June 13, 2014
Enerkem starts commercial waste-to-biofuels plant
Enerkem officially commissioned last week its first commercial biorefinery in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, that will produce biofuels and chemicals using municipal waste. The facility, operated by Enerkem Alberta Biofuels, will have a capacity of up to 38 million liters/year initially producing biomethanol. A module converting the biomethanol into advanced ethanol will be added by the end of 2015.
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Ford and Heinz collaborate on tomato fibers for cars
This is an interesting news for the blog that you can use tomato skins to make composite plastics.According to Ford and H.J. Heinz Company, researchers at the companies have been exploring the use of tomato fiber to develop a more sustainable bioplastic material for vehicle manufacturing. The companies have been using dried tomato skins to make composites for wiring brackets in a Ford vehicle or the storage bins used to hold coins and other small objects.
June 10, 2014
Avantium Raises €36M, ready for commercial-scale
I still have several interviews from last month that I need to post and I'm also receiving recent press releases so please bear with me as I try to juggle work and blogging. Next week, I will be at the ACSGCI Green Chemistry & Engineering conference in Bethesda, Maryland. Follow my tweets at @Dgreenblogger #gcande #greenchemistry.
In the meantime, let me post this news from Avantium announcing its recent €36 million ($50 million) financing round from a consortium of strategic players that consists of Swire Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, DANONE, ALPLA, and existing shareholders.
Proceeds will be used to complete the industrial validation of PEF (polyethylene furanoate) and finalize the engineering & design of the company's first commercial scale plant. As part of its strategy to use responsibly sourced plant based materials for PEF production, Avantium will validate the use of 2nd generation feedstock.
More on this post...
In the meantime, let me post this news from Avantium announcing its recent €36 million ($50 million) financing round from a consortium of strategic players that consists of Swire Pacific, The Coca-Cola Company, DANONE, ALPLA, and existing shareholders.
Proceeds will be used to complete the industrial validation of PEF (polyethylene furanoate) and finalize the engineering & design of the company's first commercial scale plant. As part of its strategy to use responsibly sourced plant based materials for PEF production, Avantium will validate the use of 2nd generation feedstock.
June 9, 2014
Segetis gets $325K grant, plans commercial facility
Segetis recently announced that Minnesota's Department of Agriculture has awarded the company $325,000 in NextGen Energy grant funding through the state's Agricultural Growth, Research and Innovation (AGRI) program. In April, Segetis also received $21.2 million in funding from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), a state economic development agency based in northeastern Minnesota.Not much information was written in the latest press release although according to this article from Biomass magazine, the funding will be used for equipment, capital construction and materials for operation of the company's pilot plant located in Golden Valley, Minnesota, which will be used to optimize process development required to commercialized its levulinic ketal-based plasticizer.
May 20, 2014
PTT-MCC signs bio-succinic acid contract with BioAmber
I'm still trying to catch up with a lot of news that came out the past few weeks but unfortunately this week is a deadline week for me for Tecnon OrbiChem's Bio-Materials newsletter, so I'll make some of my postings brief.
Here is one from BioAmber about its first succinic acid take-or-pay contract with PTT-MCC Biochem, a joint venture formed in 2011 between Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and PTT Public Company Limited of Thailand. PTT-MCC was established to develop and produce polybutylene succinate (PBS), a biodegradable plastic made from succinic acid and butanediol (BDO). The company is currently building its first PBS plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand, with a capacity of 20 ktpa.
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Here is one from BioAmber about its first succinic acid take-or-pay contract with PTT-MCC Biochem, a joint venture formed in 2011 between Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation and PTT Public Company Limited of Thailand. PTT-MCC was established to develop and produce polybutylene succinate (PBS), a biodegradable plastic made from succinic acid and butanediol (BDO). The company is currently building its first PBS plant in Map Ta Phut, Rayong, Thailand, with a capacity of 20 ktpa.
May 5, 2014
Green chemicals investment roundup
Last month saw a lot of successful financing announcements. Segetis was able to get $21.2 million in funding from the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board (IRRRB), a state economic development agency based in northeastern Minnesota.
Segetis plans to construct a commercial-scale plant at the Laskin Energy Park in Hoyt Lakes, Minn., based in their levulinic acid platform. Total project investment is $105 million, 70% of which will be funded by the company. The Segetis project is forecasted to have an annual $55 million economic impact on the region, supporting over 545 jobs, according to an independent study from the University of Minnesota Extension Center for Community Vitality.
