In addition to the first renewable Penta called Voxtar, Perstorp has now added two new bio-based products to its portfolio: Evyron (partly renewable TMP) and Neeture (partly renewable Neo).

Future chemicals could be generated from shale gas, biomass, residual materials and waste gas — In fact, chemical companies and institutes around the world are working on the material use of CO2 and other effluents. Are projects like Carbon2Chem bringing about a new era of recycling management?

Finnish companies Stora Enso and Kemira have started the construction work for pilot projects addressing water-related issues in three villages in Guangxi Province in Southern China.

Weather green fuel or energy storage for overrun of solar and wind energy — hydrogen is an essential building block of the energy transition. Therefrom also Siemens benefits. The Technology-Company has been awarded to supply hydrogen electrolysis system to Germany and Switzerland.

Bioconstruct has been appointed with the construction of an 844 kW biogas plant near Thessaloniki, in Sochos, Greece. This contract continues the company's internationalization and marks the entry into a ninth European market.

French bioprocess specialist Global Bioenergies has successfully converted renewable resources into an oil-like liquid fuel. The conversion via isobutene results in a light, oil-like liquid with qualities that are comparable to fossil oils.

Is it the end of the oil era? A vision for the decarbonisation of the chemical industry — Chemistry could become almost neutral to climate by 2050, as recent studies show. The price would be, however, enormous: Up to a tenfold of the current investment volume per year had to be pumped into alternative raw materials and process development. Is the dream of green chemicals over before it even began? How realistic is the decoupling of fossil raw materials overall? And what could be done now?

CB&I has been selected by HPCL Mittal Energy (HMEL) for the license and basic engineering of a 1,200 kta mixed feeds ethylene plant for the Guru Gobind Singh refinery in Bathinda, India.

India is a power-starved country, whereas the country’s biomass resources (otherwise waste) hold a great potential to address the challenge. About 15 GW of electricity generating capacity could be achieved through adding cogeneration capabilities in various industries including sugar mills, breweries, textile mills, distilleries, fertilizer plants, pulp and paper mills and rice mills.

Whether coal, gas or even biomass will replace petroleum as the chemical raw material of the future is not yet clear. However, one thing is certain. Alternatives will be needed in the long term despite that fact the even pessimists predict that oil will be available for the next forty years. High prices, increasing consumption in Asia and the chaotic political situation in the oil producing countries add an element of urgency to the discussion on diversification of the raw material base. The industry is looking for an intelligent mix and an evolutionary approach to the supply of raw materials.