If business site Forbes devotes attention to a subject as esoteric as healthy soils, we know that there will be business in it. As science has discovered the importance of the soil microbiome, this intricate ecosystem of microorganisms around plants’ … Read more
Food security is becoming an important issue even in Europe, where this year’s summer drought has led to significant crop failures. How can future food security be guaranteed in times of climate change? Are digitisation, robotization, biostimulants medium and long-term … Read more
Among the wonderful new materials with unexpected properties that will change our world is microcrystalline cellulose. I got a new perspective on it through the lecture of Stéphane Laurent at the Siñal exhibition in Châlons-en-Champagne, end May. Microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) … Read more
The impact of the new technologies, such as robotics, drones and Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing our food production system. Precision farming has shaken up a number of large companies to invest in the development of new solutions for future … Read more
The real sustainability revolution in farming is New Breeding Techniques like CRISPR. Why are organic farmers blocked from using them? This article by David Warmflash was originally published on the site of Genetic Literacy Project. Organic farming opposes genetic engineering … Read more
Many universities and innovative companies are looking for new ways to close the future protein gap for food and feed, and cover future protein demand on a sustainable basis. German nova-Institute compiled an overview of the latest developments. Nova-Institute organizes … Read more
The strongest biomaterial ever has been assembled recently by Swedish, American and German researchers; it consists of cellulose, properly speaking of carefully parallel oriented cellulose nanofibrils (CNFs). The material is stronger than steel, even stronger than spider silk, regarded as … Read more
At first glance, World Bio Markets in Amsterdam appeared to be another one of those biobased conferences with little news. There were speeches that told us how well companies were doing, whilst only few breakthroughs or research developments were presented. … Read more
As global housing programs are gearing up, the world will need a staggering amount of construction material over the next few decades. This will put a strain on resources, and produce a lot of CO2; unless we discard the present … Read more
Omega-3 fatty acids have attracted a lot of attention from protagonists of healthy diets, and from the food industry as well – view their ads. Fatty fish like salmon and sardines are important natural suppliers of these substances to the … Read more
The ecological properties of hemp makes it one of the types of insulation used in construction with the lowest carbon emissions footprint. A relatively recent interest in hemp as a building material responds to a global trend that encourages the … Read more
In our first article we concluded: as long as modified genes do not end up in the final product, nobody will oppose genetic engineering; even opponents of the technology will not mind it. Problems arise only when genetically modified food … Read more
After an initial period in which ideas went in all directions, proponents of seaweed (macro-algae) in the bio-economy have now set down to the painstaking work of developing and fine-tuning their technologies. Single-product facilities, like for the production of biogas … Read more
The impact of mineral, fossil and agricultural assets as a weapon in international politics will gradually become smaller, we concluded in three articles. Substitution of critical materials and the development of new technologies play a crucial role in this process. … Read more
The COSMOS Horizon 2020 EU research project aims at reducing the dependence of Europe’s oleochemical industry on imported tropical vegetable oils. It now imports much coconut, palm, palm kernel and castor oil for the production of products like plastics, detergents … Read more
Can food supply and access to clean water develop into geopolitical weapons, like fossil energy has been for many years? If so, we should see a structural imbalance between food and water on the one hand, and population on the … Read more
3D printing has the future. It will change the way in which we produce objects – maybe much less in factories and much more in shops around the corner. But so far, biobased materials have been difficult to 3D print. … Read more
Researchers of the University of Bath (UK) and ModCell Ltd have developed straw as a low-impact and viable modern building material. As they say, ‘our research has made affordable, environmentally-friendly houses a reality. The first super-insulated, low-carbon straw houses are … Read more
Vredestein showed a prototype of its Fortezza Flower Power at the Eurobike exhibition in Friedrichshafen in August. This innovative road tyre is made of dandelion rubber. The prototype is the result of a EU joint initiative in which KeyGene, Vredestein … Read more
European biofuel policy is being revised. November last year, the new draft renewable energy directive (RED II) has been proposed, and decisions on it will be taken in the coming months. The main difference with RED I is a further … Read more
Bio-waste is problematic from two sides. It may be a problem to dispose of it, and it represents an unused value. In a world where ‘there is no such thing as waste’, it should be valorised. That is: upgraded in … Read more
On August 5, the Biofuels Digest ran a story on chitosan, an exciting biobased substance with a bright future, almost unknown to the public so far (and unfortunately, also to industry). We highlighted it almost three years ago. Since then, … Read more
Another major study on neonicotinoids (neonics) was published in Science, last month. It sparked vehement comments from groups like Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth who want no neonics, as the study seems to show that ‘neonicotinoids negatively affect pollinator … Read more
In three columns, I have investigated the question of bee colony collapse and neonicotinoids (neonics), the effect of pesticides on pollinating insects and natural pest predators, and finally the services that biodiversity renders to agriculture and the economy. I observed … Read more
