EU Updates Pollution Release and Transfer Register
The European Commission and the European Environment Agency (EEA; Copenhagen) have published an updated register of the releases and transfers of pollutants from industrial installations known as the European Pollutant Release and Transfer Register (E-PRTR). E-PRTR features information on emissions of...

Novozymes Partners Danish Biorefinery Project
Novozymes has joined the Maabjerg Energy Concept, a consortium which plans to build a biorefinery for generating biogas, advanced bioethanol, electricity and heat in western Denmark near Holstebro. The plant is set to be the world’s first commercial scale biorefinery producing bioethanol from straw...

ADM and Kost USA Introduce Bio-heat Transfer Fluids
Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Kost USA (Cincinnati), a manufacturer of heat transfer fluids, have jointly developed a new line of heat transfer fluids derived from renewable raw materials. ADM’s biobased propylene glycol is used in the heat transfer fluids which are being sold under Kost...

Electroactive Polymers: The New Buzz at Bayer
Think of Bayer and you might envisage materials that go into ski goggles (Makrolon polycarbonate), agchems (pesticides), or inventions such as polyurethane and the iconic aspirin (salicylic acid). The company’s next big success could be in electroactive polymers (EAPs) – a family of polymers...

U.S. Synthetic Biology Technique Triples Biodiesel Yield
A technique developed by researchers from the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI; San Francisco Bay Area, CA), is able to optimise the performance of microbes to generate a target molecule while they are still in a bioreactor. In tests, the technique tripled the yield from microbes designed to generate...

Avantium and Danone Agree to Develop Bio-PEF Bottles
Avantium (Amsterdam), a catalyst technology firm, and Danone, have agreed to jointly develop bottles made from bio-polyethylene furanoate (PEF). The partnership will use Avantium’s YXY low-cost catalyst technology for converting carbohydrates into furanics Furanics are a group of building block...

Mimicking Photosynthesis Enables Storage and Release of Hydrogen
Researchers from Japan and the U.S. have developed a proton-responsive ligand and a homogeneous iridium catalyst which together enable the controlled storage and release of hydrogen. The approach mimics the conversion of CO2 to sugar by green plants for energy storage during photosynthesis.The ligand...

Rivertop Scales up Bioglucarate Process to Pilot Scale
Rivertop Renewables (Missoula, MT), a biotech start-up, says it has successfully scaled-up its patented bioprocess for making the building block chemical glucarate from the lab to pilot manufacturing. Rivertop contracted out the pilot scale production to fine and specialty chemical contract manufacturer...

10-year Study Links Bisphenol A to Future Heart Disease
A new study following 1,619 people over 10 years shows that healthy people with higher urine concentrations of Bisphenol A (BPA) subsequently were more likely to develop heart disease. It is the first time that data has been used to establish a link between exposure to BPA and future onset of cardiovascular...

Cellulosic Sugar Supplier Raises $100 Million
Cellulosic sugar manufacturer Viridia (Redwood City, CA), formerly HCL CleanTech, says it has raised $100 million in public and private financing to fund its first commercial-scale plants and named Genencor veteran Philippe Lavielle CEO. The financing includes a $20 million funding round from insiders Khosla...