Brazilian Industrial Biotech Association (ABBI) launched
Companies that include Amyris, BASF, BioChemtex, BP, Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira, Dow Chemical, DSM, DuPont, GranBio, Novozymes, Raizen and Rhodia have joined forces to form the Brazilian Industrial Biotechnology Association (Associação Brasileira de Biotecnologia Industrial or ABBI) with a primary objective of fostering a dialogue within Brazilian society about the advancements of industrial biotechnology in Brazil.
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April 21, 2014
Location, location, location
Here are recent announcements on new headquarters and new R&D sites.
LanzaTech, for one, has finally decided to move its global headquarters from New Zealand, where the company was founded, to Skokie, Illinois. The move will generate 30 new Illinois jobs with employees transferred from New Zealand, and 35 additional employees will move from Roselle, Illinois, to the new site in Skokie. The new location will also serve as the company's R&D center with a new investment of more than $17 million.
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LanzaTech, for one, has finally decided to move its global headquarters from New Zealand, where the company was founded, to Skokie, Illinois. The move will generate 30 new Illinois jobs with employees transferred from New Zealand, and 35 additional employees will move from Roselle, Illinois, to the new site in Skokie. The new location will also serve as the company's R&D center with a new investment of more than $17 million.
April 7, 2014
Emery Oleochemicals strengthens specialty chems biz
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| Emery Oleochemicals CEO Dr. Intarajang |
I met some of the management (as well as CEO Dr. Kongkrapan Intarajang) of Emery Oleochemicals at last month's Palm and Lauric Oils conference in Malaysia and I was able to get several interesting information on the companies' strategies of going further downstream to specialty oleochemicals markets such as in polymers, agrochemicals, lubricants, and surfactants, among others.
The blog has already reported last year Emery Oleochemicals' new biopolyols business unit called Eco-Friendly Polyols (EP). The company is currently expanding its Cincinnati, Ohio, production facility to accommodate the company's EP polyols business, and newly expanded facility is expected to start in the fourth quarter this year.
March 19, 2014
Dyson explores biopolymer use
Like other premium brands (and Dyson products are definitely expensive), British vacuum manufacturer Dyson is exploring the use of biopolymers for their products and they seem to be enthusiastic about it (see the video below).
Dyson has been working with the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing, and the Centre for Process Innovation under a UK-funded project by the Technology Strategy Board. The work carried out will assess the high level economic and technical feasibility of using biopolymers in a closed loop process, which may ultimately improve the ability to recycle consumer products.
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Dyson has been working with the University of Cambridge's Institute for Manufacturing, and the Centre for Process Innovation under a UK-funded project by the Technology Strategy Board. The work carried out will assess the high level economic and technical feasibility of using biopolymers in a closed loop process, which may ultimately improve the ability to recycle consumer products.
March 14, 2014
Minnesota bill for renewable chems incentives
The bill H.F. 2456, introduced on February 27 in the Minnesota House of Representatives, aims to create a capital equipment loan program for renewable chemical and advanced biofuel; incentive program to create and establish production for both industries as well as for biomass production; and appropriate money for these programs.
March 3, 2014
Malaysia palm activities updates
Hello from a hazy/cloudy Kuala Lumpur where the palm and lauric oils industry congregates for this year's annual conference. This is my first time attending this event, where most of the presentations will start tomorrow. I will tweet some of them via @Dgreenblogger using #POC2014.
In the meantime, as I take my break in between meetings, here are some updates on bio-based chemicals and fuels activities in Malaysia.
I've previously reported about planned renewable chemicals capacity investments in Asia coming from France-based METabolic EXplorer, Glycos Biotechnologies, Verdezyne and Genomatica (among others). There are also several biorefineries that are being explored mostly concerning biofuels production using palm biomass.
Last year, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) announced that MyBiomass Sdn Bhd, a unit of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), plans to commence production of its industrial bio-refinery plant in Johor by end-2016 with a groundbreaking scheduled in the fourth quarter this year.
In the meantime, as I take my break in between meetings, here are some updates on bio-based chemicals and fuels activities in Malaysia.
I've previously reported about planned renewable chemicals capacity investments in Asia coming from France-based METabolic EXplorer, Glycos Biotechnologies, Verdezyne and Genomatica (among others). There are also several biorefineries that are being explored mostly concerning biofuels production using palm biomass.
Last year, the Malaysian Investment Development Authority (MIDA) announced that MyBiomass Sdn Bhd, a unit of the Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology (MIGHT), plans to commence production of its industrial bio-refinery plant in Johor by end-2016 with a groundbreaking scheduled in the fourth quarter this year.
