July 2009 Archives

While the bioplastic industry (the European Bioplastic group in particular) are trying to distance themselves from oxo-biodegradables, the National Association for PET Container Resources (NAPCOR), meanwhile, are refuting the PLA (polylactic acid) bioplastic claims that they can be recycled with PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastics.

Let's start with oxo-biodegradables where according to the European Bioplastics group, companies producing these plastics failed to back up their biodegradability or compostability claims as according to internationally accepted standards such as ISO 17088, EN 13432, etc. The group said they also do not want any attempt from the oxo-biodegradable industry to water down the criteria of the EN 13432 such as requesting longer timeframes for materials to decompose.

"Bioplastics are still a relatively young industry. It is therefore vital that claims on biodegradability or compostability are backed by internationally accepted standards." - EB

"The reality is that the PLA container becomes a contributor to PET bale yield loss which is already a big concern for PET reclaimers, as is the additional fraction of marketable PET which will invariably get sorted out along with the PLA. So not only is there an increased cost for sorting and a higher yield loss, but without any practical way to aggregate the sorted material, or markets for it, it's destined for landfill." - NAPCOR

"It is not NatureWorks intent to be an SPI Code #1," said Brian Glasbrenner, NatureWorks business Director, Americas. "The bioplastic industry is working to have its own SPI code and with critical mass, PLA will soon be isolated into its own value stream."

[Photo from Crooked House Blog]

News on bioplastics have been accumulating in my blog drafts especially with new information from last week's BIO conference in Montreal.

First, a recap of presentations from BIO coming from Segetis, Avantium, and Metabolix.

Segetis' Olga Selifonova talked about a new chemical platform called L-Ketals formed from the combination of glycerol and levulinic acid. I don't really understand much of its chemistry (I'll leave it to the experts) but according to Segetis, L-Ketals potential applications include plasticizers, surfactants/emulsifiers, polyols, solvents, thermoset/thermoplastic, and adhesives (among others).

Segetis are still looking into further functionality of the L-Ketals system although Selifonova said that they are already able to offer high-performance phtalate alternatives based on their L-ketals technology. Mid-term goal for the company is to develop alternatives for polyols/polyurethanes with their technology and then thermoplastics (and other applications) long term.

Their semi-works production facility in Minnesota, which can produce up to 250,000 pounds per year of green chemicals and chemical building blocks, is already up and running, according to Segetis.

Amsterdam-based Avantium, who recently announced its collaboration with NatureWorks, talked about furanics as another new generation of renewable-based chemical building block targeting bioplastics as one of its applications. Another potential uses for furanics are biofuels such as diesel and jet fuel, and biobased fine and specialty chemicals.

Avantium's furanics are made from C6 sugars using the company's catalytic biomass conversion. Potential plastic applications for the bio-based furanics include polyesters and polyamids, the company said.

The company is scaling up its furanics process this year and expects a pilot plant running by 2010. Avantium hopes to have a commercial plant up and running by 2014.

With regards to Metabolix's bioplastics development, not much news from them except confirming their goal to start up their joint venture PHA bioplastic plant with ADM in December of this year. Metabolix also reiterated their current strong cash flow position.

By the way, I discovered this marvelous powerpoint presentation about the the current bioplastic landscape (and next generation bioplastic technologies) from Jim Lunt & Associates. I hope you enjoy it (and I hope the company won't mind my posting this).

The last day of the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing event was as hectic as the previous two days, which unfortunately cut back my plans on a little bit of sightseeing trips (oh well, maybe next time).

I found myself attending a very interesting morning session about biobased chemicals being used by auto parts manufacturers such as Canadian General Tower (CGT), the Woodbridge Group, and Magna International's Decoma business.

CGT talked about replacing petroleum-based phthalate plasticizers with natural oil-based platicizers (e.g. soybean oil and castor oil) in auto seats and liner products. Ontario-based CGT supplies seat major auto manufacturers seat coverings and covering of moldable inserts, door panels and instrument panels.

CGT's Patrick Diebel presented their Vehreo coated fabric product that uses the bio-based plasticizers and a textile fabric made from 55% recycled PET water/soda bottles. Diebel said they are also looking at buying back their scraps, grind them to powder and reintroduce them to the foam layer of the seating products.

CGT said they expect their biobased products to be used in cars around 2010-2011. The company supplies to 85% of North American built vehicles including Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Mazda and Mitsubishi.

Decoma's William Harney talked about their development of a new light-weight load floor for SUV vans and cross-over vehicles using recycled honeycomb cardboard core sandwiched between two layers of natural fiber-reinforced soy-based polyurethane. Harney said the new light-weight load floor will help improve fuel consumption and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

Decoma is looking to replace up to 50% of the petroleum-based polyol in load floor materials with soybean-based alternative. The company currently uses up to 20% of soy polyols in the materials. In terms of skins/mats for load floor, Harney said they are looking to replace the currently used fiber glass with natural fibers.

Woodbridge Group's Hamdy Khalil said that they are developing a soy-based foam automotive headliner system that also uses natural fiber reinforcement (as opposed to fiber glass). The company has already been using soy polyol produced by US agribusiness major Cargill for their BioFoam products that are being applied in seat cushions, head-restraints, arm-rests and overhead systems inside automobiles.

Khalil noted that automakers these days are very amenable to accept biobased products for car interiors. Examples cited are headliner, headrest, armrest, coverstock foam, acoustical products, under the hood, sunshade, seat cushions, structural foam, carpet backing and elastomers.

All three companies emphasized the importance of price competitiveness for biobased auto parts compared to their petroleum-based counterparts. Woodbridge's Khalil said bio-based materials are now in the blueprint for most auto makers.

Now that I've filed my Energy Efficiency article for ICIS Chemical Business (watch out for that on August 17 issue!), I can now go back to blogging about my post coverage of last week's BIO World Congress on Industrial and Biotechnology conference in Montreal, Canada.

