Green Chemicals Blog
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Levulinic acid commercialization expands
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There were two recent press releases about levulinic acid that were just announced the past two weeks and it was an interesting coincidence that we just published a comprehensive chemical profile about levulinic acid in Tecnon OrbiChem’s February BioMaterials newsletter issue. For those who are not familiar with levulinic acid, it is a non-toxic organic…
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In Memoriam: Guido Ghisolfi 1956-2015
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The Green Chemicals blog is sad to hear the terrible news about Guido Ghisolfi’s passing and we are offering our condolences to the M&G Group, Beta Renewables and their associated companies of this great loss not only to them but to the renewable chemicals industry in general. We have been privileged to witness presentations and speeches from Mr.…
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Fundings 1Q 2015
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Several news just came in yesterday and the blog is still catching up from interviews made the past 4-5 weeks. I am hoping to soon post articles about the starch market, the world of enzymes, biotech-based surfactants, updates on levulinic acid developments, PHA and other recently-announced press releases. Some of them I’ve already written in…
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Solazyme still faces production challenges at Moema
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I wonder how long the petrochemical industry had perfected its processing technologies before it was able to reach an economical, efficient level? Unfortunately, investors today are not too forgiving when new, untested technologies from public companies are facing commercialization challenges. Solazyme is now going through this stage and their stocks had plunged from $11.79 a…
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Reverdia gets bio-succinic acid patents
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The renewable chemicals market seems to be quiet in general but I am hoping to get fresh updates next month especially in the bioplastics sector when I attend the NPE International Plastics trade show next month. And yes, I am also looking forward to getting out of New York City and into the warmer weather of…
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NREL’s new enzyme catalyzes plant cell walls faster
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Sorry for the cut and paste version of this news as I am currently under heavy deadline of my Bio-Materials newsletter… Scientists at the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have developed an enzyme that could change the economics of biofuel conversion by converting biomass to sugars up to 14 times faster and much…
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Global Bioenergies hits bio-methacrylic acid milestone
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So while the bio-acrylic acid development and commercialization seem to have stalled a bit (see my recent post), France-based Global Bioenergies announced that it has reached its first milestone in the development of bio-based methacrylic acid (trademarked under BioMA+) using renewable isobutene feedstock. Methacrylic acid is a key intermediate in acrylic paints. This milestone resulted…