Green is good...as long as it's cheap

Green products might not be recession-proof after all.

Market research firm Mintel noted that premium-priced green products might be relocating to the bottom supermarket shelves as people's priorities are now changing because of the current economy.

According to their recent US consumer survey data,over half of respondents (54%) said they would buy more green products but the products are too expensive. Mintel said there is a hesitance towards buying green based on price.

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Bio-funding slumps in Europe

Bad news for green chemistry and industrial biotechnology proponents in Europe. According to this article from ICIS Chemical Business, Europe is losing ground when it comes to bio-refinery R&D and infrastructure because of decreasing funding and resources.

The opposite is happening in the US where the former Bush administration drove large funding for biofuels R&D, and the Obama administration is expected to increase target output for biofuels.

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The green spirit might be willing but...

It seems the current economic recession has curtailed the desire for several planned plastic bag bans or tax, according to this article from the New York Times.

The mayor in Portland, Oregon, decided this month to discard his proposal of taxing plastic bags citing the current economic strain faced by people, while another proposal in Virginia also stalled amid resistance from retail groups and bag makers.

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ADM starts drilling

Agribusiness major Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) is not looking for oil in this case (although they could hope!) but instead is starting its carbon storage project with its partner Midwest Geological Sequestration Consortium.

According to this article from Herald & Review (via SoyaTech website), workers fo rthe project have started constructing a well that will reach more than 6,500 feet underground.

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Ethanol rejoice! Genomatica develops bio-MEK

The green chemistry field is on fire this week! (I mean this figuratively so need to call the Environmental Protection Agency)

After Segetis' news on their full-speed plant operation in Minneapolis last Monday, another start-up firm Genomatica announced today that they have developed biobased methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), an industrial solvent, using sugar and water - and maybe a catalyst and some organisms to go along with it.

Genomatica hopes this new process will help the ailing ethanol industry as the biobased MEK can be produced in existing ethanol manufacturing facilities with minimal additional investments.

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BP pays $180m for clean air violations

The US Department of Justice has fined BP Products North America almost $180 million for violating EPA's Clean Air Act regulations at its Texas City, Texas refinery.

BP agreed to the settlement and will spend more than $161m on pollution controls, enhanced maintenance and monitoring and improved management practices on its petroleum refining operations. EPA said these actions will reduce emissions of benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by approximately 6,000 pounds annually.

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Segetis green operation at full speed

Just my luck that a lot of green chemical news are happening today when the blog looks ugly.

It seems that ex-Cargill folks are expanding left and right within the green chemistry field as newbie company Segetis just announced today the full-startup of its operations in Minneapolis. I've mentioned before that Segetis' CEO Jim Stoppert previously headed Cargill's Industrial Bioproducts unit.

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Recycling not a problem for bioplastics

Bioplastic manufacturer NatureWorks says automated systems currently used in plastic recycling has the capability to 100% sort out bioplastic bottles from other petroleum-based plastic bottles.

"This finding is significant because it demonstrates that there is no technological barrier to recycling bottles made from plants instead of oil," according to NatureWorks.

For the past two years, NatureWorks says it has surveyed equipment manufacturers such as Titech, Unisensor, and MSS, that have systems with the potential to sort biopolymers from such other plastics as PET (polyethylene terepthalate), HDPE (high density polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), and PS (polystyrene).

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Weekly News Roundup

The ICIS blog gods are on vacation and so the green blog is still in a bit of a mess. Pls. bear with me for a few more days as I wait and rant and pray for a new and improved green blog to emerge.

For now, here's this week's news roundup:

Bioplastic acquired
Swedish bioplastic company Tenova Bioplastics AB has been acquired by packaging company Billerud. Tenova AB will be consolidated within the Billerud Group as of 1 February 2009.

Intellectual property sold
Cincinnati-based technology company AdvanceBio Systems LLC has acquired exclusive intellectual property rights to provide pre-treatment equipment and systems on a turnkey basis to the next-generation cellulosic ethanol and renewable chemicals industries. AdvanceBio provides consulting services and technology to companies that are developing new projects in the biofuels industry and biochemical sector.

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ICIS BLOG UNDER CONSTRUCTION

The green blogger has been very bad tinkering with the ICIS green blog system and now has to pay the price. While waiting for ICIS blog gods to fix it, posts will continue but please bear the blog's messed up look. Sorry folks!

