January 2010 Archives

Hello from sunny (albeit a little cooler) Orlando, Florida! As mentioned in my previous post, I am covering the annual Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) meeting this week.

Today, I was supposed to tweet (via @ICISgreenblog) about a presentation from the Fragrance Materials Association as it would have been great to learn more about what's going in the fragrance industry when it comes to regulations and sustainability. Unfortunately, I found out that it was for SDA members only (I am just a mere humble reporter with no trade organization affiliation aside from ICIS Chemical Business...).

Tomorrow, I'll start with SDA's industry update (US and global) as well as a presentation from Walmart's Albert Luiz Dominguez (VP divisional merchandise manager of household paper goods and chemicals) which would be very exciting indeed!

For now, I'll leave you with ICB's soap and detergent issue for this week covering green detergent formulation; update about the fats and oils-based chemicals (oleochemicals) industry; regulatory updates affecting the soap and detergent industry; market and pricing updates on glycerin, fatty acids, and fatty alcohols; and the European chemical legislation Reach affecting the cleaning industry.

More restructuring ahead for oleochemicals by me!

Soaps and detergents industry prepares for Reach 2010 deadline by Philippa Jones

US glycerin prices ready to rocket, fatty alcohols and acids see upward pricing pressure by Ben Lefebvre and Judith Taylor

Detergent producers look to highlight ecologically sound formulations by Lou Reade

Soap and Detergent Association pursues science-based agenda by Clay Boswell

As a sneak preview for this week's Soap and Detergent Association meeting in Orlando, Florida, here are some updates on the green cleaning trend.

Searching the Green blog back in June produced interesting new chemicals launched last year targeting sustainable cleaning.

In the enzymes area, producer Genencor introduced in December its PrimaGreen® EcoLight 1 Bleaching Enzyme Treatment for denim bleaching. With the enzyme, Genencor said denim can be stonewashed and bleached using a single bath, requiring significantly less water and energy than the established process.

Genencor also launched in October its PuraFast™ enzyme for laundry detergents to improve cleaning performance in shorter cycle and lower temperature washes; and in March, Genencor along with Huntsman launched Gentle Power Bleach™, a peroxide bleach system that allows for low temperature bleaching of textiles at 65°C and at a neutral pH range.

In October, Clariant introduced a new bio-based amine oxide under the trade name Genaminox® CHE for hard surface cleaning application. The surfactant cuts active ingredient use by up to 66% enabling manufacturers to reduce material purchasing, storage and transportation costs. Also that month, Cognis launched its Polyquart Ecoclean starch-based polymer for formulating environmentally sound hard surface cleaners.

In August, AkzoNobel launched its new solvent-free surfactant blend Berol CLF, that said to provide low-foaming water-based degreasing performance in heavy-duty industrial and institutional cleaning products.

Going to the retail products itself produced a couple of new cleaners that now can be found in the local supermarket near you (I hope).

Of course, Clorox has been pretty aggressive last year in introducing products under their Green Works line. In June, the company launched Green Works™ Natural Laundry Detergent and Green Works™ Natural Laundry Stain Remover specially formulated to work in both standard and high efficiency (HE) washers, and in January last year, its natural biodegradable cleaning wipes. The Green Works products contained renewable-based chemicals.

Also in June, Chemstar introduced its liquid Fruit and Vegetable Wash composed entirely of food-grade ingredients. The citric acid formulation reportedly removes wax, dirt, soil, and residues that are not removed by simply rinsing with water.

June seems to be a popular month to launch cleaning products as Adco Cleaning Products LLC introduced its highly-concentrated AdcoEco detergent and companion softener. The products are said to be biodegradable and free of all harmful dyes and perfumes. Hmmmm.

In July, Baumgartens introduced a range of new waterless cleaners under its environmentally-friendly brand CONSERVE that is sold in tablet form with consumers adding water once ready to use. Conserve Cleaners products consists of cleaners for glass and window,multi-surface, bathroom, and odor eliminator.

Sometime last year (I forgot when), Spartan Chemical, meanwhile, introduced its SparClean™ warewash products that reportedly do not contain phosphates, nonylphenol ethoxylates (NPEs), or EDTA.

By the way, Method just launched this month its newly packaged, highly-concentrated, biodegradable, and renewable-based (whew! That's a lot of adjectives!) laundry detergent product. The company is using what they called Smartclean Technology packaging where their detergent is packaged in a sleek, handheld precised-dosage pump bottle. The carbon footprint of their new Method Laundry Detergent is said to be 35% lower than standard 2x detergents.

Posts from the green blog will be very sporadic this week as I cover this year's annual Soap and Detergent Association (SDA) meeting. Follow my tweets on @ICISgreenblog for updates on sustainable and green cleaning products. For all other twitter news about the cleaning industry, I will be reporting live via tweets (as long as there's internet connection) via @ICISchemicalbiz or just search the twitter hashtag #SDA2010.

For now here are this week's news roundup:

Cellulosic ethanol partnership
Abengoa Bioenergy and Mid-Kansas Electric Company formed a joint venture Abengoa Bioenergy Hybrid of Kansas, LLC (ABHK) to develop a commercial-scale hybrid cellulosic ethanol and power plant, which will use 2,500 tons of biomass daily to produce ethanol and electricity.

Lithium ion battery boost
Celgard will expand capacity of its microporous separators used in lithium-ion batteries at its existing Charlotte, North Carolina facility and build a new manufacturing site in Concord, North Carolina. Celgard could receive up to $18.6 million in cash incentives and tax credits from the State of North Carolina to support the expansion.

