Apparently, there is a major obstacle for the energy transition: cost. We don’t always have solar and wind energy at hand, but there always is demand for electricity. Growing, as well – ongoing, as we will install more electric heating … Read more
The Dutch farmers manifest themselves. They block highways and distribution centres. They pay a visit to the homes of ministers. They oppose plans to reduce appreciably manure production and ammonia emissions by agriculture. But they ignore that viable alternatives exist … Read more
A new book by journalist Don Saladino draws our attention to the unification of eating habits across the world. It carries major dangers for our food crops. The genetic variation in the world’s food crops is diminishing very fast. The … Read more
New biobased materials pop up everywhere these days. On the basis of organic materials, often processed with modern chemical technologies. They seem to be able to substitute many fossil-based and mineral materials. Just a few of these innovations. Natural materials … Read more
The Dutch Wadden islands aimed to attain energy autarky in 2020. They fail to reach that target. For in order to do this, energy production and consumption don’t just need to match over a year; they also need to match … Read more
The energy transition has progressed quite a bit. To the extent that we can predict the outcome: renewable energy sources will win. But the real problems are surfacing now. The old energy system and the new energy sources have a … Read more
The world runs into planetary boundaries, or has transgressed them already. The three main problems can all be alleviated by a more efficient agriculture. Being: emission of greenhouse gases, excess of nitrogen fertilization, and biodiversity loss. But we will only … Read more
In September 2018, the Dutch minister for agriculture Carola Schouten announced that circular agriculture will become her main policy goal. Circular agriculture, also known as low external input farming, is the model of the future. The minister intends to remove … Read more
Biorefinery will come to the farm. On the basis of small-scale equipment that fits in a container; that allows farmers to create more value from their crops. The BioProductProcessor feeds on oily crops and a volume of well-sealed enzymes. It … Read more
If plans work out as projected, Sardinia’s new Matrìca plant in Porto Torres might show the way into a new industrial future for the whole of Europe. The Matrìca project, sized € 500 million, will turn the site of an … Read more
The Dutch agricultural sector has one major problem: an excess of manure production as a consequence of the large livestock population. Dutch livestock farming depends on major imports of soy and other crops for fodder production. ‘At the end of … Read more
The recent report ‘Strategy for a green society’ (in Dutch) of the Scientific and Technological Committee for the biobased economy (WTC) puts an emphasis on biobased materials. Biobased materials are the driving force for the biobased economy, according to the … Read more
Even though the biobased economy may incur a smaller scale of operations, there is room for cooperation in larger areas. The Biobased Delta may become a fine example of that. Now merely in the South-western part of the Netherlands, and … 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
The bioeconomy is regional in nature, and now Europe has discovered that, too. At a ‘hearing’ in Brussels it became apparent that the new wealth will be rural in nature, and will be created locally. The region will take preference … 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
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
It seems to be an article like many thousands that are published each year; a scientific and technological article of the sort that scientists have got to publish for their careers. And yet, this article by Jean-Paul Lange (a Belgian … Read more
It goes without saying that the biobased economy will produce major changes in society. Yet, many people do not realise to what an extent – eventually, the biobased economy will produce another society, a biobased society. Logistics is a fine … Read more
Johan Sanders is a professor in valorisation of biomass chains at Wageningen UR. According to Johan, the key to successful deployment of biomass is its efficient use: efficiency in use of the resource itself, and in that of its inputs … Read more
In the landscape, differences between Niedersachsen and the Northern Netherlands are almost unnoticeable. On both sides of the border, biobased economy is in full development. A lot of research and talks take place in the Eems-Dollard regional association. Some important … Read more
We should take another view of grass, according to Grassa. Cows in meadows are beautiful, but grass contains too much proteins for the cow. Why not extract that excess first? Besides, grass contains many valuable substances like fibres and sugars, … Read more
‘The Netherlands lag behind in biomass use. Germany, for instance, has more than 3.000 maize fermentation units, the Netherlands just a few. On the other hand, now we have the opportunity to develop new technology.’ Says Jan van den Broek, … Read more