As previously mentioned in my last post, there seems to be a lot of anticipation brewing for the commercialization of the chemical building block bio-succinic acid. According to DSM's Will van den Tweel (business manager Bio-Based Chemicals and Fuels for DSM White Biotechnology), the US Dept. of Energy identified succinic acid as one of the best targets to develop through fermentation.

DNP Green Technology president Jean-Francois Huc cited a recent Frost & Sullivan consulting report stating that succinic acid, lactic acid, 1,3 propanediol and glycerol as the top 4 platform molecules renewable chemistry.

BIO AMBER:
Let's start with DNP's presentation, which has a joint venture company called Bio amber with French R&D company ARD. Bio amber will start in October its 2,000 tonne/year bio-succinic acid demo plant in Pomacle, France. DNP believes it will be the first to market bio-succinic acid and looking to start building a large-scale commercial plant by 2011.

"We are no longer a development program and our risk is operational, not technological," said Huc. "We are preparing an engineering process package for a commercial plant (succinic acid and deicer fluid) and expect to sell a first license in 2009."

"Partnerships are already in place for the use of potassium succinate in liquid deicers and solid deicers; succinate esters for plasticizers, 1,4 BDO and fuel oxygenates; and succinic acid for polyurethanes and biopolymers," said Huc.

Developments in the bio-succinic acid market was my main highlight for Day 2 at BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing event held in Montreal. But before I delved into that, my attention was caught by Genencor's presentation of sustainability in textile manufacturing during the breakfast plenary session (which by the way started at 7:15 am).

According to Gled Nedwin, Genencor's vice president of technical enzymes, the global textile and garment processing chemicals market in 2007 was estimated at $18bn. Dye chemicals account for $8.7bn while desizing, bleaching/scouring, and finishing account for the rest of the market.

Among these, said, Nedwin, 99% of materials used are chemicals and only 1% are enzymes.

"There is definitely a significant untapped potential for enzymes to replace chemicals in this market," said Nedwin. "Genencor's textile strategy is replace chemical processes with sustainable biotech solutions through our PrimaGreen enzyme portfolio."

Genencor's Gentle Power Bleach System, developed in collaboration with Huntsman incorporates PrimaGreen EcoWhite enzyme and is the first enzyme system for the bleaching segment. Textile wet processing, which included bleaching, is the most environmentally hazardous production stage within the textile supply chain, said Nedwin.

In denim bleaching, Genencor recently launched its PrimaGreen EcoFade LT100, which, added Nedwin, reducs almost 90% of energy consumption and carbon dioxide production compared to conventional denim bleaching.

In scouring/bleaching processes, Genencor expects its aryl esterase, pectate lyases and catalases enzymes to make inroads while in finishing process, enzymes with big potential include proteases, cellulases and laccases; also laccases in dye processing; and amylases in desizing.

Back to bio-succinic acid, three competitors - Myriant, Bio Amber (through the DNP Green Technology and ARD joint venture), and DSM/Roquette, are gearing up on which one would first commercialize the product. Succinic acid, currently produce via petroleum processing route, is an intermediate chemical with applications ranging from deicers, plastics, resins, solvents and fuel additives.

Excitement is palpable in the [carbon-dioxide laden] air of algae industry as big oils and chem firms recently jumped in to the development of algae as potential feedstock for fuel and chemicals.

Last week, ExxonMobil announced its $600m commitment in developing algae for biofuel feedstock with its partnership with Synthetic Genomics (SGI). The companies said it will It would take 5-10 years before any small-scale plants are up and running.

Last year, Chevron partnered with algae-fuel startup Solazyme in California while former executives from BP (according to ICIS news) started Sapphire Energy, another California-based biofuels company working with algae.

At the recent BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing event in Montreal, Canada, a session on algae revealed how close (or far) algae's potentials are as feedstock for fuels and chemicals.

Dow Chemical's Steve Gluck noted a bigger opportunity in the chemical industry for algae compared to biofuels. While most of the research on algae are focusing on biofuel application, Gluck said the economic and scale barriers for chemical feedstock maybe less of a challenge than those for providing a fuel.

"To get into the algae market, I think you might have to capture the chemical sector based on how much algae feedstock is needed in the chemical industry compared to the fuel refineries," said Gluck. "Chemicals needed a pure material that algae can produced while fuels can have blended components."

In terms of applications,Gluck noted the oleochemical industry as a better bet for algae used in chemicals. He estimated commercialization timeline for algae within 5-10 years.

Dow Chemical recently announced its plans to work with Algenol Biofuels to build and operate a pilot-scale algae-based integrated biorefinery that will convert CO2 into ethanol. The facility is planned to be located at Dow's Freeport, Texas site.

Last year the talk centered on biofuel challenges at BIO's World Congress Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing conference but this year a lot of the buzz (at least in my perspective) was centered on renewable-based chemicals and synthetic biology.

DAY 1:
First interesting updates I gathered was about bio-based propylene glycol and a little bit of isosorbide from agribusiness major Archer Daniels Midland (ADM). The company announced that it will start on the fourth quarter of this year its first 100,000 tonne/year glycerine-based propylene glycol facility in Decatur, Illinois, where a 140,000 mt/year refined glycerine facility is already in production since March this year.

ADM said the PG facility also has the ability to use corn-based sorbitol as feedstock. The company is also about to produce 50,000 tonne/year PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) bioplastic with its partner Metabolix in Clinton, Iowa, in the fourth quarter. Other renewable chemicals the company are looking into are glycerine-based epichlorohydrin and acrylic acid as well as sorbitol-based isosorbide.

"We see a big opportunity in the chemical space," said Todd Werpy, vice president of ADM's advanced biofuels and chemicals business." If you look at global consumption of oil, only 3.5%-4% is being used by the chemical industry but the value proposition is about $375bn. Oil and transportation made up 70% of petroleum consumption and create a value proposition of $385bn."