Toyota in lithium source
Toyota Group's subsidiary, Toyota Tsusho Corporation has formed a partnership with Australia-based Orocobre Limited to develop its flagship Salar de Olaroz Lithium-Potash Project in Argentina. Salar de Olaroz has a forecasted output of 15,000 tonnes per year of lithium carbonate.

Joule's microbial solar site
Joule Biotechnologies secured a site to build its first pilot plant in Leander, Texas, where the company will further develop and test its transformative system for the production of renewable solar fuels and chemicals. The plant will be operational within the first half of 2010.

New Tire-to-oil facilities
InfoSpi has been granted exclusive rights by Lighthouse, LLC to operate Tire to Oil 'T2O' facilities in Duval, St. Johns, Volusia, Brevard, Seminole, Orange, and Osceola Florida. InfoSpi plans to open its pilot plant at Pompano Beach early 2011 which will serve as demonstration facilities.

And in ICIS News (requires subscription):
Germany's plan to drastically cut subsidies for solar power threatens to undercut the country's technological edge in that sector and could prompt producers to shift production of photovoltaic modules elsewhere.

The victory of Scott Brown in a special US Senate race will likely end the short-term prospects of a climate-change bill.

US chemical producers may no longer routinely keep from public scrutiny the identity of certain chemicals they make or distribute, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Dutch chemical company DSM has been very busy this month investing left and right in renewable chemistry and clean technology.

The blog already posted earlier this month the venturing arm of DSM investing in US-based green chemistry company Segetis. DSM said the investment supports the company's ambitions to develop bio-based performance materials. Segetis is currently developing monomers, called levulinic ketals, which are built from levulinic acid, a chemical derived from cellulosic biomass, and biobased hydroxyl compounds.

Did I mention before that DSM is also currently in partnership with French starch company Roquette for the development of bio-succinic acid??

On January 11, DSM Venturing announced another investment in the area of biogas. The company purchased an equity stake in Sweden-based Bioprocess Control AB, which provides advanced control technologies and services in optimal and efficient operation of biogass processes. The biogas produced from materials such as manure, green waste, sewage sludge and energy crops are used to generate electricity and heating.

DSM currently has its Biogas unit, which offers technology and service package to optimize the production efficiency of the biogas process.

Finally just this morning, DSM announced its partnership with US bioplastic technology developer Novomer to jointly develop polycarbonate resins using carbon dioxide (CO2) --up to 50% by weight-- and propylene oxide as raw materials. Novomer will produce the polymers and DSM will convert them into resins and formulate them for applications such as coatings, adhesives and graphic arts.

"DSM and Novomer are looking to develop the first polymer in more than a decade to enter the mainstream of the coating industry. This exciting development can lead to a breakthrough that could change the coating industry. Besides cost issues, these innovative coating resins also address environmental and performance issues." - Rob van Leen, chief innovation officer, DSM.

[Photo of DSM researchers]

Since a lot of consumers are now aware about bisphenol-A (BPA) thanks to the media, chemical company Eastman Chemical is probably reaping big rewards already for its Tritan™ copolyester as the company continues to market and develop the resin for use in BPA-free infant care products such as reusable baby bottles, pacifiers, breast pumps, bottle sterilizer lids and now in baby plastic cutlery and dishes.

Eastman announced today that another of its customer, Baby Dipper LLC, just launched the Baby Dipper® bowl made with the Tritan™ copolyester. Baby Dipper's CEO Barbara Schantz said the resin offered higher impact, heat resistance and washer durability than other polycarbonate plastic alternative.

Tritan also offers odor, taste and stain resistance, which are important for infant care feeding products that demand cleanliness and safety, according to Schantz. The Baby Dipper bowl comes in a three-piece set with a matching spoon and fork made of polypropylene, which also is BPA-free.

The patented BPA-free Baby Dipper bowl is available at select online and retail stores, including Amazon.com and One Step Ahead. Last time I checked on Amazon.com the price tag for the set is $12.95.

It's sooo cute I'm thinking of buying one for my niece...do they come in pink??

The blog is talking about new job announcements received within the past few HOURS alone! What a coincidence huh?

Bioplastic company Cereplast said it just recruited David Homyak as its new West Coast Regional Director for sales and marketing. Mr. Homyak's previous posts include being General Electric Plastics' general manager, Western Business Region; and Western Regional sales manager for PolyOne.

Elevance Renewable Sciences said that it has hired Steve DiBiase as the company's chief scientific officer (CSO), who previously served also as CSO for cleaning products company JohnsonDiversey. Mr. DiBiase, according to Elevance, will lead the development of the company's technology roadmap and external technology assessment, research proposals for external funding.

Mr. DiBiase was also a former vice president, R&D and Engineering for Lubrizol, and he reportedly played a key role in the development of lubricants from sunflower oil.

Finally, OPX Biotechnologies, appointed Michael Rosenberg as vice president of business development. Prior to OPXBIO, Mr. Rosenberg was vice president of business development at Evergreen Energy, a clean coal technology company. OPXBIO said Mr. Rosenberg will be responsible for creating strategic partnerships to accelerate commercialization of their biobased chemistry and fuel products.

Also check out my previous post about two new CEOs within the green chemistry field, Mr. McCarthy of Qteros and Mr. Thakrar of Segetis.

