The European Investment Bank (EIB) and Eni signed a 15-year loan for €500 million to convert selected units of Eni’s Sannazzaro de’ Burgondi refinery, located in the Italian province of Pavia, into a biorefinery. The agreement was signed by EIB Vice-President Gelsomina Vigliotti and Eni CEO Claudio Descalzi.
Turin, Italy, will be the capital of circular bioeconomy from 24 to 26 September. The International Forum on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioeconomy (IFIB) will be held at the stunning Cavallerizza Reale hosted by the University of Turin. With more than 200 delegates in attendance from approximately 25 different countries from all around the world, also thanks to a partnership with the Italian Trade Agency, the conference truly succeeds one more time in its ambitions aim to be one of the leading bioeconomy events at global level.
Poste Italiane’s ground and air fleet will run on biofuels supplied by Enilive, Eni’s company dedicated to mobility services and products. This will accelerate Poste Italiane’s progress towards achieving its energy transition and carbon neutrality goals set for 2030.
Eni confirms its decision to build Italy’s third biorefinery in Livorno. The project, first announced in October 2022 and followed by an application for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) in November 2022, is awaiting official authorisations and includes the construction of three new facilities for the production of hydrogenated biofuels: a biogenic feedstock pre-treatment unit; a 500,000 tonnes/year Ecofining™ plant; and a facility to produce hydrogen from methane gas.
Versalis – Eni’s chemical company and a shareholder of Novamont (36%) – and Mater-Bi – a company controlled by Investitori Associati II and NB Renaissance – yesterday signed an agreement for Versalis to acquire the remaining 64% of Novamont’s shares currently held by Mater-Bi. Novamont is a leading international company in the field of chemistry from renewable sources. Next steps and the timing of closing are subject to approval by the competent authorities.
“The recognition of our sector through the application of specific NACE codes is an important element as it would allow a better measurement in the statistical field and the possibility of addressing specific legislative measures, such as financing or the creation of specific EER codes”. To say this – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Giulia Gregori, Strategic Planning and Corporate Communication manager at Novamont, the Italy-headquartered company which is leading the way in the world bioplastics sector.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
In 2021, the bioeconomy in EU4 (France, Germany, Italy and Spain) has reached a value of production of €1,500 billion, employing over 7 million people. Germany is confirmed as a leader with a value of €436.6 billion, then France (379.4 billion), Italy (364.3 billion) and Spain (251.5 billion). This is according a new Report realized by the Intesa Sanpaolo Research Department (Intesa Sanpaolo is one of the major banking group in Europe), in collaboration with Italian Circular Bioeconomy Cluster SPRING and Assobiotec, and today presented in Salerno (South Italy), which is dedicated to bioeconomy, which, in line with the definition of the European Commission, was defined as the set of activities using renewable natural resources to produce goods and energy, generating great advantages in terms of sustainability.
Versalis and Novamont are strengthening their partnership to reinforce synergies in the ecological transition of green chemistry, leveraging what has been built so far to maximize spin-offs and seize new opportunities. The commitment to Matrìca – the joint venture set up in 2011 between Versalis and Novamont at Porto Torres specializing in manufacturing bioproducts from renewable sources – has been reconfirmed.
Versalis, Eni’s chemical company, has begun the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic biomass at Crescentino (Vercelli, North-western Italy). The plant, which was acquired in 2018, has been overhauled thanks to major investments and has started the production of advanced bioethanol, in compliance with the European legislation for the development of renewable energy RED II, as it is derived from raw materials that do not interfere with the food chain.
“I believe that EC and the Member States should really work with the aim of promoting such innovative and sustainable products, sustaining the market entry phase, especially in those market segments characterized by low margins and hard competition (such as building and textile sectors).” To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Stefano Babbini, co-founder and CEO of Mogu, an Italy-based SME which is exploring the potential of mycelium-based technologies in several application sectors. He talks with us about the company’s main business, the bioeconomy at European level and the BBI JU demo project Grace, where the Italian company is applying its technology to the hemp and miscanthus value chains.
Interview by Mario Bonaccorso
IL BIOECONOMISTA 