Chemical Industry Weekly Innovation Round-Up, October 27

Elevance and Stepan have signed a joint development agreement to look into and, eventually, commercialize surfactants, antimicrobials, and polyurethane polyols from Elevan's biobased esters.

Solar firm 1366 Technologies has raised $20 million in a Series B funding round.

Finance remains an obstacle for biomaterial start-ups, Rivertop Renewables CEO James Stoppert told CW's Alex Scott last week in Edinburgh.

In another video interview in Edinburgh, Ian Hudson of DuPont EMEA, tells CW that European biotech firms are well-positioned to compete around the world.

Beyond Chemical Week…

In Science Daily, six new isotopes of the superheavy elements have been discovered.

A new paper in Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research argues that tobacco and tobacco byproducts could be used as insecticides.

A new report says that the U.S. solar market could grow 42% per year if it attracts $100 billion in investment through 2020, Environmental Leader reports.