Just got hold of this news about Bioamber -- a joint venture between US company DNP Green Technology and France-based ARD (Agro-industrie Recherches et Développements) -- announcing the successful commission of their new bio-based succinic acid plant in Pomacle, France.

The 2,000 metric tons/year facility is producing succinic acid from wheat-derived glucose, which can be used in applications such as plastics, polyurethanes, polyesters, plasticizers, solvents and de-icers.

Bioamber said the renewable succinic acid offers higher purity than the petroleum-derived succinic acide. An added green bonus is that the plant also consumes carbon dioxide gas in the production process.

The company also recently announced a supply agreement with Sinoven Biopolymers, which will use the bio-succinic acid to produce renewable modified polybutylene succinate plastic (PBS). Sinoven said they will be the first company to commercialize PBS with renewable content above 50%.

Applications for PBS include foodservice coffee lids, cups, dishes, cutlery, straws and stirrers, and other consumer products such as disposable razors, writing instruments and cosmetics packaging.

With Myriant planning to produce bio-succinic acid in the second half of 2010, BASF and CSM also planning to produce commercial quantity in the second quarter, and DSM/Roquette also planning to build their first commercialized succinic acid production by 2011, the race is definitely on for bio-succinic acid!

[Photo of Bioamber plant being constructed in November 2009]

A green noose is slowly closing in on the cement industry, where production currently represent about 5% of global CO2 emissions.

Last month, the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) and the International Energy Agency (IEA) published a road map that calls for strong national policies as well as actions to develop commercially viable carbon capture and storage technologies to reduce global CO2 emissions from the cement industry.

The cement roadmap outlines a possible transition path for the industry to make continued contributions towards a halving of global CO2 emissions by 2050. It estimates that the cement industry could reduce its direct emissions 18% from current levels by 2050.

The report also mentioned a number of low-carbon or carbon-negative cements currently being developed by start-up companies such as Novacem, Calera, and Calix who are expecting to build pilot plants in 2010/11. The report also mentioned geopolymer cement as another technology that have already been commercialized in small-scale facilities, but have not yet been used in large-scale applications.

Geopolymer cement utilises waste materials from the power industry (fly ash, bottom ash), the steel industry (slag), and from concrete waste, to make alkali-activated cements. This process was reportedly developed in the 1950s.

Novacem's cement, meanwhile, is based on magnesium silicates rather than limestone (calcium carbonate) as is used in Ordinary Portland Cement. Novacem estimates that for every tonne of ordinary Portland cement replaced by Novacem cement, around 0.75 tonne of CO2 could be captured and stored indefinitely in construction products.

Calera's cement is a mixture of calcium and magnesium carbonates, and calcium and magnesium hydroxides produced by bringing sea-water, brackish water or brine into contact with the waste heat in power station flue gas, where CO2 is absorbed, precipitating the carbonate minerals. Last December, Calera and Bechtel Power Corporation formed an alliance to develop and construct facilities using Calera's carbon capture technology.

Australia-based Calix owns a minerals processing technology called Flash Calcination, where its cement is produced in a reactor by rapid calcination of dolomitic rock in superheated steam. The CO2 emissions can be captured using a separate CO2 scrubbing system.

Another cement company from Mexico, Cemex, announced last month its strategies to tackle climate change. Cemex made a commitment to reduce CO2 emissions per metric ton of product 25% from the 1990 levels by 2015.

In cement production, the company said it is using a smaller percentage of the energy intensive ingredient clinker in their end product by substituting clinker with alternative materials such as by-products from other industries, primarily fly ash from coal-fired power stations and blast furnace slag from the steel industry.

Cemex is also involved in carbon capture projects and has even received a $1.1m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) last October to develop technology for capturing and storing carbon dioxide emissions at one of CEMEX's US cement plants.

General Electric and Brazilian petrochemical company Petrobras announced sugarcane-based ethanol is now, for the first time, being used in a gas turbine system to produce electricity at the Juiz de Fora Power Plant in Minas Gerais state.

The natural gas plant has a capacity of 87 megawatts and uses two GE LM6000 gas turbines, one whose combustors has been modified to enable the use of both ethanol and natural gas.

GE said there will be five months of demonstration runs to make sure the flexible fuel power plant goes smoothly and to ensure emissions are within the expected limits.

Speaking of Brazilian energy and electricity, ICIS Chemical Business published last week its energy issue and an article by global editor Joseph Chang talked about the US and Brazil aiming to boost production of natural gas and sugarcane, respectively, to meet their energy needs.

The US is likely has around 100 years of natural gas reserves, according to the America's Natural Gas Alliance (ANGA) while UNICA, the Brazilian sugarcane association, projects that Brazil will boost its sugarcane ethanol production from 27.5bn liters in the 2008/09 harvest year to 46.9bn liters by 2015/16.

Another article from senior editor Clay Boswell looked at the renewable energy sector as potential key customer of the chemical industry. Companies such as Danisco and Novozymes supply enzymes and other microorganisms to ethanol producers; biodiesel producers purchase sodium methylate and other process chemicals from firms such as BASF and Evonik.

Hemlock Semiconductor (a subsidiary of Dow Corning), WACKER and many other firms supply polysilicon for the manufacture of photovoltaics for solar power, while countless other specialized materials are also incorporated into PV cells or consumed in their production.

Meanwhile in Europe, the fuel refining industry has to contend with with the implications from continuing rounds of UN Climate Change talks and developments arising from them - chiefly, the threat posed by carbon leakage; while chemical companies also have to get ready for Phase III of the EU Emission Trading System.