ADM noted that it already has pilot plant working for bio-based isosorbide and looking for partnership for new applications.

Before attending the lunch plenary session (no rest even during lunch!), I was able to get information about updates on the algae industry as a potential feedstock for biofuels and biochemicals. I will write a separate post for that so stay tune!

During lunch, meanwhile, a consultant from McKinsey & Company reported a not-so-cheerful update about the industrial biotechnology sector mostly due to the current economic recession.

"We're seeing a significant slowdown of venture capital investment activity. There are still money being spent but not near the levels that they were awhile ago," said McKinsey principal Bill Caesar. He noted patent activities slowing down as well.

"While the industry itself maybe at this point feel resilient, there's reason to believe that funding issues are going to be significantly impacted over the next couple of years," he added.

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After testing out the H-racer fuel cell toy car sent by BASF (see ICB 5/11/09, p.7) I got the chance to test out a real fuel cell vehicle on July 14 courtesy of General Motor's Chevy Equinox fuel cell demo car powered by Shell's hydrogen.

Shell, in partnership with GM, opened its second hydrogen refilling station in New York for fuel cell car drivers. There aren't any fuel cell cars out there yet for sale but some are testing demo cars such as GM's Chevy Equinox under the company's Project Driveway program.

GM said there are 30 of the model available for testing in New York and 60 in California. The company has overall 115 for testing across the globe. Since the program's inception in January 2008, these cars burned 900,000 miles in total all producing just water as emissions.

The car has an estimated rate of 39 miles per kilogram so if we do the math, it can actually go to more than 160 miles (even 200 miles GM said) before it needs to be filled up again with hydrogen.

At first glance, the car didn't even looked anything like my vision of a greener bat mobile and instead featured a gray SUV/van-type of automobile that any parent with two kids who'd like to have. It did sport a Fuel Cell logo along with trailing green water molecules that look like vines from a distance.

Last week's trip to BIO's industrial biotech conference was a fruitful event and I had so many information, I have no idea where to start. Hopefully I'll be able to start posting my Q&As from several company interviews that include NatureWorks, Codexis, Genomatica and Verdezyne. I already wrote several news articles for ICIS covering a little bit of the event but I do hope that some of the green blog readers were able to follow my tweets as well.

Before I start the massive undertaking of BIO coverage, let's start this week's news roundup first:

Natural oil chems acquired
Vertellus Performance Materials bought certain assets of Degen Oil & Chemical Company, effective July 1, 2009. Degen, located in Jersey City, New Jersey, is a producer of blown vegetable oils and fish oils, derivatives and specialty alkyds for the coatings and inks industries for over fifty years.

Biogas from Wisconsin cows
GE Energy's Jenbacher biogas engines have been installed in several dairy farms in Wisconsin to generate renewable electricity from cow-based biomethane gas for onsite power and the local grid. At the Crave Brothers Farm, LLC in Waterloo, GE's biogas engine technology is generating 633 kilowatts in renewable energy.

Well Dow didn't respond directly to Walmart's Sustainability Product Index announcement but this press release seemed to me an answer that they can rise to Walmart's supplier challenge with their Product Safety Assessment review.

The company said these product assessments are publicly available, written in non-technical language (about darn time!) and covering topics such as basic hazards, risk and risk management, so consumers will have access to general information about chemical products or product families.

Dow said 60% of their high-priority compounds are listed in their Product Safety Assesment, well ahead of the industry's average of 26% of high-priority compounds that today have a publicly available summary.

"In 2006, Dow was the first chemical company to make non-technical language summaries of our product safety assessments accessible to the public," said Greg Bond, corporate director of Product Responsibility. "We now have 200 PSAs published and are expanding the scope of our 2015 goal with the addition of Rohm and Haas businesses and products."

PS
I'm trying to get my stuff in order so I can go back to blogging after my trip to Montreal covering the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing event. Apologize for the sparse blog but I have lots of information from the BIO event coming soon!

In the meantime, here's a sneak peek from BIO's own blog about one of the session I attended: Succinic acid.

The blog will be sporadic this week as I cover BIO's Industrial biotech and bioprocessing event in Montreal. Follow my tweets for some presentation coverage including algae-based chemicals, bioplastic, biorefinery, new renewable chemicals, biofuels, and biobased products for the auto industry.

For now, here are this week's news roundup:

Biofibers on Toyota Prius
Toyota's Prius model now offers optional floor mats (deluxe type) using an advanced Ingeo fiber system. Ingeo reportedly reduces fossil fuel use by 65% and cuts by 90% the CO2 emission when compared to the petroleum-derived nylon resin used in traditional floor mats.

Waste to fuel facility in 2010
Novo Energies's subsidiary WTL (Waste to Liquid) Renewable Energy has developed and designed a novel process to transform plastic and tire waste products into liquid fuels such as diesel, gasoline and fuel additives. Novo will start operation of its first plant during the first quarter of 2010.

Financing team in renewables
Rabobank has established a Renewable Energy and Infrastructure Finance (REIF) team in the Americas. Rabobank's REIF business specialises in non- and limited-recourse finance solutions in renewable energy, bio-energy, and energy infrastructure projects.

There was a lot of buzz yesterday about Walmart's launch of its Sustainability Product Index but some are already addressing it as just a hype as doubts about its feasibility lingers especially within the supply chain community.

The goal of the index is to set standards and metrics on the sustainability of each product Walmart sells, from how they're made, how they're distributed to how they're disposed, so Wal-Mart in the long run can calculate and post an eco-rating for each item.

Wanna know how much greenhouse gas emissions your computer (that you bought from Walmart) emitted during its manufacture? You'll probably know in the next few years.

The company will introduce the initiative in three phases, beginning with a survey of its more than 100,000 suppliers around the world. Questions in the survey will focus on energy and climate; material efficiency; natural resources, and; people and community.

