European plastics manufacturers have joined NGOs in their stand for an EU-wide ban on the disposal of plastics in landfills. They argue that Europe needs tougher recycling requirements to stop an important raw material from being thrown away, and see … Read more
Sorry, we publish this column on Dutch energy policy only in Dutch.
The Bergen op Zoom region, in the Southwestern part of the Netherlands, is the centre of the new green economy – for those who did not know yet. They have it all: strong agrofood industries, a strong agricultural sector with … Read more
Willem Sederel, manager of the Biobased Delta, situated in the South-western part of the Netherlands, shows no doubt as he indicates the biobased economy as the prime development model for the future green industry. But he also says: ‘We are … Read more
Piezoelectricity is on the rise. Piezoelectric cells produce electricity from vibrations, or conversely vibrations from electricity. The former is relevant for energy harvesting, for our world increasingly needs the small powers that can be produced by piezoelectric generators – in … Read more
Sustainability – here to stay, or the issue of the day? We think it is here to stay. All the more important to be very critical about sustainability, and the meaning attributed to it by stakeholders. Do you remember how … Read more
Use of biomass feedstock for chemicals and biofuels? The food/fuel discussion is very polarised. But a number of parties have come forward that seek a middle ground in this debate. They point out that industrial use of first generation (edible) … Read more
The Western European food chain is very inefficient, says Johan Sanders, professor ‘biobased commodity chemicals’ at Wageningen UR. We could greatly reduce imports, mainly of soy, by improving efficiency. ‘Each Western European consumes 2 500 kcal a day. But our … Read more
‘The biobased economy is based on another logic than the existing economy,’ says Johan Sanders. ‘And many problems in the transition to a biobased economy arise from the fact that people find it hard to think according to that new … Read more
A happy man, Barend Verachtert called himself, head of the unit Biotechnology of DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission. Friday 17 May 2013, at 5 o’clock in the afternoon, the administrative negotiations on the innovation program BRIDGE had … Read more
Plexiglas emits 2½ kilos of CO2 per kilogram of product, Geo and I find. We looked it up on the internet. Glass is much less CO2-efficient, 8.4 kilos of CO2 per kilogram of glass. Unless one uses recycled glass, then … Read more
Old patterns are pervasive in the perception of sustainability. Motor car journalists do not like the Toyota Prius, not because it would be a bad car, but because it has been introduced in the market on the basis of its … Read more
Generals always seem to be engaged in winning the last war; likewise, the recently installed Dutch Council for the Environment and Infrastructure (RLI), has issued a report on yesterday’s problems. The subject is the conflict between sustainability and agriculture. The … Read more
Seaweed is an attractive and relatively unknown source of food, feed and chemicals. Growing seaweed needs no land, and therefore it does not compete with other forms of food production. It does not require land based transport. Seaweed contains very … Read more
There is a firm trend for centralization in decision making in our society. National governments increase their power at the expense of communities and counties; and Europe acts for more ‘harmonization’ of national regulation. As a result of this process, … Read more
Even though our highly technological society is vulnerable, this state of affairs is not much addressed by politics or societal debate. And vulnerable we are indeed. Think of the millennium bug. We depend completely on infrastructures on a regional, national … Read more
Five years after the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy, nothing has been done yet on the set of measures which were thought to be essential at the time; measures which boil down to reinstalling the protection of financial markets, installed after the … Read more
A room in the Chemical Lab of Groningen University (RUG) hosts a revolutionary test equipment. It produces bioBTX through chemical catalysis. This is a mixture of benzene, toluene and xylene, identical to the BTX produced from crude oil refinery. A … Read more
In Brussels, civil servants are in the middle of a major project: the revision of Europe’s Common Agricultural Policy, CAP. The future of the biobased economy is heavily dependent on the smart design of this policy. It is of major … Read more
Sustainability is growing in importance for the biobased economy, says Patricia Osseweijer. She is a professor in Science Communication at Delft Technical University, and she heads among others the Biotechnology and Society research group. The growing importance of sustainability shows, … Read more
Biomass has a fundamental problem for use in the energy sector. There is not enough of it, and it is too expensive. Fossil industry emits 35 Gton CO2 around the globe each year. Agriculture captures 7 Gton CO2 per year. … Read more
This column has nothing to do with the biobased society. It springs from my participation in an academic discussion. The subject: a philosophical inquiry into scientific explanations; forty years ago, I graduated on that subject. And this column originates from … Read more
‘I expect artificial photosynthesis to be fully operational in 2050; by that time it will be the backbone of energy supply,’ says Huub de Groot, professor in biophysical organic chemistry at Leiden University. ‘We know from experience that a new … Read more
Whereas silicon wafer based PV technology keeps improving and production costs of PV electricity keeps falling, thin film PV is on its way to develop as a mass product as well. Most experts judge that thin film solar cells will … Read more
Sorry, this column on the seventh Dutch biobased economy network meeting in Breda, is only available in Dutch.
