Topsoe’s Hydroflex technology has been selected by Holborn for producing SAF and renewable diesel at its Hamburg renewable fuels refinery in Germany. The complex is expected to be operational in early 2027 and aims to produce 220,000 tons of renewable diesel and SAF per year.

Infinium e-naphtha will be used as a sustainable feedstock alternative to produce low-carbon-footprint plastics from waste carbon dioxide emissions. This will prove useful for industry players aiming to use more sustainable alternatives.

Lummus’ new renewable dimethyl ether technology can process numerous types of methanol to produce renewable dimethyl ether. The technology is also capable of lowering Capex and Opex.

Godavari Biorefineries has launched a new specialty biochemical plant in Maharashtra, India. With this project, the company aims to produce biobased chemicals in order to support the green and net-zero ambitions of its worldwide customers.

Under a strategic collaboration agreement signed between both the parties, ABB and Komatsu will work towards the development of integrated solutions that will help bring net zero emissions for heavy industrial machinery.

Hydrogen will be produced by electrolyzers at the pilot plant which is situated in Loviisa, Finland. The total R&D cost of the pilot project is around 17 million euros and is scheduled to be commissioned in late 2025.

Honeywell and Repsol have plans to work together in order to create new production pathways for biofuels and circular materials. The companies also intend to scale and commercialize Honeywell's technologies for chemical production and renewable fuels at Repsol’s refineries.

At the opening ceremony of Achema, German Federal Minister for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, Dr. Robert Habeck, along with other leaders from the financial sector, the chemical industry and suppliers offered insights about how the process industry is positioning itself within new global framework conditions and wrapped up the session by suggesting that international cooperation is the need of the hour in order to overcome the many challenges faced by the process industry.

Under the terms of the technology licensing agreement, Reliance will be provided with an exclusive license for Nel’s alkaline electrolyzers in India and it will also allow Reliance to manufacture Nel’s alkaline electrolyzers for captive purposes globally.

With chemical and chemical processing industries aiming to forge ahead in their automation and digitalization drive to develop their respective ‘Factory of the future’ or ‘Smart factory’, one thing is certain – it can’t be done without the use of robots at least for the time being. The concept of robots is not new but they have been transformed time and again to meet the challenges of today’s industrial plants especially with regard to plant inspection as well as maintenance and it won’t be wrong to term this phase as the ‘return and rise of robots.’