Akzo Nobel unveiled a new strategy to accelerate growth and value creation focussing on the company's Paints, Coatings and Specialty Chemicals Business. The next phase is the separation of Speciality Chemicals and the creation of two separate companies within twelve months.

BioAmber has joined forces with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation in the field of biobased succinic acid, in a strategic agreement that makes BioAmber and its Asian distribution partner Mitsui & Co. the exclusive suppliers of biobased succinic acid to Mitsubishi Chemical.

The Chilean oil group ENAP and the Chilean wood industry underline their interest in Choren technologies for production of sustainable biofuels. Representatives of the joint venture ForEnergy visited the production plant for BTL fuel in Germany.

Biogas projects in the UK are increasing. Weltec Biopower is building another two plants in the UK at the moment. The facilities go online in the next months the company said.

Avantium announces a partnership with Akzo Nobel, Chemport Europe, RWE and Staatsbosbeheer for the development of a reference plant at the Chemie Park Delfzijl.

Akzo Nobel and partners have commissioned a feasibility study from Deloitte. The goal is to provide an independent critical review and economic assessment on the viability of several business cases for the commercial production of raw materials from sugar beets.

Neste Jacobs and Coolbrook in collaboration with University of Oxford’s Osney Thermo Fluids laboratory, University of Cambridge’s Whittle laboratory, and major chemical producers are developing a new process based on hydrocarbon cracking method, where ethylene, the core raw material for polyethylene is produced.

The use of chillers is essential to the operation of any pharmaceutical plant—for process cooling, HVAC loads and the maintenance of humidity and space temperature set points in Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) spaces. These machines consume a lot of electricity for its working. In this article, an automation expert shares his experiences of how a pharmaceutical company enhanced its operational efficiency and reduced energy costs by incorporating state–of–the–art automation...

The first industrial production facility for renewable 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) has started its production at the Biochem-1 facility of AVA Biochem in Muttenz, Switzerland. In a first phase, Biochem-1 will produce up to 20 t/a 5-HMF from renewable feedstock.

Electrochaea has successfully patented a strain of microorganisms specially developed for efficient biocatalytic methane production. The patent for the EU was recently validated in Denmark, where Electrochaea has been operating the world's first biological methanation plant with a power uptake of one megawatt, since 2016.