An example: What are your total greenhouse gas emissions reported in your most recently completed report?

It's a huge undertaking for suppliers from chemicals to product manufacturers. Suppliers are expected to provide lifecycle analysis of their products if Walmart wants a thorough sustainability data for their ecolabels.

Walmart will ask its top tier U.S. suppliers to complete the survey by Oct. 1, while suppliers outside the US will have a deadline on a country-by-country basis that are still being developed. To help set up the metrics and standards on how suppliers should comply, Walmart also established a consortium that will collaborate with suppliers, retailers, NGOs and government to develop a global database of information on the lifecycle of products.

The company will initially fund the consortium but expects retailers and suppliers to contribute the rest. The company said it does not intend to own the index but to share the database to generate innovation opportunities to businesses.

And that's the crux of the matter, right? Who will bear the costs of all of these undertakings? Walmart expects that in the long run, this index will lower costs of the products by improving suppliers' effiencies and reducing their energy use.

As I've said, this is a very ambitious project but guess what? The chemical industry is already half way there what with the European Union's chemical legislation Reach, and with chemical companies' voluntary initiatives under the American Chemistry Council's Responsible Care program. Many chemical companies are already doing their sustainability reporting, which will help ease the burden of product manufacturers.

Walmart is bold enough to change the retail landscape before and maybe it will be able to do so again.

More analysis on Walmart's announcement:
Tagged: Wal-Mart's Big Push for Eco-Labels - Environmental Capital - WSJ

Wal-Mart needs industry support for green labels | Green Business | Reuters

Wal-Mart's Environmental Game-Changer - Bloomberg.com

Initial Thoughts on Walmart's Sustainable Product Index :: Logistics Viewpoints: A Blog for Logistics, Supply Chain, and 3PL Executives

Joel Makower: Two Steps Forward: Walmart's Sustainability Index: The Hype and the Reality

The US is not the only one having bee troubles called the "Colony collapse disorder" syndrome.

Slovenia, which has one of the highest density of honeybees among European countries, is asking the European Parliament for immediate and effective action on beekeeping and the health of bees.

The government of Slovenia said that the European Commission should examine the possibility of recognising the honeybee as an animal species needing special care and protection.

"There is a need for further research in the field of bee health, including the influence of climate change, and on the effects of plant protection products on bees. Furthermore, setting up ecological recovery zones to renew the bee population is to be encouraged. Slovenia believes that the Commission should play a key role in these activities."

[Logo from Dundee Brewing Company, Rochester New York]

While I was fiddling with GM's Chevy fuel cell car yesterday, two big green chemical news broke out: One from Myriant Technologies and the other from ExxonMobil.

Renewable chemical manufacturer Myriant announced that it has successfully piloted their biobased succinic acid process validating its commercial viability. Their succinic acid is derived from the company's D(-) lactic acid technology and has been in development for four years.

Myriant said its next step is to produce ton-sized samples for its customers to verify product specifications and quality. Succinic acid is used as a building block in the production of chemicals such as plastics, resins, deicers, solvents and fuel additives.

Other companies developing biobased succinic acid include Bio-Amber and Roquette. Bio-Amber is building a 2,000 ton plant in France, which is expected to start this fall. Roquette said it is building a demo plant also in France, which will be operational by the end of 2009.

In another news, ExxonMobil is finally following its peers in stepping up towards more renewable energy investments. ExxonMobil announced its alliance with biotech company Synthetic Genomics Inc. (SGI) to research and develop next generation biofuels from algae. The companies opened a new research facility in San Diego for the project.

If research and development milestones are successfully met (no guarantees here they said), ExxonMobil expects to spend more than $600 million, which includes $300 million in internal costs and potentially more than $300 million to SGI. It would be 5-10 years before small-scale plants are up and running, the company said.

ExxonMobil said the potential advantages and benefits of biofuel from algae could be significant.

"Growing algae does not rely on fresh water and arable land otherwise used for food production. And lastly, algae have the potential to produce large volumes of oils that can be processed in existing refineries to manufacture fuels that are compatible with existing transportation technology and infrastructure," said Dr. Emil Jacobs, vice president of research and development at ExxonMobil Research and Engineering Company.

To the lucky few who are able to drive General Motors' Chevy Equinox fuel cell car under their Project Driveway program, there are now two (and soon three) hydrogen refilling stations in New York courtesy of Shell.

One officially opened yesterday at the JFK International Airport in Queens, which I was fortunate to attend (and ride one of GM's fuel cell car). Shell already opened its first station in White Plains last year in April. Another station will open in the Bronx late July, which will form Shell's first cluster of hydrogen stations in New York.

Shell said the three hydrogen stations in New York are within approximately 30 miles (50 km) of each other. The hydrogen supply at JFK is transported via truck, said Shell's global VP, hydrogen, Duncan Mcleod.

The dispensers at the JFK international airport station will provide hydrogen at both 350 bar and 700 bar pressure. The Bronx station will provide hydrogen at 700 bar pressure. The White Plains station provide 350 bar pressure and dispenses an average of 8-9 kg of hydrogen per day.

In honor of next week's BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotech and Bioprocessing event in Montreal, ICIS Chemical Business (the company I work for) published last week its white biotechnology feature with articles about synthetic biology, bioplastic, overview on white biotechnology, Germany's biotech plans, the surge in biorefinery investments in the US, and researchers from California San Francisco University developing methyl halides from biomass.

The magazine also featured the chemical industry sustainability survey by ICIS/Genomatica which I posted last week in the blog.

More about green chemistry/industrial biotechnology news and updates next week as I cover the BIO event (via tweets and blog) so stay tune!

1. Germany gears up for biotech future - a consultant from Euro Swiss Research reported the recent launch of the Chemical and Biotechnological Process Centre (CBP) in German chemical site Infraleuna, which offers access to non-food-chain renewable feedstocks such as straw, wood, starch, oilseeds and algae and respective transformation processes to existing, on-site refinery and chemical companies, as well as third-party off-site companies, R&D institutions, universities and others.

