Total signed a strategic framework agreement with the Abu Dhabi National Oil Company (ADNOC), to explore joint research, development and deployment partnership opportunities in the areas of CO2 emission reductions and carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS).
Through their innovative partnership, LanzaTech, Total and L’Oréal premiered the world’s first sustainable packaging made from captured and recycled carbon emissions. The successful conversion process takes place in three steps: LanzaTech captures industrial carbon emissions and converts them into ethanol using a unique biological process; Total, thanks to an innovative dehydration process jointly developed with IFP Axens, converts the ethanol into ethylene before polymerizing it into polyethylene that has the same technical characteristics as its fossil counterpart; L’Oréal uses this polyethylene to produce packaging with the same quality and properties as conventional polyethylene.
IFP Energies Nouvelles (IFPEN) and Total signed a strategic R&D partnership that includes an agreement to endow a chair atthe IFP School, on carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) and technologies to curb CO2 emissions. The roughly €40 millionpartnership covers a period of five years.
Mossi Ghisolfi is for sale. According to different rumors in Italy, Versalis, the chemical division of the oil giant Eni, and various European (such as the French oil colossus Total) and Asian industrial groups would be interested in acquiring the Italian chemical company which is one of the world’s largest PET manufacturer with a capacity of nearly 1.6 million tonnes per year and plants in Brazil, Mexico and the United States.
Statoil, Shell and Total entered CO2 storage partnership. The three partners aims at maturing the development of carbon storage on the Norwegian continental shelf (NCS). The project is part of the Norwegian authorities’ efforts to develop full-scale carbon capture and storage in Norway.
Dutch biochemical company Corbion is building its new PLA bioplastics polymerization plant at the existing Corbion site in Rayong, Thailand. Upon completion in 2018, it will be able to produce the complete Luminy® portfolio of PLA neat resins: from standard PLA to innovative, high heat resistant PLA.
Renmatix, the U.S. leader in affordable cellulosic sugars headquartered in King of Prussia (Pennsylvania), announced a $14 million investment, led by Bill Gates. Industry demand for competitive alternatives to petro-derived molecules is gaining traction, despite recent market pressures. In the interest of expanding that supply, the Plantrose® process provides an enabling technology for profitable biorefineries. This investment in commercializing Plantrose will help drive towards the first wave of Renmatix licensees building Plantrose-enabled biorefineries in diverse global markets like Canada, India, Malaysia, the U.S. and elsewhere. In parallel, that activity will facilitate further market development in downstream bioproduct applications.
Amyris, the U.S. industrial bioscience company, has won a three-year multi-million dollar contract from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to further the manufacturing of cellulose-derived farnesene for biofuels. The company led by John Melo, in cooperation with Renmatix and Total New Energies USA, will work to develop a manufacturing-ready process utilizing wood as the cellulosic feedstock to produce farnesene, a hydrocarbon building block used to manufacture a variety of products ranging from cosmetics to detergents, as well as base oils, lubricants, diesel and jet fuel.
Amyris, the U.S. industrial bioscience company, announced that, on May 29, Cathay Pacific commenced a two-year program of flights from Toulouse to Hong Kong using Amyris renewable jet fuel. The initial 12-hour flight was the longest flight using a renewable jet fuel to date, further underpinning the drop-in characteristics of Amyris Biojet fuels.
Total, one of the world’s leading energy companies, and Amyris, an industrial bioscience company, begin to prepare to market a drop in jet fuel that contains up to 10% blends of renewable farnesane. This new jet fuel blend meets the rigorous performance requirements set for Jet A/A-1 fuel used by the global commercial aviation industry.
IL BIOECONOMISTA 