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
Two factors are underrated again and again in energy policy: the potential of better energy efficiency (check here) and that of renewable energy. In our first column, we saw that important forecasters overestimate demand growth. We foresee global energy growth … Read more
Two factors are underrated again and again in energy policy: the potential of better energy efficiency (check here) and that of renewable energy. In Paris, world leaders have affirmed their intention to restrict global warming to 2 oC or less. … Read more
Biobased really is a sub-branch of circular, says Daan Bruggink of ORGA architects. The circular economy knows two cycles, technical and biological. The biological cycle of course contains the ‘real’ natural materials: wood, reed, fibre, flax, and so on. Technical … Read more
Last year, at the symposium Het Groene Brein Roots!, I met a Programme Coordinator from the teacher training course at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences, RUAS. He mentioned that he was working on a project on teaching sustainability, in order … Read more
Sustainable materials need to get certified, says Daan Bruggink. The architect is convinced that project developers will switch to more sustainable materials by including them in certification. At present, energy is already drawing much attention, says Daan, and that is … Read more
In his book The Revenge of Gaia (2006) James Lovelock reasserts his idea that the earth, living and mineral, is a self-regulating system. A system that is now put to an extreme test by mankind by the vast amounts of … Read more
Sustainable construction requires a team, says Daan Bruggink. These ‘construction teams’ (project partnering) are not a new concept, but they are still used far too little. You need each other’s knowledge. The designer is not responsible for the construction and … Read more
Daan Bruggink is one of the standard bearers of sustainable architecture in the Netherlands. If anything, he insists on building based on nature: ‘We at ORGA Architects first consider natural forms,’ he says. ‘Second, we consider natural techniques such as … Read more
Last week, we wrote about the versatile and biodegradable plastic PHA. The Dutch Platform Agro-Chemistry-Paper reacted to it: could you also highlight the pitfalls? Do you recognise the danger that most Dutch PHA projects start from waste as a feedstock, … Read more
PHAs are a family of naturally occurring polymers – no plastics in the usual sense of the word, but energy reserves of microorganisms. A very versatile family: we can process them to hard or soft plastics, and to both crystalline … 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
At the Bio-Based Products World conference, in March in Amsterdam, two speeches struck me as particularly relevant to our times: that of Tom Domen (Ecover) and of Caroline Laurie (Kingfisher). Both companies are in the consumer market, and seem to … 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
Many social scientists make an appeal to fundamental laws of nature in order to sustain their arguments. Fine, if their interpretation is tenable from a scientific point of view. But often, this is not the case. Economists tend to look … 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
Metabolic has quickly ascended to leadership in the field of circular economy consultancy in the Netherlands since its establishment in 2012. Recent projects include the bioremediation of a waterfront industrial area and a study of the world food system and … Read more
Biobased chemicals struggle with low energy prices. If they are drop-ins, they have a hard time competing with petrochemicals. Therefore, the case for new, specifically biobased platform chemicals, gets stronger. This case is demonstrated by companies that concentrate on new … Read more
Germany’s nova-Institute has published the first comprehensive market study on the consumption of compostable and biodegradable plastics in Europe, announced managing director Michael Carus at the 9th International Conference on Bio-based Materials, which the institute hosted this week in Cologne. … Read more
Natural fibre composites are plastics reinforced with natural fibres: mostly wood, bamboo, flax or hemp. They are increasingly used in consumer goods like watchcases, toys, combs and trays. The unique look and feel of these composites give the impression of … Read more
The development of new polymers is a lengthy and highly underestimated process, says Jan Ravenstijn. Development of new polymers, like new drugs, will roughly cost about two decades and $ 1 billion. Therefore, it will take quite some time for … Read more
In discussions on genetic modification, the name Monsanto invariably produces much controversy. Both its critics and its proponents can be very emotional. We will argue that Monsanto has taken the wrong turn in green biotechnology. This is the second article … Read more
In preparation for Paris 2015, the new major climate summit, researchers publish many scenarios on the reduction of greenhouse gas production. Over the years, these have become more pessimistic. As the world longer postpones adequate measures, it will have to … Read more
Ecomodernism! It could be a breakthrough in the stalemate between proponents of economic growth and those of radical reforms, e.g. to prevent climate disasters. The term combines elements of both sides. So with great expectations, I started reading ‘An Ecomodernist … Read more
In her book ‘Nature as an inventor’ (in Dutch), Ylva Poelman beautifully paints bionics as the subject of the future. Bionics is learning from nature: applying successful solutions from nature – billions of years of invention for free, as the … Read more
