Green Chemicals Blog
castor
Arkema continues bio-polyamide plant construction in Singapore
There is so much news coming out today (maybe Earth Day should be every month) but I wanted to blog this one because of the nice video about their castor-based polyamide. But before we go to that, Arkema announced today that the construction of its world-scale plant that will produce bio-based Rilsan® polyamide 11 (and … Continue reading
VIDEO: Arkema celebrates 70 years of Rilsan PA11
Hello blog readers. It is unbelievable that the second half of the year is almost upon us and 2017 actually marks the 10-year anniversary of the Green Chemicals Blog (late September 2017 to be exact). It has certainly been through some ups and downs riding in the wave of the renewable chemicals market and my … Continue reading
Vertellus files for bankruptcy
Indianapolis, US-based Vertellus Specialties has long been a player in the castor oil derivatives market even before it was formed in 2006 through the combined operations of Reilly Industries and Rutherford Chemicals (anybody remembers sebacic acid producer, Caschem based in New Jersey?). Vertellus recently announced that it has voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy protection in … Continue reading
USDA Reports on Bioeconomy
Europe (in my opinion) has been a leader in trying to set up a comprehensive bioeconomy program but the US might be catching up not only because of the country’s biofuel production but given its expanding bio-based chemicals industry. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has recently released a 30+ page report that explores opportunities in the … Continue reading
Evogene targets castor bean market in 2016
Plant genomics company Evogene Ltd. and its wholly owned subsidiary, Evofuel Ltd., has completed three years of successful field trials in Brazil for the development of castor bean conducted in cooperation with SLC Agrícola S.A., one of Brazil’s largest landowners and leading agriculture businesses. Evofuel’s castor seed varieties have the potential of being highly attractive to … Continue reading
Jayant Agro, Mitsui, Itoh Oil on castor polyol JV
Update 9-7-2013: Mitsui Chemicals reported on a press release that the new joint venture, which will be based in Gujarat, India, will construct a 8 ktpy castor oil-based polyol facility. Production will commence on January 2015. Mitsui said they are the world’s only commercial supplier of non-edible plant derived bio-polyol. The JV will make bio-polyol cost … Continue reading