Green Chemicals Blog
Investments
LG Chem and ADM Launch PLA and Lactic Acid JVs
This collaboration between South Korea-based LG Chem and US agribusiness company Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) on a potential production of lactic acid and polylactic acid (PLA) in the USA has been announced before, but this time, the press release that came out yesterday stated the location and capacity of this project. The two companies held … Continue reading
Ginkgo on a buying spree, acquires Zymergen
Synthetic biology company Ginkgo Bioworks announced today that it plans to acquire Zymergen in an all-stock transaction valued at $300 million in market capitalisation. Zymergen stockholders will receive a fixed exchange ratio of 0.9179 Ginkgo shares for each Zymergen share, representing 5.25% pro forma ownership of Ginkgo following the transaction. The agreement represents Ginkgo’s largest … Continue reading
Newlight to build its AirCarbon facility in Ohio
Newlight Technologies has entered into various agreements with Long Ridge Energy Terminal, which is jointly owned by a subsidiary of Fortress Transportation and Infrastructure (FTAI) Investors LLC and an affiliate managed by GCM Grovesnor, to build and operate a new facility in Hannibal, Ohio, to produce the company’s Aircarbon® biomaterial made from PHB (poly-3-hydroxybutyrate). This … Continue reading
USDA’s bioproduct pilot program
Advanced Happy 4th of July to our US readers! Before I become embroiled in analyzing how the latest Supreme Court ruling (in favour of West Virginia) limiting the EPA’s ability to regulate carbon emissions will affect future policies for developing lower-carbon emitting solutions in the chemical industry, let me post this good news from the … Continue reading
Amyris starts fermentation plant in Brazil
I have not covered Amyris as much as I would like to in the past few years as the company is more focused on highly-specialised chemicals compared to the products I typically cover for Tecnon OrbiChem’s monthly Bio-Materials report. However, it is interesting to hear that the company has finally started its new precision fermentation … Continue reading
BIOECONOMY: Poised At A Historic Crossroads
Unfortunately, it is getting harder for me to blog with my workload at Tecnon OrbiChem so I am happy to share this Bioeconomy post that our marketing has put up on the TOC blog site based on my presentation in April for the Pine Chemicals Association Spring Meeting. You can also download my presentation when … Continue reading
Solvay launches Renewable Materials and Biotech Growth Platform
Solvay recently announced the launch of its new Renewable Materials and Biotechnology platform, dedicated to developing innovative and sustainable solutions for a range of markets, using renewable feedstocks and biotechnology. I’ve covered Solvay once in a while and I also remember its collaboration (via Rhodia) on bio-based n-butanol with Brazil-based Granbio. Back in 2015, the … Continue reading
Lygos to merge with FSI
Sorry for the lack of post but I am preparing to give presentations for two conferences in the next three weeks located on two different continents. I am not sure if I’m ready to go back into the live conference frenzy given my already tight schedule for my Bio-Materials reporting at Tecnon OrbiChem (among other … Continue reading
Bio-based commodity chemicals in the spotlight
Will rising crude oil price again accelerate the investments for the commercialisation of bio-based chemicals especially for drop-in commodities? This month alone, sugarcane ethanol-based ethylene producer Braskem announced the establishment of a joint venture company with Japan-based Sojitz Corporation to produce biomass-derived monoethylene glycol (MEG) and monopropylene glycol (MPG). The companies plan to make a … Continue reading
LanzaTech files for IPO in a SPAC deal
I’ve been covering LanzaTech’s story for (I think) almost a decade now and it is great to hear that LanzaTech’s carbon capture technology (CCT) is already being commercialised successfully in large-scale capacities. In order to proceed with several other projects in their portfolio and a burgeoning sustainable aviation fuels (SAF) company called LanzaJet, which was … Continue reading