February 18, 2014
Cereplast files for Bankruptcy
The Indiana-based bioplastic producer has filed voluntary petition for relief under Chapter 11 in the US Bankruptcy Court led by the lack of traction of bioplastic demand in the US, repetibantive delays in implementation of the bioplastic regulation in Europe, especially Italy, and legal problems created by several of Cereplast's lenders.
February 17, 2014
The search for high oleic oils
One is from Australia's national science agency, CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization). The agency said it has received trial approval for its super high-oleic (SHO) safflower oil, and has moved ahead with field trials of its first generation crop this summer.
The safflower oil contains super high levels of monounsaturate oleic acid -- consistently over 90%. CSIRO has a patented hairpin RNAi gene silencing technology that turn off unwanted linolenic acid, which boosted content of desirable oleic to 92-94% in first generation plants. Second generation and so forth are expected to have even higher oleic acid content.
February 14, 2014
Versalis, Elevance Partnership
Given my limited background in organic chemistry, I am still trying to comprehend the potential importance of olefin metathesis technology within the overall chemical industry. However, Elevance has a nice summary of what metathesis is all about on its web page.
Elevance recently announced its partnership with Italian chemical firm Versalis on the joint development and scaling up of new catalysts that Elevance has been developing with Swiss-based metathesis catalysts developer, XiMo AG, since 2011. Elevance and XiMo have been working on Molybdenum-catalyzed metathesis of natural oil esters and olefins, particularly ethene.
Elevance is currently using Ruthenium-based metathesis technology licensed from Materia on its biorefinery in Gresik, Indonesia. The biorefinery uses butene with Ruthenium.
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Elevance recently announced its partnership with Italian chemical firm Versalis on the joint development and scaling up of new catalysts that Elevance has been developing with Swiss-based metathesis catalysts developer, XiMo AG, since 2011. Elevance and XiMo have been working on Molybdenum-catalyzed metathesis of natural oil esters and olefins, particularly ethene.
Elevance is currently using Ruthenium-based metathesis technology licensed from Materia on its biorefinery in Gresik, Indonesia. The biorefinery uses butene with Ruthenium.
Sophorolipids from Mahua Oil
Aside from Tecnon OrbiChem's coverage of oleochemicals on the monthly Bio-Materials newsletter, I have not covered much of the bio-based surfactants market in months. However, the blog recently received an interesting information on sophorolipids, a fermentation-based glycolipids that can be used to produce surfactants.
The blog last mentioned sophorolipids in a September 2012 post when Europe-based consumer products company, Ecover, a producer/consumer of sophorolipids, has acquired Method, a US-based cleaning products company. Back then, the only sophorolipids producer/developer that the blog mentioned included Ecover, France-based Soliance/WheatOleo, Japan-based Saraya, South Korea-based MG Intobio, and US-based Synthezyme.
A Japan-based company called Allied Carbon Solutions (ACS), it seems, has also been developing sophorolipids for years, and now it is marketing its bio-based surfactant products in Asia, with the intent to expand in North America and Europe. At first, ACS has been using jatropha for feedstock but has moved towards the use of a non-edible oilseed called Indian Mahua (INCI Name - Candida Bombicola/Madhuca Longifolia Seed Oil Ferment Extract).
More on this post...
The blog last mentioned sophorolipids in a September 2012 post when Europe-based consumer products company, Ecover, a producer/consumer of sophorolipids, has acquired Method, a US-based cleaning products company. Back then, the only sophorolipids producer/developer that the blog mentioned included Ecover, France-based Soliance/WheatOleo, Japan-based Saraya, South Korea-based MG Intobio, and US-based Synthezyme.
A Japan-based company called Allied Carbon Solutions (ACS), it seems, has also been developing sophorolipids for years, and now it is marketing its bio-based surfactant products in Asia, with the intent to expand in North America and Europe. At first, ACS has been using jatropha for feedstock but has moved towards the use of a non-edible oilseed called Indian Mahua (INCI Name - Candida Bombicola/Madhuca Longifolia Seed Oil Ferment Extract).
February 7, 2014
Mitsubishi Chemical expands Durabio output
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (MCC) recently announced that it is expanding production of its isosorbide-based engineering plastic, DURABIO, at its Kurosaki Plant in Fukuoka, Japan.