[Photo from ICB]

Last week was a busy news week with new grants announcement coming from the Department of Energy (DOE); the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announcing that they still can't decide what to do with bisphenol-A (BPA); and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announcing their goals for the year and beyond.

Next week, I'm off to Disney World (Orlando, Florida) attending the Soap and Detergent Association meeting. I'm hoping to get more information about sustainability and green trends within the cleaning industry as well as updates on the cleaning industry's consumer product ingredient communication initiative.

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

Battery acquisition
Dow Kokam has acquired Societe de Vehicles Electriques (SVE), a wholly-owned subsidiary of the France-based Groupe Industriel Marcel Dassault (Dassault) that develops high-performance battery and energy management systems.

SC Johnson's wind project
SC Johnson has launched a wind energy pilot program at their headquarters campus with the installation of three new wind turbines. American Renewable Power of Wisconsin installs the Swift turbines designed by Cascade Engineering, Inc.

White biotech collaboration
Germany-based RWE Power and BRAIN AG have joined forces to developed processes to convert carbon dioxide into microbial biomass or biomolecules as new sources of raw materials for new biomaterials, bioplastics and chemical by-products. Possible applications, now being explored, include building and isolation materials and the production of fine and specialty chemicals.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today its support towards reducing the manufacture of products that use/contain bisphenol-A (BPA) such as in baby bottles, infant feeding cups and food can linings while the agency continues to dither whether or not to ban these products.

The FDA said studies employing standardized toxicity tests still continues to affirm the safety of current low levels of human exposure to BPA. But pressures from the media, consumer advocates, and study-after-study announcing the possible harmful effects of BPA, even at very low levels, forces the FDA to reconsider its stand.

The agency said it will pursue additional studies to address the uncertainties in various BPA-related findings, as well as seek public input and input from other expert agencies. The FDA also announced that it will support a shift to a more robust regulatory framework for oversight of BPA, if necessary, to be able to respond quickly to protect the public.

The FDA's National Center for Toxicological Research is pursuing a set of studies on the safety of low doses of BPA, including assessment of the novel endpoints where concerns have been raised. These include studies pursued in collaboration with the National Toxicology Program and with support and input from the National Institute for Environmental Health Sciences. Depending on the results, each could influence regulatory decisions about BPA.

So the FDA's possible ban is still up in the air as it continues its quest to find the truth about BPA. Meanwhile, the chemical industry remains steadfast on their defense in the safety of current BPA levels found in baby bottles, sippy cups and metal linings of canned foods.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) released a statement saying that they were disappointed by the FDA's recommendations, which are likely to further confuse and worry consumers about BPA.

ACC did emphasize that the FDA continues to confirm that exposure to BPA in food contact products has not been proven harmful to children or adults.

The biofuel industry might be struggling right now but advanced technology developments are definitely still alive and kicking -- especially if government grants and funding from both public and private sector are flowing in.

There are sooo many news this past two weeks but the recent ones that came into my attention are Cobalt's new biobutanol demo facility in California; Cavitation Technologies' new patent on algal extraction for biofuel; renewable jet fuels using camelina oilseed; and advancement of jatropha-based biofuels.

BIO-BUTANOL:
Cobalt formally launched this week its first biomass-based n-butanol pilot facility in California. The chemical can be used as a standalone fuel; blended with gasoline, diesel and ethanol; converted into jet fuel or plastics, or even sold as is for use in paints and coatings.

The company intends to quickly scale up its technology, adding two additional small-scale plants and a commercial 15-to-50-million-gallon plant by 2014 and producing biobutanol that is competitive with corn-based ethanol by 2012.

By the way, another biobutanol producer, Gevo, started up its 1m gal/year first biobutanol demonstration plant in St. Joseph, Missouri, last year October. Check out my article on ICIS Chemical Business published last year for more about biobutanol.

ALGAE BIOFUEL:
In the algae department, Cavitation Technologies (CTI) said it has successfully completed the development and testing of their algae reactor and filed a patent about it. The company was able to extract oil from algae on a continuous basis for commercial applications such as of course, biofuel.

CTI is looking to license their technologies to qualified companies and individuals.

BIOFUELS FROM NON-FOOD CROPS:
BioJet Corporation and Great Plains Oil & Exploration announced a joint deal to producing renewable jet fuels that contain oils from camelina plant. The companies plan to jointly develop integrated Camelina cultivation and associated refinery projects in the U.S., Europe, South America, and Asia.

The companies estimate that within 5 years, camelina production from currently planned team projects will yield 200 million gallons/year of renewable jet fuel, 65 million gal/year of co-products, and 2.3 million tons/year of camelina meal, for use as a high-quality animal feed.

Plant science company SG Biofuels, meanwhile, announced its collaborating with life science company Life Technologies Corporation to advance the development of jatropha as a sustainable biofuel feedstock. The alliance brings together SG Biofuels' Genetic Resource Center that contains the largest and most diverse library of jatropha genetic material in the world, with the advanced biotechnology and synthetic biology tools of Life Technologies.

Other R&D news:
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have created a new enzyme and demonstrated its potential ability to interfere with the production of lignin, a key cell-wall component in plants. This approach to enzyme engineering could be used to further understand the mechanisms of lignin biosynthesis, and may lead to the production of plants that are easier to convert to biofuels.

In the UK, a team of scientists from the University of Sheffield have been working on an innovative device which will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient.

