction of UK against the Italian ban on plastic bags recently reported by several UK media with David Newman, Secretary General of Assobioplastiche, the Italian Bioplastic and Biodegradable and Compostable material Association.

Interview by Isabella Dalbelgio

(from Brussels)

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EC unveils an unprecedented 3.8 billion euros investment in biobased industries

10 July 201310 July 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

European Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn

The Biobased Industries Consortium (BIC), a cross sector group of 48 large and small companies, has joined forces with the European Commission to set up an unprecedented Public Private Partnership worth 3.8 billion euros to accelerate the deployment of biobased products in Europe by 2020.

The Biobased Industries PPP is part of the European Commission’s Innovation and Investment Package that was released today in Brussels. The package is intended to stimulate the European economy, create jobs and tackle major societal challenges through research, innovation and deployment. Continue reading →

Now is the time in Europe to bring advanced second-generation biofuels to the market

14 May 201314 May 2013Il Bioeconomista1 Comment

The Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels (LSB), a group composed by the Chief Executive Officers of seven Leading European biofuel producers and European airlines, met the European Parliament (EP) in Brussels last week. The meeting was hosted by the ITRE (Industry, Research and Energy) Committee, chaired by Mrs Amalia Sartori, to discuss the positions of the EP ITRE Committee on the European Commission revision of the Renewable Energy Directive – RED. The positions expressed by Mr Alejo Vidal Quadras, the Rapporteur of the ITRE Committee, and reported in his draft ITRE Draft Opinion, were supported by the Leaders of Sustainable Biofuels.

The Leaders, whose chairman is Guido Ghisolfi, President of Mossi & Ghisolfi Group, headquartered in Tortona (Piedmont, Italy), sent a clear message to the Parliament members: “Second Generation Advanced Biofuel technologies are ready to compete with conventional biofuels, with companies keen to invest in commercial projects given appropriate conditions”.

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Chatham House: UK biofuel policy may need to be modified

15 April 2013Il BioeconomistaLeave a comment

UK biofuel policy may need to be modified. To say it is a report published by Chatham House, a british think tank focused on “Costs and Consequences of Expanding Biofuel Use in the United Kingdom”. According to Rob Bailey, author of the report, “in its present form the RTFO (Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation, editor’s note) may not be an appropriate instrument for achieving the RED (Renewable Energy Directive, editor’s note) target economically. Its volumetric target incentivizes suppliers to minimize cost per litre by supplying ethanol, thereby also minimizing the amount of energy supplied by biofuels. This runs counter to the objective of the RED to increase the share of energy from biofuels.