The very moment Kenneth Epstein, an American venture capitalist, proved by solid data that the biobased economy in the United States is waning, a Reuters message arrived in our e-mail, unfolding a much more optimistic view. In both stories shale … Read more
Canada and China are about to sign a trade agreement which would allow China to develop tar sands in Alberta in exchange for enhanced protection of Canadian companies in China. The draft agreement is the subject of a heated debate, … Read more
Climate change is going to disrupt society, that is for sure, says Paul Gilding. We cannot avert disaster any more, as mankind in its stupidity does much too little about climate change. Until it is too late and disruption will … Read more
‘The unsuccessful energy transition stands in the way of the biobased economy,’ says Jan Rotmans. ‘Whereas the energy sector is going to disappear. In the future transition, the chemical sector will take its energy supply in its own hands. Above … Read more
I had looked forward intently to the report that Oxfam in the Netherlands (Oxfam Novib) would publish on 26 November, which would justify its campaign against European biofuel policies. They said, this would ‘conclude clearly’ that the economic and political … Read more
It was a wonderful reunion, Forty years of wind power in the Netherlands, organized by Chris Westra, the man whose self-built wind turbine in 1972 marked the beginning of an upsurge of sustainable energy. Many stories about the past forty … Read more
Most posters against shale gas have disappeared from the streets and the municipal poster sites. Some cars still show them. But resistance has not faded away. Earlier articles on shale gas appeared on 12 July, 9 September, 17 September and … Read more
In two columns on this site I went into the food/fuel problem. Oxfam reacted to my first piece. But they did not answer some pressing questions. Therefore, once more the food/fuel problem and Oxfam’s position. This article appears as Oxfam … Read more
Recent food price increases have fuelled a new round in the food/fuel debate. They have had a major influence on EU policies, putting a halt to ambitious renewable fuel targets for 2020. But often, the arguments used in the food/fuel … Read more
Oxfam working paper 161, entitled ‘The hunger grains’ has had a profound influence on the EU decision to scrap its stricter biofuels mandate for year 2020. But this influence is deplorable: the evidence presented in the report would lead to … Read more
Certification. That was the common denominator in many contributions to the discussion in my group at the ‘Social aspects of bio-based chemicals’ meeting in Amsterdam, Friday 2 November. And cooperation. And the ambition to excel. The question was, what my … Read more
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In Denmark and Italy, Novozymes, the world’s largest producer of industrial enzymes, and Beta Renewables, a global leader in cellulosic biofuels and part of Gruppo Mossi & Ghisolfi, announced an agreement to jointly market, demonstrate and guarantee cellulosic biofuel solutions. … Read more
‘Wood is competitive for heating purposes, the alternative being natural gas (at the retail price for residential heating) or fuel oil,’ says Zwier van Olst. ‘District heating is an excellent market for locally produced wood. Recently, we agreed on a … Read more
Europe appears to be in a bad state. Poverty and unemployment are on the rise, the rich and the poor grow apart, the financial system is out of control. In the long run countries like China and India tend to … Read more
DSD BV (Dutch Sustainable Development BV) has made available online information about its Betaprocess, in Dutch, English, German and French. Betaprocess operates on the basis of vacuum extrusion, which rips apart biomass in a split second to a macromolecular level … Read more
‘We should again valorise the entire potato.’ In one sentence, AVEBE’s ambition in the biobased economy. In order to realize this goal, the corporation has many ideas for opportunities in research. ‘More than we can finance. We will have to … Read more
There will be more local self-supply or even autarky in the new world, for instance in energy systems. But whereas in the past, autarky equalled shortage and even poverty, in the future this will equal a high level of knowledge … Read more
Summing up, we arrive at our vision. New social patterns will be sustained by the development of new technologies, that will primarily promote local and regional economic growth. Sustainability is on its way to become a recognised corporate goal, because … Read more
It was a historic site, in café Landtmann in Vienna, where the European Liberal Forum had organized our debate on the green economy. Historic, not merely because the café exists from 1873 onwards, and because a large number of famous … Read more
Energy systems will revolutionise even more radically than industry. The price of solar cells has taken a dive. They are modular in makeup, i.e. they can be applied both on a small and a large scale. Everyone can mount them … Read more
This October, EuropaBio’s European Forum for Industrial Biotechnology and the Biobased Economy (EFIB) brings together a panel of multinational CEOs to discuss the evolution of a world leading EU bioeconomy. The bioeconomy concept has never been higher on the EU … Read more
The biobased industry is going to alleviate the CO2 problem and create rural employment and development. Says Lars Hansen, President Region Europe of Novozymes, one of the main European companies in the development of the biobased economy. But Europe should … Read more
Novozymes envisages new biorefineries which can process any biobased feedstock into any desired product in a sustainable way. They will be able to process straw, municipal waste, pig farm or dairy waste etc. As outputs, they see ethanol, food, feed, … Read more