The team have devised an air-lift loop bioreactor which creates microbubbles using 18% less energy consumption. Microbubbles are miniature gas bubbles of less than 50 microns diameter in water. They are able to transfer materials in a bioreactor much more rapidly than larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques and they consume much less energy.

------
Hey, maybe if these technologies work in the long run, the biofuel industry wouldn't depend that much on subsidies!

[Photo 1: Cobalt Laboratory. Photo 2: Brookhaven biochemist Chang-Jun Liu]

The US Department of Energy (DOE) announced yesterday the formation of two new biofuels consortia -- National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), and National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC) -- that will receive a total of nearly $80 million under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act for advanced biofuels research.

NAABB, led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center based in St. Louis, MO, will get $44m to develop and demonstrate algae-based biofuels and bioproducts technology and its commercial viability. If the government and big oil/chemical companies (such as Exxon and Dow Chemical) are willing to invest in algae development, algae doubters might have to rethink their strategies this year after all...

NABC, led by the National Renewable Energy laboratory (NREL) and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, will receive up to $33.8m to conduct infrastructire development for biomass-based hydrocarbon fuels. The two consortia will also get private and non-federal cost-share funds of more than $19m.

The DOE also selected 8 projects to receive up to $1.6m that will support in their ethanol blend fueling infrastructure. The projects will install E85 pumps, retrofit existing pumps to dispense E85 and install blender pumps that offer ethanol blends up to 85% at 60 stations nationwide.

By the way, Canada is also gearing up its advanced biofuels development. The country's Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC) just awarded SunOpta BioProcess up to $5.5m in funding for the construction of a demo facility that produces both food grade xylitol ( a healthy sugar substitute) and fuel grade cellulosic ethanol using woodchips as feedstock.

SDTC is created by the government of Canada w/c received $1.05bn operating at two funds, the $550 million SD Tech Fund(TM) supports projects that address climate change, air quality, clean water, and clean soil; and the $500 million NextGen Biofuels Fund(TM) supports the establishment of first-of-kind large demonstration-scale facilities for the production of next-generation renewable fuels.

The organization announced on Tuesday that 16 clean technology projects (including SunOpta) from across Canada will receive $58 million in funding to help bring innovative renewable energy technologies from idea to marketplace.

Our fellow green blogger G.U.R. pointed out the recent quick exit of Qteros CEO William Frey and the entrance of ex-Microbia chief business officer John McCarthy as Frey's replacement.

Qteros, for those who are not familiar with the company, develops biomass-to-ethanol process using their proprietary microbes. Looking through the blog's archives also indicates Qteros' partnership with Applied CleanTech (ACT) on poop-based ethanol.

Microbia, meanwhile, deals more with bio-specialty chemicals development. The company just announced plans to start selling its microbial-based lycopene this year. Microbia is also a partner of green chemistry company Itaconix.

McCarthy by the way was also former vice president of cellulosic ethanol company Verenium.

In another green corporate movement, renewable-based chemical developer Segetis also got a new CEO this year as the company announced the retirement of ex-Cargill Jim Stoppert. Segetis just received an influx of $17.2m funding from new investors that include the venture arm of European chemical company Royal DSM.

Why do I have the feeling that we will see Mr. Stoppert resurfacing again in another green venture?

Finally, Frederic Scheer, founder and CEO of bioplastic company Cereplast was just appointed this year's council chair of the Society of the Plastic Industry's (SPI) Bioplastic Council. SPI said the main agenda of the council this year is to continue its mission to educate the industry regarding bioplastics.

Actually, what is going on in the green tech/industrial biotech industry is nothing compared to the executive restructuring going on in oleochemicals (fats and oils-based chemicals) industry just the past 12 months alone. But that's another story to tell = )

[Photo of John McCarthy]

I might not have attended the recent Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas -- I should!! -- but there are plenty of media outlets to get information about the latest green gadgetry coming soon and w/ hopefully lesser price tags.

CES even had a separate show floor called Sustainable Planet Spotlight that highlights the latest technologies including advances in green building, alternative energy technologies and smart grid technologies. Included in the Spotlight is the Greener Gadgets Display, which features the pioneering technologies from the annual Greener Gadgets Design Competition.

Websites such as Inhabitat.com and CNET.com featured some of these latest green gadgetries. I stole some of the pictures from CNET to show it here ; ).

Photo 2: Regen ReNu solar charger
Photo 3: Sanyo Eneloop electric bicycle

Photo 4: Toshiba LED bulbs
Photo 5: Solar and wind chargers
Photo 6: Panasonic green room

Also in time for the show, Greenpeace released its annual Guide to Greener Electronics, with Apple, Sony Ericsson and Nokia getting their green thumbs up for their products free of "bad chemicals."

At the CES show, Greenpeace also awarded Hewlett-Packard (HP) for their new 8000f Elite Ultra Slim Desktop PC, said to be the first Windows based PC to be free of brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and polyvinyl chloride (PVC).

Samsung, Dell, Lenovo and LGE got booed by Greenpeace for reportedly failing to follow through on a promised phase-out of toxics in their products.

Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) director Lisa Jackson just announced in their blog her seven priorities for the agency going forward this year. These are (in shorter versions):

• Taking Action on Climate Change - continue to develop common-sense solutions for reducing GHG emissions from large stationary sources like power plants, etc..
  

• Improving Air Quality - EPA will develop a comprehensive strategy for a cleaner and more efficient power sector, with strong but achievable emission reduction goals for SO2, NOx, mercury and other air toxics.
  