The CBP offers significant time, investment, and cost savings compared with a stand-alone pilot plant since it is a readily available, subsidized, fully equipped facility.

2. US biotech optimistic on gov't funding - The US industrial biotech industry will tap significant funding from the Obama administration for biorefineries and biochemical plants. The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently expanded its grants for integrated biorefineries from $200m (€144m) to $460m, as part of the government's massive stimulus package.

3. Synthetic biology could transform chemical manufacturing - Biologists have amassed an increasingly sophisticated set of tools for harnessing the productive capacities of living organisms through genetic engineering, and they have begun to use a new term to describe their activities: synthetic biology.

4. Bioplastic demand expands despite recession - Development and marketing are surging as bioplastics categories expand to meet a worldwide demand that is growing exponentially. The global bioplastics market is growing at 20-30%/year, and will jump from 400m lb in 2006, to 10bn lb by 2015, according to a consultancy.

5. White biotechnology starting to fulfill its potential - White Biotechnology has been touted as the next big thing for years but has never quite lived up to its billing as an alternative to key chemical processes. Thanks to increased consumer awareness and demand for all things green, coupled with advances in technology and political support, its potential is now starting to be realized.

6. Californian researchers develop biomass-based methyl halides - Using the microbial strain Actinolea fermentans, combined with genetically modified yeast, researchers at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry were able to produce methyl halides from biomass such as unprocessed switchgrass, corn stover, sugar cane bagasse and poplar.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) send me some updates about bisphenol-A (BPA) and phthalates last week.

With regards to BPA, the ACC said that a new data from Health Canada confirmed the safety level of the chemical in bottled water, baby food and infant formula, and that they are said to be extremely low.

"These new government data confirm Health Canada's previous conclusion that exposure to BPA through food packaging uses is not expected to pose a health risk to the general population, including newborns and young children." - ACC

No BPA was reportedly detected in any canned powdered infant formula samples tested while the levels found in baby food packaged in jars are said to be extremely low.

The Canadian Bottled Water Association and the North American Metal Packaging Alliance both applauded the Health Canada BPA survey and said it confirmed the safety levels of BPA in food packaging.

Meanwhile, the ACC also commented on a recent University of Illinois study by veterinary biosciences professor Jodi Flaws, which will be presented on July 19 at the annual meeting of the Society for the Study of Reproduction.

The Latvian green technology association homo ecos: is said to be proposing a national legislation for Latvian bioplastic products to be defined as certified compostable according to European bioplastic standards EN 13432/14995. The new ordinance makes certification and labeling mandatory for bioplastic products in Latvia.

According to homo ecos, natural-based products in Latvia have significant tariff reduction compared to conventional materials. Bioplastic manufacturers can profit from lower taxes if their products are certified and labeled under the EN bioplastic standards.

"At the moment we are strongly committed to the translation of the European standards for compostable bioplastics EN 13432 and EN 14995 into Latvian. This is necessary so that the standards can be taken over in national legislation," says Andrejs Viks, spokesperson/board member of homo ecos:.

The G8 Summit last week seem to have brought little resolutions to any climate actions and some expect the same to happen in the incoming climate talks in Copenhagen later this year. I hope that's not the case.

Anyway, last week also brought forth major press conferences from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) and the International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) about a recent study involving the current and potential benefits of chemicals in reducing global greenhouse gas emissions. The organizations' goal for the study is for lawmakers to recommend global (and local) policy actions (and inactions) that will not, as much as possible, hinder these benefits.

Let's see what's going to happen this week but I'm hoping it'll be more quiet so I can enjoy more time under the beautiful (about darn time!) New York sun. Here are this week's news roundup!

Rhodia enters biogas
Rhodia made its first investment in biogas technology, by acquiring Econcern Group's participation in six pilot biogas production projects located in China and Vietnam. Biogas is a mix of methane and CO2 obtained from fermentation of biowastes.

Biopolymers collaboration
NatureWorks and Avantium formed a development partnership to fully understand the properties and commercial potential of a new generation of bioplastics. Avantium is working to develop monomers and polymers from non food biomass.

ReVolt on zinc-air battery
ReVolt Technology formed a joint-development agreement with BASF to speed the development and commercialization of ReVolt's rechargeable zinc-air battery system. ReVolt says its battery offers up to 3x the energy density of lithium-ion in an inherently safe and cost-effective package.

As you recall, California's Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) created a wiki website inviting anybody and everybody who has interests in the agency's ongoing Green Chemistry rule making process.

Here are some of the comments (follow the links) gathered from major groups and industry organizations:

American Chemistry Council, January 2009: "There is a common misconception that there isn't a lot of information available on chemicals and their effects on people and the environment."

Grocery Manufacturers Association, March 2009: "Many manufacturers currently disclose ingredients in their products and many more are moving to do so. This should eliminate the vast majority of concerns."

California Industrial Hygiene Council, April 2009: "Fewer than several hundred responders have provided input on the Wiki or in the Workshops held this year. This is troubling in that the input process does not appear to be robust and cannot be construed to represent a broad based feedback loop."

Mike Feuer, Assemblymember, 42nd District, April 2009: "It is also essential that chemicals for which no data or incomplete data exist be considered a chemical of concern until a complete dataset is available showing no hazardous or toxic properties."

No argument here as every single thing in the universe is made out of chemicals.

But I guess what the chemical industry wants to point out is that while environmentalists are accusing them of dirtying the planet and making people become mutants (while at the same time everybody is lapping out the luxuries and convenience of modern products and technology based on chemistry), the industry has responded by developing products that can help reverse or at least slow down climate change.