Cascading biomass is the latest policy term for a multiple use of biomass, a use that starts ‘at the top’, in some material form (e.g. furniture or bioplastics) and ends up in the least valuable form: energy. Cascading biomass receives … Read more
Consumer electronics constitute a rapidly increasing source of waste. Cell phones, tablets and the like are typically made of non-renewable, non-biodegradable, partly environmentally toxic materials. A newly developed chip, in which the metal substrate has been replaced by wood fibrils, … Read more
One often gets the impression that all fascination for modern technology concentrates on ICT: robots, self-steering cars, mobile phones and their apps. Green chemistry, a breakthrough technology too, gets little attention in spite of its development that spans 20 years. … Read more
Sustainability, the word has been used so often that some have been looking for alternatives for quite some time. But fortunately, the sustainability perspective often still inspires people; like in education, in view of the many courses, tracks, masters and … Read more
One of the discussions at the Bio!Pac conference, organised by Bioplastics Magazine and Holland Bioplastics last week in Amsterdam, was about biodegradable versus biobased. Bioplastics, around which the conference revolved, are by no means all biodegradable. Is that a problem? … Read more
Those who do not believe in the future, might be advised not to go there at all. All too often I have heard readers of our book ‘Groene Groei’ (Green Growth) tell us: ‘what you want cannot be done, much … Read more
Today, 22 April, is Mother Earth Day. It is an international event, supported by the United Nations. This year’s theme is: ‘It’s our turn to lead’. ‘The big decisions that lie ahead,’ explains UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, ‘are not … Read more
In the tension between sustainability and efficiency something strange is going on: it seems as though the concepts belong to two different worlds, with separate languages. As becomes apparent from reading “The Master and his Emissary”, a 2010 book by … Read more
Last year, Ecover made a courageous decision. It decided to kick out palm kernel oil (widely known for its shaky sustainability) as a feedstock for many of its detergents, and replace it by a bio-equivalent oil produced by engineered algae. … Read more
The Myco Design Lab of the international art foundation Mediamatic based in Amsterdam, links the worlds of industry and art. This program is about everything we can do with mycelium, the predominantly underground fungi threads or hyphae that form the … Read more
In the future, we might not blow, mould or cast most of our materials, but grow them. That is, if we embrace mycelium, the ultimate biobased material: fully green, growing on any substrate (particularly on waste) and fully biodegradable. We … Read more
Nothing is wrong with bioenergy; something is wrong with the ambitions that its proponents have: bioenergy should save the climate. Because that ambition would require the production of biomass in amounts beyond the capabilities of agriculture and forestry; or else … Read more
Insect biorefinery. Almost unimaginable, a few years ago. And yet, it is in full development. Its products will come to the market soon. The insect world will show us many surprising applications. The surprising world of insects Every now and … Read more
Food supply should have absolute priority, no less so in a biobased economy. Says Rudy Rabbinge, emeritus professor in sustainable development and food security at Wageningen UR. That is why Rabbinge opposes biofuels from agriculture, but accepts biobased high-value products … Read more
Some communities declare themselves ‘shale gas free’. Pure symbolism. They know very well that they do not have a say in this. Apparently, they have the (naïve) idea that such a declaration will prevent environmental problems from shale gas recovery, … Read more
Our planet’s temperature rises. There is ample proof for that. CO2 emissions are the main reason, we know that for sure as well. We cannot deny that our wealth and craving for energy have caused this. But we can hardly … Read more
Over the past ten years, we witnessed a very unbalanced development in the global solar cells sector. China rapidly expanded its production capacity, and could therefore use the latest technology and reap economies of scale. But in the end, this … Read more
When I was a child we often went on a holiday to France. To get us through the long journey we’d bring along small packages of apple juice, those with three in a wrapping and with shining foil to stick … Read more
As companies strive to be more sustainable, their customers might grow more critical on their performance rather than less, asking questions that were never raised. At least, that is what Ecover experiences. These bottles being made from sugar rather than … Read more
In this series, we discussed three design rules: reduce capital costs and create jobs, be lean on materials flows, and preserve structure. Our last guideline, elegance is beautiful, sums up the former three and enlarges them. Elegance in chemistry means … Read more
A biobased industry should not copy petrochemical industry’s structure: that structure has been optimised for over a century, for this particular feedstock. In order to compete, the biobased industry should particularly be lean on materials flows: it should use all … Read more
Most people, when talking about a sustainable future for Europe, think in terms of energy supply. That is one-sided. It is true: the energy conflict still deepens, as the incumbent powers start to be challenged just recently, forty years after … Read more
Why on earth do we human beings have so much difficulty changing our thoughts – and our actions? For instance, change from a fossil economy to a green economy, from an inflexible hierarchical command society to a small-scale grass roots … Read more