• Assuring the Safety of Chemicals - At the end of 2009, EPA released its first-ever chemical management plans for four groups of substances, and more plans are in the pipeline for 2010.
  

• Cleaning Up Our Communities - developing enhanced strategies for risk reduction in our Superfund program, with stronger partnerships with stakeholders affected by our cleanups.
  

• Protecting America's Waters - initiate measures to address post-construction runoff, water quality impairment from surface mining, and stronger drinking water protection.
  

• Expanding the Conversation on Environmentalism - include environmental justice principles in all of our decisions.
  

• Building Strong State and Tribal Partnerships - EPA must do its part to support state and tribal capacity and, through strengthened oversight, ensure that programs are consistently delivered nationwide.
  

"These priorities will guide our work in 2010 and the years ahead. They are built around the challenges and opportunities inherent in our mission to protect human health and the environment for all Americans. We will carry out our mission by respecting our core values of science, transparency and the rule of law." - Jackson

A lot of press releases from bioplastic company Cereplast came out the past two weeks and since I've been planning to write an article about them for ICIS Chemical Business' February 8 issue, I might as well post a shorter version of my interview with the company today.

I had the pleasure to interview Cereplast's CEO Frederic Scheer late December and got great information about the company's plans for 2010. Two articles were already written for ICIS news last week although they're for subscribers only.

US bioplastics firm Cereplast to move ops to Indiana-04/01/2010-ICIS News

Cereplast to expand European bioplastics distribution-04/01/2010-ICIS News

But here's a brief snapshots of my interview as a sneak peek for my February 8 article:

Q: How did the business fared in 2009?

Scheer: Last year was a very challenging year for us because we are in an industry that is still at its infancy. Bioplastic resins are generally more expensive to traditional resins so when the entire economy is shrinking, the environment is not the top priority anymore as everybody is thinking about survival. We are expecting 2009 revenue to be around $3-$4m. The restructuring program that we started last year, however, is helping us not only to survive but to do things that are critical for our business. We shaved a lot of costs and we were able to successfully raised money three times, in early January, in July and in December last year.

Q: When do you expect to complete your restructuring program?

Scheer: We expect its completion by the end of first quarter this year. We decided to get out of California completely as the cost of manufacturing and even just running our R&D facility in California is still unsustainable for us. We are moving our operations and R&D in our new plant in Seymour, Indiana, and we are already in the process of starting our Indiana plant as well. Another move that we have completed is entering into an agreement with one of the largest (if not the largest) compounder in the US. We will announce more details about this in the first quarter as we finalize the terms of the contract with them.

Q: What's your financial expectations in 2010?

Scheer: With the contracts that we've announced in 2009, we expect to being close to break-even by mid-2010. The largest contract we finalized last year was with packaging company Georgia-Pacific. We are expecting their products incorporating our bio-resins to hit the shelves sometime in the first quarter of this year. We expect to start seeing commercialization of some of our customers' products using our resins in the second quarter.With the cost restructuring and product commercialization from our customers, we are looking at higher revenue streams for 2010.

Q: What are your strategies and objectives for 2010?

Scheer: We plan to be more aggressive and active in sales and marketing for 2010. We recently expanded our current distribution agreement with A.Schulman, and they will now distribute our products all throughout Europe. In South America, we have good success last year and we expect our success in this region to even grow larger in 2010. We have a couple of things going on in Chile and Argentina aside from Brazil. I am actually pleasantly surprised to see South America embracing the concept of environment and sustainability and they are willing to spend to get it done. We are also looking at China as clearly this country is becoming the manufacture center of the world and having a presence there makes a lot of sense. We actually have a lot of US clients --representing 25% of our sales, that ship our resins to Asia primarily China.

In terms of research and development, we are looking at different kind of feedstock to work on as it makes sense to consider the availability of local feedstock wherever our resins are being manufactured. One of the key thing for us is to make sure that we can adapt to the raw materials that will have the lowest environmental footprint.

Of course, we already announced our plans to develop algae-based monomers. Our plan is to use the biomass waste after companies extracted the oil they need from algae. Right now, algae companies plan to sell the biomass to the cattle industry but we believe that there is more value to obtain from these materials. We are already able to incorporate the treated biomass into some of our resins although still at low levels for the time being. The challenge is to be able to access steady flow of biomass and then have a system in place that allows us to transform that biomass into a material that is useful for our processes. We will do this with a partner and hopefully this will come to market 5 years from now.

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Recent news from Cereplast:

Cereplast, Inc. Moves to Up-list Shares to Trade on a Senior Securities Exchange

Cereplast, Inc. Expands Bioplastic Resin Distribution with A. Schulman, Inc. in Europe

Cereplast Moves Operations to its Indiana Facility - Yahoo! Finance

Sigh...maybe I should just put the Weekly News Roundup to Tuesday instead if I keep missing my Monday deadline...Here are this week's roundup of last week's news!

Expanding animal fats biz
Darling International has completed its acquisition of certain rendering, grease collection and trap servicing business from Sanimax USA Inc. Rendered animal fats are primarily sold to agricultural, leather, oleo-chemical and bio-diesel manufacturers.

Solar power fluid supply
Chemical company Solutia will be supplying Therminol® VP-1 synthetic heat transfer fluid for Solnova 4, a new 50 MW concentrating solar power (CSP) plant in Sevilla, Spain managed by Abener.