The International Council of Chemical Associations (ICCA) that includes the American Chemistry Council (ACC) initiated a study conducted by independent consulting firms McKinsey & Company of US and Oko Institut of Europe on how the chemical industry can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions from processing down to the chemical value chain (e.g. consumer products, building and construction materials, etc...).

The study analyzed the life cycle carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) emissions of over 100 individual chemical products and their applications (uh..how many chemicals do we have right now??). Emission savings were compared with all direct and indirect emissions linked to the chemical industry coming from those products' CO2e life cycle (cLCA) from cradle to grave.

First of all, the study said the global chemical industry has improved its energy savings at manufacturing level resulting in a 30% decline of GHG emissions from EU chemical production between 1990 and 2005; a 16% GHG emissions decline from US chemical production since 1990; a 16% CO2 intensity decline from Brazilian chemical industry between 2001 and 2007; and a 82% energy consumption reduction by the Japanese chemical industry compared to the 1990 level.

As the G8 summit heats up in Italy, the WWF in partnership with German financial firm Allianz put out their G8 climate scorecard which ranks G8 countries based on how they addressed climate change issues.

The report showed Germany, followed by the UK and France, as performing better than the rest of the rich nations' group. Italy and Japan are in a lower medium ranked group. Canada, the USA and Russia are lagging behind, said WWF, despite the USA moving up one rank.

The G8 Climate Scorecards 2009 measure countries' performance and trends in areas such as development of greenhouse gas emissions since 1990, the distance to their Kyoto-targets, their share of renewable energies and the efficiency of their climate policies.

The evaluation is said to be based on their progress and improvement made since 1990. WWF said they are looking at the current status of emissions and the countries' intended policies for the future.

"Industrialized countries as a group should commit to binding absolute emission reduction targets at 40 % below 1990 levels by 2020, the vast majority of these being achieved domestically (30-35 %). They should also commit to put in place Zero Carbon Action Plans (ZCAPs) to achieve zero net emissions (at least -95 %)by 2050."

More about the report on this video:

With regards to the emerging G5 nations (South Africa, Mexico, China, India, Brazil), all countries are said to have presented or are preparing national strategies to reduce emissions in the future.

China and India reportedly have substantial national energy efficiency targets/objectives of reducing energy use per GDP by 20 % in 5 years (China) and 9 years (India).

Still, according to this New York Times article, these developing nations, led by China and India, refused to commit to specific goals for slashing heat-trapping gases by 2050. In a Reuters report, Brazil said the G8's goal of cutting global emissions by 50 percent by 2050 and of reducing emissions in wealthy countries by 80 percent is not credible.

A recent draft of the Group of 8 agreement also said emissions should be reduced "to limit the average increase in global temperature to 2 degrees Celsius above preindustrial levels.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi of Italy, the meeting's host, said it made little sense for Group of 8 countries to take on onerous commitments if "five billion people continue to behave as they have always behaved."

Summer school is over! (Yey!) And now I have more time to devote myself to blogging and twittering...and oh yes, I do have several articles to write.

Yesterday, I saw this news about a new legislation proposed by House Representative Steve Israel (D-NY) requiring household products manufacturers to provide a list of all ingredients on the container or packaging of their products that include cleaners, paints and pesticides.

The Household Product Labeling Act of 2009 (H.R. 3057) will minimize the use of toxic chemicals in these everyday-use products, according to the congressman along with spokespersons from the the Citizens Campaign for the Environment, and the Huntington Breast Cancer Action Coalition.

"We require ingredient labeling for the food we put in our mouths, but not for soap in which we wash our plates. The lack of labeling required for household products is ludicrous, it's dangerous, and it's due for a change," said Rep. Steve Israel.

The Consumer Specialty Products Association (CSPA) expressed their concern on the language of the bill stating that additional detail on the product label, as proposed, could deter consumers from the more important product instructions on safe use and disposal. CSPA also cited the cleaning industry's new Consumer Product Ingredient Communication Initiative which aims to create a uniform system for providing ingredient information to consumers in a meaningful and easy-to-understand manner.

The voluntary initiative becomes effective in January, 2010 and allows participating companies to provide information on product ingredients on the product label; on the manufacturers', distributors', or importers' website; through a toll-free telephone number; or through some other non-electronic means.

"The labeling under this initiative is largely based upon the labeling conventions in use today in the U.S. for food, drugs and cosmetics that consumers are already familiar with," said Chris Cathcart, CSPA President. "Although ours is a voluntary program, we are reaching out to environmental and other non-government organizations to pursue public policy based on our initiative."

CSPA said it just launched its Consumer Product Ingredient Dictionary that will standardize and define ingredient nomenclature for companies engaging in the Ingredient Communication Initiative.

"The reality is that one chemical can have several different names due to the differing nomenclature used for various product lines," Cathcart said. "The dictionary will be useful to consumers because it will help standardize chemical names so that they are more easily understood. The dictionary will also define the ingredient so that every company can determine that it is using the e same ingredient as other companies."

I am besieged by plastic news lately...

As mentioned in my previous post, the Society of the Plastics Industry (SPI) mentioned their quest to be more proactive when it comes to relaying the benefits of plastic to consumers and environmental groups.

SPI is launching a long-term public outreach campaign with an annual budget of up to $3m (or is it $10m? Need confirmation on this) in an effort to counter product deselection and increasing regulatory challenges such as bisphenol-A, phthalates, PVC, and single-use plastic bags.

The plastic industry plans to engage consumer discussions via internet-based approach including You Tube, Facebook, Twitter and blogs.

Here's one of the first example of that million dollars project at work with this YouTube created by the Apco Worldwide agency. You can also check out SPI's blog In the Hopper for more plastic information (as well as some cool videos).

The UK's plastic industry just launched its Plastics 2020 Challenge campaign inviting environmental groups, consumers, government agencies, and plastic manufacturers and processors themselves to have an open debate on how to reduce plastic waste from going into landfill.

