Fundamental Biochemical and Biotechnological Principles of Biomass Growth and Use 33
by Total (France) in cooperation with the spin-off Amyris of UC Berkeley (USA). In
addition, Lufthansa intends to test Jatropha oil-based jet fuel.
September 18, 2014 – BASF (Germany), Cargill (USA), and Novozymes (Denmark)
announced a process to produce acrylic acid from renewable raw material. Acrylic acid
is a bulk chemical and building block for plastics, fiber, coatings, and superabsorbers
(absorbing aqueous liquid, e.g., in diapers). The process produces 3-hydroxypropionic
acid by fermentation, which is subsequently transformed into acrylic acid. Suitable
carbon sources are, for example, sugar and glycerol.
June 26, 2013 – Sugarcane-based low-density polyethylene (LDPE) will be used in all
Tetra Pak packages produced in Brazil. Tetra Pak (Sveden) stated that about 13 billion
bio-based packages will be produced in Brazil. Bio-ethylene will be produced from
sugar-based ethanol by Braskem (Brazil).
June 19, 2013 – Multilayer tube systems with bio-based polyamides from Evonik
Industries were tested in a racing car for the first time. The car boasted a number of
novel features including a multilayer line for charge-air cooling. The outer layer was
made of a polyamide, which is based on castor oil (extracted from the oil cropRicinus
communis).
1.5.2 Second-Generation Processes and Products
September 29, 2014 – POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels LLC, a 50:50 joint venture of the
bio-ethanol producer POET (USA) and DSM (chemistry; The Netherlands), published
the first commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol facility in Iowa (USA). It will daily convert
770 tons of biomass into 75 million liters of ethanol.
November 18, 2013 – M&G Chemicals (Italy) announced to construct a
second-generation bio-refinery in China for the conversion of 1 million tons of
straw biomass into bio-ethanol and bio-glycols. The lignin resulting as a by-product
from the bio-refinery will feed a 45 MW cogeneration plant, which will be constructed
atthesametimeasthebio-refineryinthesamesite.
October 6, 2014 – Energochimica SE (Slovakia) signed an agreement with Biochem-
tex and Beta Renewables for the construction of a second-generation bio-ethanol plant
and an annexed energy block to deliver 55,000 metric tons per year of cost-competitive
cellulosic ethanol using non-food biomass as its feedstock.
1.5.3 Third-Generation Processes and Products
November 11, 2014 – The bio-news agency Biofuel Digest voted LanzaTech (USA) the
hottest company in bio-energy. This company developed a gas fermentation process
to bio-ethanol. Carbon source is gaseous CO directly fed into the fermentation broth
to cultivate the bacteriaClostridium. CO might come with industrial flue gas or with
synthesis gas from gasified biomass. The process has been successfully tested on pilot
scale in a Chinese steel mill. The academic basis has been laid especially at British and
German universities.
December 9, 2013 – Evonik Industries (Germany) and LanzaTech (USA) have signed
a 3-year research cooperation agreement, which will see Evonik combining its existing
biotechnology platforms with LanzaTech’s synthetic biology and gas fermentation
expertise for the development of a route to bio-processed precursors for specialty
plastics from waste-derived synthesis gas. In this route, microorganisms placed in