Bio-lycopene milestone
Microbia has developed microbial strains that produce commercially significant levels of lycopene via fermentation -- well in excess of five grams per liter. The company expects its first lycopene sales to occur as early as 2010.

Expanded bioplastic distribution
Cereplast has extended its distribution agreement with A. Schulman, Inc. (Nasdaq-GS: SHLM) to include all of Europe. A. Schulman will distribute Cereplast Compostables® and Hybrids Resins® to converters and manufacturers throughout Europe.

Expanded plastic recycling
Hilex Poly has expanded its plastic bag recycling facility in North Vernon, IN. The expansion of the factory doubles Hilex Poly's capacity and will create 21 jobs.

Lithium ion battery monitor
DENSO Corporation has developed its first battery monitoring unit for lithium-ion batteries that utilizes a newly developed voltage control method that uses a simpler and lower cost voltage control circuit. The new product is installed in the Prius Plug-in Hybrid, which Toyota introduced at the end of 2009.

And in ICIS News (requires subscription):
Operating rates for the US biodiesel industry is approaching "zero percent" as Congress waits on a vote to extend a blending tax credit that would help producers make sales.

US chemical-waste firm CES Environmental Services (CES) plans to contest $1.47m (€1.01m) in proposed penalties from the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

The National Petrochemical & Refiners Association (NPRA) warned that plans announced by 11 north-eastern states to mandate low-carbon transportation fuels cannot be realised and will cause severe economic disruption in the region.

I've been seeing this issue for days now and I might as well put it out before it disappears (which is probably unlikely!).

A recent report from the Environmental Working Group (EWG), which spurred the publication of a Washington Post article, talked about 17,000 chemicals that are being kept secret (their names and properties) from the public under the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Confidential Business Information (CBI) claims.

Under the 1976 Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA), EWG said the chemical industry has been allowed to stamp this "trade secret" claim on the identity of two-thirds of all chemicals introduced to the market in the last 27 years.

EWG said this chemical secrecy presents real threats to human health and the environment.

"The 33-year old law that was supposed to ensure that Americans know what chemicals are in use around them, and what health and safety hazards they might pose, has produced a regulatory black hole, a place where information goes in - but much never comes out." - EWG

At least 10 of the 151 high volume confidential chemicals produced or imported in amounts greater than 300,000 pounds/year are said to be used in products specifically intended for use by children age 14 or younger.

This issue stems from the incoming plan to overhaul TSCA by the EPA.

The American Chemistry Council (ACC) responded back stating that the chemical trade group recognized TSCA's imperfections. The CBI claims, however, are necessary, ACC said, to protect legitimate commercial interests.

In those cases, the EPA requires that generic identifying information be provided. The EPA is also required to disclose CBI if there are significant risks to health and the environment.

"There are no 'secret' chemicals on the market. In those cases where a specific chemical identity has been claimed confidential -- in order to protect the significant investment of time, money and human resources that went into the research and development process -- the manufacturing and use of that substance must always fully comply with the requirements of the law. " - ACC

SOCMA agreed to the need for the overhauling of TSCA and that that there is overuse of confidentiality claims. SOCMA, however, pointed out that while specific chemicals may be claimed as confidential, a generic chemical name must be provided and health and safety information cannot be claimed confidential.

It looks like everybody is in agreement to overhaul TSCA, then. The problem it seems is what chemicals they have to consider as potentially harmful. Case in point is the possibility of banning bisphenol-A and pthalates.

I do like the proposal of Environmental Defense Fund's Richard Denison when it comes to addressing this issue of "secret chemicals."

Two of his TSCA wish list are for workers to have access to information concerning chemicals to which they could be exposed to during work (I thought they already have that information???), and that federal government, employees at EPA and other agencies charged with the safety assessment of a chemical should have access to all of relevant CBI information.

I'm sure lawyers can come up with something legally tight and binding when it comes to improper disclosures of these information.

Last month might be a holiday season but there are definitely lots of green chemicals that were still launched. This was supposed to be posted last week but unfortunately I had to do articles about vegetable oil-based chemicals, biopesticide, and news articles about the bioplastic company Cereplast last week. My goal is to do better in posting this week so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

1. Arkema's additive for biopolymers - Arkema has added a new metal release additive to its Biostrength® line of additives for biopolymers. The additive enables more consistent processing of polylactic acid plastic.

2. Albemarle eco-friendly retardants - Albemarle will commercialize in late 2010 its new organic flame retardant Earthwise GreenArmor, said to be suitable for use in a variety of plastic resins that will provide better performance across a wide range of applications.

3. Nutek soy wipes - Nutek introduced its newest line of biodegradable wipe products Simply Soy that both lubricate and clean. The line features extra large, biodegradable wipes or towelettes with soy-based lubricants and environmentally-friendly cleaners.

4. Genencor sustainable enzyme - Genencor its introduced PrimaGreen® EcoLight 1, the latest in the company's sustainable denim bleaching enzyme. The product enables denim to be stonewashed and bleached using a single bath, requiring less water and energy than the established process.

5. BASF eco-friendly leather solutions - BASF presented its Basyntan® product range of formaldehyd-free syntans, the new ecology friendly soft polymers in the Relugan® series and new solvent-optimized finishing products that offer improved consumer safety and high performance for leather applications.

6. RPC recycled sheet - RPC Cobelplast-Montonate has developed a new range of A-PET sheet for printing and box applications, manufactured using 50-70% post-consumer recycled (PCR) A-PET scrap.