-Doris

Mitsubishi breaks own solar cell record

Truthfully, I have no idea on some of the technical jargons behind this press statement from Mitsubishi Electric but it seems important enough to warrant its own post.

According to the company, it was able to develop multi-crystalline silicon photovoltaic cells with the world's highest conversion efficiency rate of 18.9%...

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E-waste dumping in Nigeria

Here's another interesting development from our Greenpeace friends in the UK.

According to the group, a 3-year investigation from their researchers found that certain electronic wastes (such as an unfixable TV with a tracking device) are illegally dumped to Nigeria instead of supposedly being recycled to (in this case) the Hampshire County Council.

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Greenpeace presents: CoalFinger

Here is why the coal industry in the Western world is losing their battle over environmental groups.

Videos such as the one below from Greenpeace are spreading the dirtiness of coal across the web using animated graphics. If the coal industry wants to put out the message of being clean and green, they should spend their money making cartoons. Of course that will elicit various response of them greenwashing...

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Green chem product teasers

Yesterday's Green Chemistry round table hosted by Elevance was very productive in terms of getting information. I will tell you more in details next week of what some of the panelists have to say about the future of green chemistry, its challenges, potential and how it can help the US economy.


Unfortunately, I have a deadline to catch working on a green building article for ICIS Chemical Business this week, and so here for now are some juicy teasers gathered from the event.

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Coal in trouble?

The green blogger is in Bolingbrook, IL, right now to cover Elevance's renewable chemistry round table and the opening of their new facility. Fortunately, she's a little bit early so has the time to blog a bit about the current coal situation.

According to New York Times, 83 coal plants in the US have either been voluntarily withdrawn or have been denied permits by state regulators because of the prospect of regulating carbon dioxide emissions concerns and its associated high costs. The article noted that roughly 600 coal-fired power plants in the US are responsible for one-third of the country's total carbon emissions.

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Financial folks turn to trash

Several ex-Wall Street bankers turned their financial wizardry into creating green shoes for a good cause, according to this Reuters report.

After being laid off because of the Wall Street collapse, partners Stephen Chen, Iris Chau, and Alastair Onglingswan founded GreenSoulShoes, where local artisans in Southeast Asia make their shoes using recycled scrap tires materials. For each pair of shoes sold, the founders said a pair will be donated to kids from all over the third-world nations. The company's goal is to shoe 1 million kids in 5 years.

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Money in butterfly's wings

Scientists from China and Japan discovered that butterfly wings have scales that act as tiny solar collectors, which can lead to a design of a more efficient dye-sensitized solar cells.


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Weekly News Roundup

I will be in Illinois on Tuesday attending Elevance's renewable chemistry round table as well as the opening of their new Bolingbrook facility. The round table panelists include Robert Grubbs of the California Institute of Technology, John Warner of Warner Babcock Institute for Green Chemistry, David Long of Environmental Sustainability Solutions, Andrew Gilicinski of Clorox Company, Bryce Lee of Alternative Energy Group, and Elevance's CEO K'Lynne Johnson.

That should be interesting and I'll let you know how it goes. For now, here are this week's green news:

Elevance's compostable wax
Elevance Renewable Sciences says certain of its NatureWax™ vegetable wax products, when blended with paraffin, have met universally accepted compost specifications. Elevance collaborated with The International Group, Inc. (IGI) to sponsor the testing.

Big renewable energy user
Dow Corning will purchase more than 14,000 megawatt hours of wind generated renewable energy through Consumers Energy's Green Generation program, making the company one of the largest private purchasers of renewable energy in the State of Michigan.

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Samsung's new solar touch screen phone

Samsung seems to be leading the next generation high-tech mobile gadget with its new solar-powered full-touch screen phone "Blue Earth."

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Chemistry: The alternative energizers

I just finished an alternative energy article featuring chemical companies that contribute on making clean energy technologies more affordable. Companies included in my interviews were Dow Chemical, Rohm and Haas, Air Products, Evonik, and Dow Corning.

Here are some of what they said regarding chemistry and alternative energy:

"While energy is crucial to the chemical industry, the business of chemistry is essential to reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. Chemistry makes possible energy-saving products including building insulation, lightweight vehicle parts, thin-film solar panels and wind turbines." - Rich Wells, Dow Chemical.

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