In a joint position paper, Europe’s energy intensive industries raise concerns that persistently high electricity prices could undermine industrial competitiveness and decarbonization efforts. One of their key demands is a competitive benchmark of 50 euros per MWh.

A new report titled ‘Bio-based Building Blocks and Polymers – Global Capacities, Production and Trends 2025–2030’ has been compiled by nova-Institute. The report forecasts that the expansion of the global bio-based polymer market will be led by Europe and North America while Asia remains a major growth region.

Varo Energy has delivered its 2022 One Varo Transformation strategy ahead of schedule by successfully acquiring Preem. This move has led to the establishment of Varopreem which is now one of Europe’s most significant energy companies, combining deep industrial capabilities with global trading reach to serve mobility and industrial customers.

Solvay has inaugurated its new bio-circular silica facility at its plant in Livorno, Italy. The new unit will produce highly dispersible silica using bio-based sodium silicate derived from rice husk ash, an agricultural byproduct.

Veolia has launched a multi-energy cogeneration plant in Poznań, Poland. The two-phase project is expected to eliminate over 300,000 tons of coal use annually, leading to zero coal consumption.

Tangshan Jinlihai has chosen Topsoe’s Hydroflex technology to produce sustainable aviation fuels at the Tangshan Jinlihai industrial hub in China. The project is expected to enable an annual emission avoidance of approximately 700,000 metric tons of CO2e.

Claimed to be one of the world’s largest industrial heat pumps for CO2-free steam generation, BASF’s industrial heat pump at the Ludwigshafen site in Germany is expected to produce up to 500,000 tons of CO2-free steam per year. With a thermal output of around 50 MWs, the mega heat pump has the potential to reduce CO2 emissions at the site by up to 100,000 tons per year.

BP’s new facility is expected to generate up to 11,000 tons of green hydrogen annually. Bilfinger has been selected to deliver the prefabrication, assembly and installation of plant components for BP’s new green hydrogen electrolyzer.

Henkel has joined hands with Sekab to speed up the transition from fossil-based to bio-based raw materials in adhesive production. The partnership intends to replace conventional ethyl acetate with a sustainable, bio-based alternative.

Air Products and Yara are in advanced talks to collaborate on low-emission ammonia projects in the U.S.A and Saudi Arabia with Yara’s world-scale ammonia network.