7. Rhodia eco-paint stripper - Rhodia has introduced Rhodiasolv® STRIP, a new eco-friendly, safe and high performing core ingredient especially developed for dichloromethane-free paint stripping solutions.

Green chemistry company Segetis is starting 2010 armed with influx of cash from new investors and a new CEO.

According to their press release, which I received last night, Segetis was able to closed a $17.2m series B round of financing coming the Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund and co-managed by Burrill & Company. DSM Venturing also participated in the investment as well as Segetis' first major investor Khosla ventures.

Segetis, for those who haven't seen my previous post about them, started its new facility in Minneapolis last year that has the capability to produce up to 250,000 pounds/year of renewable-based chemicals and chemical building blocks such as L-ketals for potential applications like plasticizers, polyols, solvents, surfactants, adhesives, etc.

Now why would Malaysia be interested in Segetis, you might ask? Probably because Segetis uses glycerin as one of their raw materials, and glycerin can be produced largely as a co-product from biodiesel production or fatty acid production - and those use vegetable oil like palm oil.

Segetus said it will use their new funds to drive near-term commercialization of their levulinic ketal technology.

And speaking of new CEO, our ex-Cargill friend Jim Stoppert will now be ex-Segetis as well as he is expected to retire and be replaced by Atul Thakrar, who came from Boston-based specialty materials startup Soane Energy. He also held positions before Soane at Cytec Industries and Rohm and Haas.

Sorry folks. Got lots of deadlines this week so blog posts will be a little bit delayed. I do, however, have time to post this serious news about a massive protest on global warming happening somewhere in the US...

Thanks to ICB subeditor Fred Seelig for this one ; )

Last week was still busy for news even during the holiday season. Here are some of them:

Battery acquisition
OM Group has purchased advanced battery manufacturer EaglePicher Technologies LLC. EaglePicher is actively pursuing opportunities that would leverage its advanced power storage technologies to serve the rapidly growing alternative energy market.

Glencore buys Biopetrol stake
Glencore has taken a majority stake in BIOPETROL INDUSTRIES AG through the acquisition of 50% plus one share. Biopetrol produces and sells biodiesel and pharmaceutical-grade glycerine.

Bunge expands bioenergy biz
Bunge acquired 100% of sugarcane mill owner Usina Moema Participações S.A. ("Moema Par").Moema's operations produces sugar and ethanol and they are located on the border of São Paulo and Minas Gerais states, said to be the two largest domestic ethanol markets in Brazil.

US bioplastic collaboration
Australian bioplastic producer Plantic Technologies and US specialty chemical company National Starch forms a collaboration to establish a site for the manufacture of Plantic® products in the USA. Plantic will relocate its existing proprietary manufacturing lines from Australia to US.

Biodegradable PET buy-out
IMAGIN Molecular Corporation (IMGM) bought 100% of the equity of the Planet Green Bottle from Positron Corporation. IMGM will also change its name to Planet Green BioTechnology, Inc. Planet Green Bottle plans to develop next generation biodegradable additive for PET plastic bottles and containers.

And in ICIS news (requires subscription):
Canada's Quebec province will adopt emissions standards equivalent to those in force in California, effective mid-January.

US ethanol trade groups are challenging the constitutionality of California's new low-carbon fuel standards (LCFS), adding the rules threaten the domestic ethanol industry.

US ethanol and biodiesel players have put a disastrous 2009 behind them, but many are wondering if they can survive 2010 without major government support.

Bloated biodiesel industry on EU life support.

So what do we learned from 2009? Recession drove a little bit of a decline on venture capital investments in the clean technologies sector compared to 2008 but the good news is that 2009 seem to be a record year for federal grants and funds on renewable energy, clean technology and green chemistry.

There was also proliferation of new green chemistry companies that came out and I am, in fact, going to introduce several more in the coming weeks. Activities coming from industrial biotechnology companies also held up well in 2009 although I think 2010 is the year that they really need to get more influx of funds as I have a gut feeling that their cash on hand is a little on the low side especially when banks are still tight with their money.

Bioplastics, unfortunately, had a little bit of a hard time competing with the lowered petroleum-based plastics price last year but the good news is that a lot more plastic consumers on the retail end of the supply chain are interested in incorporating more of the compostable/biodegradable resin on their packaging. We will probably see pick-up in demand for bioplastic at the second half of the year especially if petroleum oil price will rise again.

Regulation is another driver for more research and development as well as product launch of new renewable-based, more environment-friendly chemical alternatives. In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is already looking forward to reform the existing Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA); in Europe, the chemical legislation Reach will take its next step; pressures to ban bisphenol-A and phthalates will continue, while ban on plastic bags and bottles will subside a bit as efforts on promoting recycling seem to be getting stronger.

Climate change issues will still be on the forefront for innovation and I'm pretty sure we will see more chemical companies tagging new products and processes with "less carbon footprint" and "less greenhouse gas emission."

Overall, 2009 is a pretty good year for biotechnology, renewable and green chemistry, I think. My feeling is that 2010 will be another year where chemical companies will embrace the concept of green chemistry as they already did with sustainability. Also, just as electronics and semi-conductors drove profits before for specialty chemical companies, this time clean technology markets will also be a driving growth areas for them.

Now all of these are just my own amateur predictions based on what I've read and heard so far so please don't sue me if I'm wrong lol! You can check out my brief predictions from last year and see if some of them came through.

Also, check out some of the predictions for 2010 coming from key industry chemical leaders at this recently released article from ICIS Chemical Business.

I wish everybody a great and profitable 2010!