Versalis and XiMo AG advance Second-Generation Elevance biorefinery technology

Versalis' plant in Porto Marghera, Venice (Italy)
Versalis’ plant in Porto Marghera, Venice (Italy)

It is not a good time to Versalis. But, despite the uncertainty about its future, the chemical company of Italian oil giant Eni continues to focus on green chemistry together with Elevance Renewable Sciences. The high-growth company (headquartered in Woodridge, Illinois), that creates novel specialty chemicals from natural oils, has recently and successfully completed scale-up of a second-generation biorefinery technology of the company’s olefin metathesis technology, utilizing ethylene and natural oil feedstocks.

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Eni is talking with investment fund SK Capital over the sale of Versalis

Veralis' plant in Priolo, Sicily
Versalis’ plant in Priolo, Sicily

The Italian green chemistry will speak American. Eni confirms that it is in search for a partner for Versalis, its synthetic rubber and chemicals company. In a meeting at the Italian Ministry of Economic Development (Mise), between Mise, Eni, Versalis and representatives from the National Confederation of Industry and Trade Unions regarding the prospects for Eni’s petrochemical business, the Italian oil and gas company said it intended to retain a “significant stake” of Versalis in the partnership to “ensure its objectives are successfully met”.

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Claudio De Scalzi, Ceo of Eni, said to look for a partner for chemical division Versalis

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Daniele Ferrari, Ceo of Versalis-Eni

“We’re looking for a joint venture that will allow us to join forces to promote the business.” After days of rumors about the sale of its chemical division Versalis, yesterday the Ceo of Eni, Claudio Descalzi, gave this short answer to the reporters who urged him on the issue. It is at the same time a confirmation of the will of the Italian oil giant to back away from chemistry.

The advisor Barclays would then be at work not to look for buyers but partners and – if according to the agency Bloomberg would be affected several private equity firms – rumors in Italy say it has already started a negotiations with a private fund.

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Versalis announced a Joint Technology agreement with Chinese partners to develop green tires

Daniele Ferrari, Ceo of Versalis-Eni
Daniele Ferrari, Ceo of Versalis-Eni

Versalis, Italian oil giant Eni’s chemical company and a major producer in the polymers and elastomers industry, Ecombine and EVE Rubber Institute – respective subsidiary and affiliate companies of Mesnac, a Chinese global leading rubber & tire machinery corporation – announced a Joint Technology agreement to develop an innovative technology for high performance green tires.

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Matrìca hosted today the International Open Day

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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.

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Versalis launches an innovative green chemistry project for the Porto Marghera site

Daniele Ferrari, Ceo of Versalis-Eni
Daniele Ferrari, Ceo of Versalis-Eni

Versalis (the chemichal subsidiary of Eni), Industrial Relations Eni and the trade unions have reached an important agreement on the project at the Porto Marghera site (close to Venice) to redesign production facilities and regain competitiveness.

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Versalis and Genomatica together for the production of butadiene from non-food biomass

versalis-genomatica.jpgVersalis (Group Eni) and Genomatica announced the signing of a definitive joint development and licensing agreement to establish a technology joint venture for bio-based butadiene.
The two companies will work together to develop a complete ”end-to-end’ process for the production of butadiene from non-food biomass.
The resulting process will be licensed across Europe, Asia and Africa by the newly-created joint venture. Future Licensees of the process, including Versalis, will provide the capital required for the construction and operation of their own plants, and be responsible for the use and sale of the resulting butadiene.
Versalis will provide over $20 million in funding to Genomatica to support development of the integrated end-to-end process. It will also aim to be the first to license the process and build commercial plants.

 
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Guayule-based natural rubber materials for Pirelli’s tire production

pirelliVersalis (Eni) and Pirelli have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to kick off a joint research project for the use of guayule-based natural rubber in tire production.

The research project will run over a period of three years. On an exclusivity basis, Versalis will provide an innovative range of guayule-based natural rubber materials, while Pirelli will carry out trial tests to validate the performance of the materials for tire production.

As soon as new industrial quantities become available, Versalis will supply Pirelli with guayule-based natural rubber to complement the current set of synthetic rubber that Versalis is already supplying to Pirelli for the production of conventional tires.

 

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The thistle, a new resource for the bioeconomy

thistleFrom thistle a new era for the agricultural and industrial value chains. An innovative business model, which combines the industrial needs of Matrica, a joint venture between Versalis-Eni and Novamont, with those of farmers located  in northern Sardinia. An agro industrial relationship model, aimed at creating a integrated value chain rooted in the territory in synergy with local biodiversity. These the key issues discussed last Monday in Porto Torres at the second technical meeting on thistle which was attended by numerous high level representatives of the Sardinian agricultural world and by representatives of research and local institutions, including the mayor of Porto Torres, Beniamino Scarpa, and the dean of the University of Sassari, Attilio Mastino.

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È il giorno della bioeconomia italiana a Bruxelles

porto torres bioraffineria matrìcaÈ il giorno della bioeconomia italiana a Bruxelles. Nella sede del Parlamento europeo si terrà oggi il convegno “BioPlastics: A case study of Bioeconomy in Italy in the light of Horizon 2020”, promosso dal Kyoto club con il patrocinio del nostro ministero dell’Ambiente.

Obiettivo: illustrare come l’Italia stia delineando una strategia capace di dare un nuovo impulso al potenziale di innovazione del paese e di sviluppare il settore della bioeconomia.

L’adozione di misure ”market pull” che incentivano la produzione e l’utilizzo di prodotti biodegradabili da materie prime rinnovabili ha dato vita ad importanti investimenti in tecnologie innovative e bioraffinerie (come quella di Porto Torres gestita da Matrìca, la joint venture tra Versalis-Eni e Novamont attiva nel campo della chimica verde, nella foto) e sta generando ricadute positive per l’intera società in termini di riduzione dei rifiuti e di introduzione di criteri di sostenibilità nelle scelte di consumo dei cittadini. Attraverso la presentazione dell’esempio italiano, la conferenza intende dimostrare che l’efficienza delle risorse non rappresenta soltanto un’esigenza strategica per l’Europa, ma anche una vera e propria opportunità dal punto di vista economico, capace di rilanciare la crescita in aree affette da profonda crisi.

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