Discussions on marine littering and bioplastics will be covered (among other topics) in a regular web debates as the plastic industry believes these types of discussion will prevent large and unnecessary plastic tax bills for both manufacturers and consumers.

The group said recent research indicates that the UK plastic industry might not be able to meet the government's waste strategy targets for 2010, 2015 and 202o unless plastic hikes in council tax bills will be implemented. The Plastics 2020 Challenge founding members are the British Plastics Federation, PlasticsEurope and the Packaging & Films Association.

The plastics industry is also communicating through the program its pledge on reduce, reuse, recycle and recover commitments, including doubling the recycling rate of plastic packaging by the year 2020.The group is also calling government and consumers to do the same.

Calum Forsyth from the Plastics 2020 Challenge said:

"There are plastics businesses in virtually every parliamentary constituency in the land. The industry is worth GBP19bn and employs 186,000 people. Plastics have become indispensable to our daily lives, and yet debate surrounding their use and disposal has become unhelpfully polarised. The urgent challenge is to confront head on these issues which surround one of modern life's essential materials, as time is running out about the options for efficient disposal of plastics."

This is a hilarious video shared by my ICB colleague Ivan Lerner!

As a chemical engineer however, I just wanted to say that if you're husband/wife accidentally(??) ingested toxic chemicals, don't look for a chemical engineer. They're usually assigned to build chemical plants not create antidotes for these chemicals. Try calling 911 instead...

I am finally able to post this recently released sustainable chemical industry survey from ICIS (the company I work for) and green chemistry company Genomatica. An article about it was published from ICIS Chemical Business last week.

For those who haven't checked it out yet (as I've been tweeting about it the past week or so), the survey found that 57% of chemical industry respondents believe their companies should reduce exposure to the petroleum-based commodity market. The same majority reported their customers were already inquiring about the availability of sustainably produced chemicals.

"It is clear that all of the stakeholders in our industry, including executives, employees, and most importantly the customers, are demanding sustainably produced chemicals to play a major role in the industry going forward," said Christophe Schilling, chief executive officer of Genomatica.

"Diversifying the feedstock base of the industry and reducing the reliance on hydrocarbons makes sense now more than ever, particularly if doing so delivers the benefits of improved economics and environmental stewardship."

"Even longer term, product and operational environmental concerns are not, it seems, of prime importance. This sits somewhat at odds with the survey results suggesting that many companies have a high focus on sustainable chemistry. But perhaps this can be rationalized in terms of "good to do" and "critical to do" priorities." - John Baker, ICIS.

I am working on really serious green news posts when I just got this forward email from my uncle in California and decided to pass this on. I have no idea who's the original source but that's the problem with forward emails. Oh well, I hope you enjoy them!

GREAT NEW SMART CAR CHOICES IN THE FUTURE:

The SMORVETTE

Hopefully the green blogger will be more productive this week in posting new info. Regulatory sessions are on break (thank goodness!) so we won't probably see as much news about the climate change bill aside from ongoing debates about it. I've been hearing a lot about China being way ahead in terms of renewable energy investments compared to US and Europe although India seems to not care much about emissions regulations and will instead focus more boosting economic growth and fighting poverty.

We will probably see more discussions about the role of these countries (and other emerging manufacturing powerhouse) in the global fight against climate change. This topic is especially sensitive to energy intensive industries such as petroleum and chemical industries.

For now here are this week's news roundup:

Renewable chemicals in Brazil
Amyris Brasil Pesquisa e Desenvolvimento, Ltda., a wholly owned subsidiary of Amyris Biotechnologies, Inc. opened its demonstration facility in Campinas designed to convert Brazilian sugar cane into a range of high value renewable fuels and chemicals using a proprietary synthetic biology technology.

Dow's algae-based biorefinery
Dow Chemical plans to work with Algenol Biofuels, Inc. to build and operate a pilot-scale algae-based integrated biorefinery that will convert carbon dioxide into ethanol. The facility is planned to be located at Dow's Freeport, Texas site.

EPA's safer fragrance criteria
The US Environmental Protection Agency's Design for the Environment Program (DfE) and a group of stakeholders released the DfE Screen for Fragrances Human Health Criteria, which will define safer aroma chemicals and fragrance formulations for use in cleaning products. Fragrance formulations submitted as part of a candidate cleaning product formulation or in a DfE-recognized product which is up for partnership renewal on or after August 1, 2009 will be evaluated against the DfE Fragrance Screen Human Health Criteria.

Just in time for the July 4th fireworks, I saw this news from ICIS about scientists trying to develop pyrotechnic formulations in missiles and fireworks that eliminate the use of perchlorate, a chemical identified as a groundwater contaminant.

Perchlorate is used as an oxidizer in fireworks and missile weaponry. A 2007 EPA report said the perchlorate level in certain lakes spiked as high as 1,000 times its baseline value within hours of fireworks display. It took anywhere from 20 to 80 days for the perchlorate level to come down to its background level.

Scientists are said to be developing new pyrotechnic formulations that replace perchlorate with nitrogen-rich materials or nitrocellulose that burn cleaner and produce less smoke.

I hope they can commercialize eco-friendly fireworks soon! Although I wonder how they can address price competition though? I'm sure these new eco-friendly fireworks will come with a heftier price tag. Maybe the EPA should start banning perc-filled fireworks to drive faster development of more green pyrotechnics.

Happy 4th of July!

This is a hilarious (but I think needed to be taken seriously) interview by Steven Colbert about supposed endocrine disruptors in water bodies causing genital malformations in male frogs and other amphibians.

Colbert interviewed New York Times columnist (and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner) Nicholas Kristof who wrote an article on June 27 about growing deformed frogs, intersex fish, and stunted male alligator genitalia being blamed on endocrine disruptor chemicals (such as runoff pesticides, plasticizers, hormone drugs) in US water bodies.

