Steeper Energy, a Danish-Canadian biofuel company, is partnering with Silva Green Fuel, a Norwegian-Swedish joint venture, to construct a € 50.6 million industrial scale demonstration plant at a former pulp mill located in Tofte, Norway leading to a future commercial scale project.

The UK government grant Ineos an infrastructure loan guarantee worth € 285 million or £ 230 million. This allows Ineos to raise the money necessary to build a new terminal to import and store ethane for Grangemouth as North Sea availability declines.

Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems (MHPS) announced the successful firing test of a large-scale gas turbine fuelled by a 30 % hydrogen fuel mix.

In a joint research project called Rheticus, Evonik and Siemens are working on electrolysis and fermentation processes that use electricity from renewable sources and bacteria to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into specialty chemicals.

By 2020, on-purpose propylene technologies could account for 20 percent of the global propylene production: As petrochemical production shifts towards, ethane, new sources of propylene supply are needed.

Honeywell has started the production of the proprietary catalysts in China that are used to convert coal into plastics. The company also inaugurated a new research and development and engineering center to support business development and to meet growing engineering and technical service needs throughout Asia.

Verdezyne has opened its first pilot plant to produce adipic acid, a key component of nylon 6,6.

Dairies worldwide are adopting green technologies to meet their energy needs. Indian dairies must catch up soon. Today there are several innovative and efficient technologies available in the renewable energy domain that can be used for catering to various energy needs of the dairy industry. Harnessing solar energy for various heat-based applications like generating steam, hot water, etc has become more viable with time.

Global crude prices have fallen by nearly 55 per cent since June 2014 primarily owing to over-supply and sluggish demand caused by economic slowdown in China. Global benchmark Brent crude price has fallen from $111.80 per barrel in June 2014 to $46.58 per barrel in August 2015. As approximately 85 per cent of Indian refineries’ throughput requirement is met through imports, the price of the Indian basket of crude too has fallen by 57 per cent during the said period reflecting the global trend. This has impacted not only the Indian refining industry but also the up-stream oil and gas industry as well as the Indian economy as a whole.

Honeywell announced that Jizzakh Petroleum will use Honeywell UOP technologies to build a new refinery capable of processing 5 million tons per year of crude oil to produce gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. The refinery is being built in the Jizzakh region of Eastern Uzbekistan.