In the first two columns in this series, I pictured the difficulties in establishing the truth on neonicotinoids (or neonics) and their effects on pollinating insects. The stakes are high. Neonics represent one third (in monetary value) of all insecticides … Read more
The International Conference on Bio-based Materials, an annual highpoint on the bio-based industry’s calendar hosted by Germany’s nova-Institute, was held this year for the tenth time, in Cologne, Germany. As always, the conference concluded the first day with the presentation … Read more
As the struggle around neonicotinoids in the European Union is nearing a decisive phase, and my mailbox becomes overflown with panicky messages from both sides, I decided to make up my mind as to the truth of bee colony collapse: … Read more
The biobased and circular economy is coming nearer and nearer. Each year, new applications of biobased resources come to the market. Industry aims at using the whole crop, among others by valorisation of what used to be called waste streams. … Read more
CocoPallet is a Dutch start-up that valorises the husk of the coconut to pallets for freight transport. Last month, Michiel Vos, founder and CTO of the company, was in Indonesia with a trade mission headed by Dutch prime minister Mark … Read more
Within one month, three reports about genetic technology in crops. And on top of that, a trend analysis for the entire biotechnology, one month before. All four of them downloadable and very readable. I will shortly review them here. Genetic … Read more
Vertical farming is making headway into modern cities. Fresh produce being a unique selling point for vegetables, we will see more production units coming close to the customer. Vertical production units to be sure, often in old buildings and LED … Read more
Plants need nutrients, among which minerals. Modern agriculture has given much attention to macronutrients: nitrogen, potassium, calcium, sulphur, magnesium and phosphorus. And much less to micronutrients, elements like boron, iron, copper, manganese, molybdenum and zinc. Essential for plant life, albeit … Read more
‘In agriculture, much diversity has been lost, and as a consequence soils deliver less ecosystem services,’ says Louise Vet. ‘Just recently, we developed the tools to establish this – we can now analyse the DNA profile of soils. We have … Read more
Wood contains cellulosic fibres, embedded in lignin and hemicellulose. Pure cellulose can be processed to a quality from which yarns can be spun. The most well-known of these products is viscose. The viscose process however involves the toxic and highly … Read more
To me, the speech of Dr Laura Ruohonen of Finnish research centre VTT at the World Bio Markets Conference, last March in Amsterdam, opened new perspectives on the biobased economy. There are many, so far unexplored biobased chemicals and polymers … Read more
World production of cotton will not increase much anymore, I read several times recently – mainly as the result of its large water requirements. Whereas we know for sure that global demand for fibres for clothing will continue to increase, … Read more
Imagine a highly-urbanized city where wood is the icon of its skyscrapers, structures in timber towering over iron and concrete tall buildings. It is a vision that does not only challenge the popularity of steel construction but also sets a … Read more
Bamboo is a promising green feedstock. It is not only used for construction (approximately 1 billion people live in bamboo homes), we can now also make clothing from it and eat it. It is one of the fastest growing plants … Read more
We are underutilising waste, says Eva Gladek, CEO of Metabolic in Amsterdam. It is a very important source for a circular economy. The most important challenge is not technical but legal, although large companies like DSM need a more homogeneous … Read more
At Cosun, the age of biorefinery has really begun. Originally a sugar producer, it now looks with a keen eye on the opportunities of value creation from all components of its main side product, beet pulp. So far, this pulp … Read more
Do not use wood just for energy, say WWF and the Mondi Group, an international packaging and paper company, in a recent study performed by nova Institute and IEEP, the Institute for European Environmental Policy. This is remarkable, as many … Read more
Cellulosic ethanol costs vary greatly among the six units now in operation across the world, according to Lux Research. The single most important factor contributing to the cost differences is feedstock costs. Sugar cane straw costs are half those of … Read more
Two weeks ago I visited Cyprus to discuss a pilot project as part of our Alyssum initiative. The alyssum plant can absorb nickel and can concentrate extremely high levels of this metal in its tissues when grown in the right … Read more
Algae are not going to be the solution to our energy problem. It’s their low productivity, says prof. Kevin Flynn of Swansea University to NNFCC. It’s their high production costs, says Elie Duran, director of Phycosource, to Formule Verte. Which … Read more
In our interview with Rudy Rabbinge we also discussed the future of agriculture. Can it develop in such a way that it will keep on feeding the world even if its population would keep growing? And could it supply the … Read more
Nothing is wrong with genetic modification and its application in agriculture (green biotechnology), says Rudy Rabbinge; agriculture needs innovation, and GM technology is helpful in that because it allows us to operate faster and more precisely. But the business model … Read more
‘Hemp is a very versatile crop,’ says René Sauveur of Pantanova, a Dutch consultancy company in the area of growing and processing hemp. But the market is difficult and needs to be conquered. No, our subject is not the hemp … Read more
In our first article on green chemistry we stressed the role of bio catalysis. This leads to a preference for feedstock from agriculture, at first in the small-scale fine chemical industry and now also in the developing green large-scale bulk … Read more
Green, oil-producing algae appear to be able to remove problematic pollutants from waste water. So they clean up the waste and produce fuel at the same time. Researchers of the US Rice University discovered that oil-producing algae can eliminate more … Read more
