miscanthus

An interview with Mladen Istuk, director of the biorefinery project development at INA

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Mladen Istuk

“INA as a social and environmental responsible middle European company has recognized value of bioeconomy in fighting climate change, and through its development activities is constantly seeking for advanced technologies, which can be used to align with global trends, as well as to enable creation of new opportunities for the company”. To say it – in this exclusive interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Mladen Istuk, director of the biorefinery project development department at INA, the Croatian oil company.

In this exclusive interview with us, he talks about what INA is doing in the circular bioeconomy and its involvement in the BBI JU Demo Project GRACE. And also about the Croatian bioeconmy

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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Clariant: sunliquid technology can successfully convert miscanthus biomass into lignocellulosic sugars and ethanol

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Mercedes-Benz fleet at Clariant´s sunliquid® demonstration plant for production of cellulosic ethanol from agricultural residues.;

Clariant conducted tests on approximately 30 tons of miscanthus provided by INA, Croatia’s leading oil and gas company. The miscanthus biomass was harvested and baled at the INA demonstration site in Croatia in February this year and shipped for processing to Clariant’s pre-commercial sunliquid plant in Straubing, Germany for conversion into lignocellulosic sugars and ethanol.

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“We need to embrace genetic technologies”. An interview with William Cracroft-Eley, Terravesta

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William Cracroft-Eley

“I also believe that we need to embrace genetic technologies, rather than be fearful of them, to enable the greatest beneficial outcomes in the shortest time”. To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is William Cracroft-Eley, chairman of Terravesta, a leading miscanthus supply chain specialist, producing sustainable energy from marginal land. In this interview he talks about miscanthus and the role of farmers in the bioeconomy, the BBI JU Demo Project GRACE, “which is demonstrating the feasibility of 10 bio-based value chains for hemp and miscanthus biomass at an industry relevant scale”, the bioeconomy in UK after Brexit and the Vivergo’s case.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso

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An interview with Andreas Kiesel, University of Hohenheim. “A CO2tax for fossil-based products”

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Andreas Kiesel, at IFIB 2017 in Rome

“Cascade use and reuse/-cycling are important factors for the success of the bioeconomy, but the products need to be designed in an appropriate way for recycling. For sure, carbon storage in the material is a positive side effect, but I see this more as a leverage to increase competitiveness of bio-based products compared to fossil-based products, e.g. through a CO2tax for fossil-based products”. To say it – in this interview with Il Bioeconomista – is Andreas Kiesel, a researcher at the University of Hohenheim, who is coordinating the BBI JU Demo Project GRACE, “which is demonstrating the feasibility of 10 bio-based value chains for hemp and miscanthus biomass at an industry relevant scale”.

Interview by Mario Bonaccorso 

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GRACE: 15 million euro project optimizes value chains for miscanthus and hemp

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Philippe Mengal, Director BBI JU

“GRowing Advanced industrial Crops on marginal lands for biorEfineries” (GRACE): this is the name of the BBI demonstration project under the coordination of the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart (Germany) and with a unique consortium made up of universities, agricultural companies and industry. The aims will be achieved by knowledge exchange between these groups, together with new crop varieties and cultivation experiments on areas that have been polluted by heavy metals, for example, or are unattractive for food production due to lower yields.

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