Kristof also noted some scientists connecting the dots between these deformed amphibians and increasing abnormalities among humans, particularly genital deformities among newborn boys.

"The research is scary," said Kristof in his June 27 commentary blog, On the Ground. "We don't know for sure that these chemicals are harmful, but the evidence is mounting."

Kristof also said that 25% of American females now have higher levels of these endocrine disruptors in their bodies that give problems to their offsprings. He emphasized the need for regulations from the EPA and FDA to minimized these chemical risks.

At the end of the interview, Colbert expressed his concern that he might be drinking estrogen-filled lady pee.

• Brazilian margarine tubs use bioplastic from Cereplast
• KLM Royal Dutch Airlines switched from petroleum-based polystyrene coffee and tea cups to paper ones made with bioresin Ingeo™ coating.
• Cereplast's compostable resins in Dixie cups
• Evlon compostable plastics in tableware products
• 37% renewably-sourced Sorona fibers in commercial carpets
• Mirel bioplastics soon in Newell Rubbermaid products
• Solo® compostable plates made with sugarcane
  

• Hilex Poly to double recycling capacity at its North Vernon, Indiana facility
• New York City scraps plastic bag tax
• UK group WRAP launched £2m capital grant competition to help the recycling supply chain build the capacity for recycling more plastics packaging
• Delaware legislature passes recycling program for plastic bags
• Plastic bag manufacturers launched Full Circle Recycling Initiative aiming an aggressive goal of 40% recycled content in all plastic bags by 2015, including at least 25% postconsumer recycled plastic.
  

• Nestle bioplastic research collaboration
• Battelle scientists look to improve corn-based bioplastics
• Routes to produce green propylene from Chemsystems
• A self-healing thermoplastic from the University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Very sorry for the sparse blog this week, lots of things going on in and out of the office. Here are this month's new green chemicals launch and most (if not all) are about bioplastics. By the way, thanks for the kudos on my recent bioplastic and biopesticide reports!

1. Cereplast biofoam resins - Cereplast launched a breakthrough bio-based foamable resin Cereplast Compostable 5001® to compete with Styrofoam® and other foamable petroleum-based resins. The biofoam uses Ingeo™ PLA and various biodegradable and compostable components.

2. PolyOne biopolymer compounds - PolyOne launched a platform of of biopolymer compounds under the brand Resound™. The compounds are formulated with a 30% minimum bio-derived content for use in boosting bioplastic performance such as heat tolerance and impact resistance. PolyOne also introduced VERSAFLEX™ BIO TPEs for injection molding, said to be formulated with up to 70% renewable resources.

3. Metabolix bioplastic additives - Metabolix through its bioplastic JV Telles has collaborated with Teknor Color Company to develop a range of color concentrates for use with Mirel bio-resin. The color concentrates meet ASTM D6400 and EN 13432 standards for compostability and biodegradability. A new bioplastic for injection molding, Mirel P1003, was also introduced in a collaborative effort with plastic molder company Nypro.

4. Eastman's non-phthalate plasticizer - Eastman Chemical launched in the European Union its new, high solvating, non-phthalate plasticizer, Eastman™ DBT. The plasticizer is suitable for use in PVC plastisols and water-based adhesive applications.

5. Lanxess rubbers for biofuel engines - LANXESS AG has developed a series of HNBR rubbers, Therban AT 5065 VP, Therban AT 5005 VP and Therban 5008 VP, with extremely high acrylonitrile content making them suitable for use in vehicles that are run on biofuels.

6. Spartech PVC replacement - Spartech has introduced UltrosRenu™, a "drop in" PVC replacement solution containing recycled materials designed for blister packaging, clamshells, display boxes and containers in the non-food, consumer, electronics and warehouse club packaging and industrial products markets.

7. Teknor starch thermoplastics - Teknor Apex has launched Terraloy™ compounds, a line of starch thermoplastics that will include 100% biodegradable compounds and "hybrids" combining TPS with standard petrochemical plastics.

8. Cognis green rheology modifier - Cognis has developed the DSX 3000 series VOC-free rheology modifier for "green" water-based architectural coatings. The product is free from harmful volatile organic compounds and alkylphenol ethoxylates (APEOs), does not contain heavy metals (such as organic tin compounds) and is odor free.

9. Arkema bio-fibers - Arkema has developed a new grade of Rilsan® PA11, a 100% bio-sourced technical polymer for use in high performance fibers.

The green blog is actually on hiatus due to work deadlines and school exams but I just need to report this news about US agribusiness player Cargill buying back full ownership of bioplastic company NatureWorks from former joint owner (50%) Teijin, a Japanese chemical company.

For a brief background, NatureWorks was established in 1997 and operated as a Teijin-Cargill 50:50 joint venture since October 2007. The company produces its Ingeo biopolymer at a polylactic acid (PLA) manufacturing facility in Nebraska, with an annual capacity of 140,000 tons. NatureWorks is currently looking to build another facility outside the US.

Teijin said it is currently restructuring its business portfolio in response to the global economic downturn, and made the decision to sell back NatureWorks to Cargill so it can focus to its Biofront heat-resistant PLA-based plastic.

I guess there's competition going on in there somewhere...

In my recently released bioplastic article from ICIS Chemical Business, Teijin's Hideshi Kurihara, general manager, high-performance biomaterials project, said that the company aims to produce 5,000 tonns of Biofront in 2011.

A 1,000 ton/year PLA facility in Ehime prefecture, which Teijin acquired from compatriot carmaker Toyota last year, is expected to produce Biofront this summer. The new plant's capacity has yet to be confirmed, says Karihara. Teijin is producing 200 tons of the bioplastic at its pilot plant in Yamaguchi prefecture.

Back to NatureWorks, Cargill officials said the business will operate as as an independent, wholly owned Cargill entity. Ingeo fibers and plastics are already used by over 100 brands & retailers in the United States, Europe, and Asia.