DURABIO is being marketed as alternative to impact-resistant petro-based polycarbonate. The disadvantage of traditional polyarbonates, according to MCC, is that it distorts in light transmission, which makes it difficult for uses to see the touch panel. The new grade nearly eliminated distortion in light transmission, making it easy to see the touch panel surface.
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DURABIO is being marketed as alternative to impact-resistant petro-based polycarbonate. The disadvantage of traditional polyarbonates, according to MCC, is that it distorts in light transmission, which makes it difficult for uses to see the touch panel. The new grade nearly eliminated distortion in light transmission, making it easy to see the touch panel surface.
February 6, 2014
The quest for sustainable rubber
This has been in my draft for quite some time and I am glad to be able to post it after an interesting presentation that I heard from Patagonia and Yulex during the World Bio Markets USA conference last year in October.
Since December last year, Patagonia has already been offering its Yulex R2 Front-Zip wetsuit using guayule rubber as an alternative to traditional neoprene. According to Patagonia, the guayule-based wetsuit matches the technical performance of a traditional neoprene-based Patagonia wetsuit. The wetsuit has already been offered in Japan although in limited quantities.
The price for the Yulex wetsuit is around $479, which is the same price as the non-Yulex wetsuit. The companies said development of the next generation of the Yulex wetsuit is underway.
More on this post...
Since December last year, Patagonia has already been offering its Yulex R2 Front-Zip wetsuit using guayule rubber as an alternative to traditional neoprene. According to Patagonia, the guayule-based wetsuit matches the technical performance of a traditional neoprene-based Patagonia wetsuit. The wetsuit has already been offered in Japan although in limited quantities.
The price for the Yulex wetsuit is around $479, which is the same price as the non-Yulex wetsuit. The companies said development of the next generation of the Yulex wetsuit is underway.
February 4, 2014
Pathways to novel chemicals - Inform
There are a lot of focus on the commercialization of drop-in renewable chemicals, and sometimes novel chemicals such as glucaric acid, itaconic acid, levulinic acid, etc. are not being given its proper recognition. The American Oil Chemists Society (AOCS) has published an article (free access!) on its magazine, INFORM, about several of these novel chemicals and processes in a summarized form.
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February 2, 2014
January News Roundup
It's Superbowl Sunday and I got bored so back to blogging (36-0 Seahawks at this point). Anyway, I just confirmed last week that I will be attending the Palm and Lauric Oils Conference (POC) in Kuala Lumpur on March 3-5, so for those who will be attending, let me know if you want to meet.
Here are some news roundup from last month (and before that). I will be posting Solazyme's latest news soon, as well as what's going on with the Farm Bill proposal in US Congress. Stay tune!
Toyota uses bio-PA in bio-alloys
Toyota Boshoku Corporation, a manufacturer of automotive interior systems, and Toyota Central R&D Labs, have developed a high-impact bio-based plastic alloy incorporating castor-derived polyamide 11 (PA11) and petro-based polypropylene. The performance of the bio-alloy reportedly surpasses polycarbonate alloys. The bioplastic is being incorporated in interior decoration parts such as automotive door trims, installment panels or as a collision energy absorber.
ACC forms Waste Plastics-to-Oil Alliance
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has formed within its Plastics Division, a new group, called Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance, that will work to increase awareness of the benefits of plastics-to-oil technologies, enhance the industry's voice through expanded membership, and demonstrate broad support for plastics-to-oil technologies through expanding network of allies. Founders include Agilyx, Cynar, RES PolyFlow.
More on this post...
Here are some news roundup from last month (and before that). I will be posting Solazyme's latest news soon, as well as what's going on with the Farm Bill proposal in US Congress. Stay tune!
Toyota uses bio-PA in bio-alloys
Toyota Boshoku Corporation, a manufacturer of automotive interior systems, and Toyota Central R&D Labs, have developed a high-impact bio-based plastic alloy incorporating castor-derived polyamide 11 (PA11) and petro-based polypropylene. The performance of the bio-alloy reportedly surpasses polycarbonate alloys. The bioplastic is being incorporated in interior decoration parts such as automotive door trims, installment panels or as a collision energy absorber.
ACC forms Waste Plastics-to-Oil Alliance
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) has formed within its Plastics Division, a new group, called Plastics-to-Oil Technologies Alliance, that will work to increase awareness of the benefits of plastics-to-oil technologies, enhance the industry's voice through expanded membership, and demonstrate broad support for plastics-to-oil technologies through expanding network of allies. Founders include Agilyx, Cynar, RES PolyFlow.
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