Shell has decided to repurpose its Wesseling site at the Energy and Chemicals Park Rheinland in Germany by converting the site’s hydrocracker into a production unit for Group III base oils. These base oils are used for producing high-quality lubricants such as engine and transmission oils.

Michelin, Ifpen and Axens have recently inaugurated what it claims to be the first industrial-scale demonstrator of a plant producing bio-based butadiene from bioethanol. The demonstrator is built at Michelin’s site in Bassens near Bordeaux in France.

Lubrizol Advanced Materials has revealed that three additional Lubrizol Engineered Polymers sites—Lubrizol Advanced Materials’ headquarters in Brecksville and the production plants in Avon Lake, Ohio, U.S., and Oevel, Belgium—have obtained the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification Plus certification.

A consortium of 15 companies including Neste have successfully concluded a joint ‘E-Fuel research project’ in which high temperature electrolysis (SOEC), carbon capture, and hydrocarbon synthesis technologies were demonstrated and production of synthetic e-fuels was also accelerated.

With an aim to accelerate its transition into a hydrogen economy, Baker Hughes has successfully achieved several milestones to support its ambitious goal. This includes the launch of a new hydrogen testing facility in Italy for validation of its Nova LT industrial turbines to run blends all the way up to 100 % hydrogen.

Reitan Retail, Norgesmøllene, Felleskjøpet Agri and Yara have partnered with each other to produce bread with a lower carbon footprint. Together, they aim at reducing emissions from Norwegian food production, from fertilizer production to finished food products.

The Renewable Carbon Initiative (RCI) published its latest report ‘Case Studies Based on Peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessments – Carbon Footprints of Different Renewable Carbon-based Chemicals and Materials’. The report revealed that renewable carbon-based materials exhibited significant lower CO2 footprint than its fossil counterparts.

New Power Purchase Agreements have been signed between Air Liquide, Sasol and Mainstream Renewable Power for Sasol’s Secunda site in South Africa. Under the terms of the contracts, Mainstream Renewable Power will supply renewable power with a capacity of 97.5 MW to the site.

Hycc delays the green hydrogen project H2eron in Delfzijl to 2028 due to slow market development and rising costs. The European Renewable Energy Directive III impacts the timeline, pushing market maturity to around 2030. To mitigate costs, Hycc plans to increase H2eron's capacity to 50 MW and shifts from Nel to Norwegian alkaline electrolyzers for the project.

How long does it take for something groundbreaking to become business-as-usual? At what point do those nice-to-haves become the norm? How exactly does it happen? And, perhaps most importantly of all, how do you keep progressing after what was once exceptional becomes the default? The promise of a ‘sustainable future’ creates many questions – questions that can only be answered with collaboration.