Green Chemicals

World largest cellulosic ethanol plant

2009-11-20T21:34:19Z

I received an email from enzyme producer Danisco announcing the start-up of one of the world's first and largest cellulosic ethanol demonstration biorefineries located in Kalundborg, Denmark.

The facility is a joint venture of DONG Energy and Inbicon. Danisco's enzyme business, Genencor, supplies the Accellerase© enzymes, which are used to convert the feedstock straw to ethanol (for E85 fuel use).

The facility is expected to use 30,000 tonnes/year of straw to produce 5.4 million litres of bioethanol (1.5 million gallons); 13,000 tonnes of lignin pellets; and 11,100 tonnes C5 molasses. DONG Energy said the bio pellets can be used as fuel at CPH plants, and the C5 molasses can be used for animal feed and other purposes.

"Our bioethanol plant will demonstrate that we are capable of producing so-called second generation bioethanol on the basis of waste products. If our technology is well received by the global markets, new opportunities of export will evolve", said Anders Eldrup, CEO of DONG Energy.

The projects costs about EUR 54m ($80.3m). DONG Energy said about 30 jobs are created for this facility.

Here's an unedited clip of the plant's inauguration: (see how much straw they need?!?!)

US agencies dole out biomass grants

2009-11-20T20:46:34Z

It's always nice to hear our tax money going to something (hopefully) useful.

This one is a $24m grant from the US Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Agriculture (USDA) being given to companies that are develop technologies to produce biofuels, bioenergy and high-value biobased products using biomass as feedstock.

The awardees must contribute a minimum of 20% of matching funds for R&D projects and 50% of matching funds for demonstration projects. For biobased products and biofuels development, companies selected include GE Global Research, Gevo, Itaconix, Yenkin-Majestic Paint Corporation, and Velocys.

Gevo, which was awarded $1.8m, said that this grant will help fund ongoing development of its yeast strain to produce biobutanol from cellulosic biomass. The company started up its biobutanol demonstration plant - said to be the first in the world, last September. The facility was designed from retrofitting an existing demonstration scale ethanol plant to produce biobutanol.

Itaconix, meanwhile, aims to produce green polymers from itaconic acid fermented with sugars extracted from hardwood biomass. Their product polyitaconic acid is a water soluble polymer, said to have a 2 million ton/year market potential as a replacement for petrochemical dispersants, detergents, and super-absorbents.

Other awardees include Exelus, which aims to develop a Biomass-to-Gasoline (BTG) technology; and universities such as University of Tennessee (working on switchgrass), Oklahoma State University, University of Minnesota, and Purdue University.

Energy crop company Ceres also won a separate grant ($5m) from the DOE to develop high-yielding, low-input energy grasses. The company aims to expand an advanced trait development project to increase biomass yields of several energy grasses by as much as 40%, and at the same time decreasing the use of inputs such as nitrogen fertilizers.

This "amazing grass" could displace 1.3 billion barrels of oil and 58 million tons of coal over a ten year period, according to Ceres.

Zeachem starts biorefinery construction

2009-11-19T20:22:08Z

I guess this is the week of big green chemistry news. Love it!

Aside from the Rivertop Renewables and Elevance news, here's another one from Zeachem, who announced yesterday about their new semi works scale cellulosic biorefinery being constructed in Colorado. The facility will have capacity to produce 250,000 gallons of biofuel per year using the company's naturally occurring bacteria, called an acetogen.

The company is working with Hazen Research, Inc. of Golden, Colorado to construct the critical first step of the biorefinery fermentation process. Zeachem says its hybrid biorefinery platform based on biochemical and thermochemical processing can produce ethanol fuel and intermediate chemicals using flexible feedstock.

ZeaChem intends in 2013 to scale to a commercial biorefinery of around 25m gal/year in Boardman, Oregon, upon successful operations at the semi-works scale facility.

For more information on Zeachem's project:

Elevance mulls Iowa biorefinery

2009-11-19T15:26:29Z

Thanks to the Green Underworld Reporter for sending this information about Elevance Renewable Sciences in a proposed joint venture with biodiesel producer Renewable Energy Group (REG) to build a 2.6m gallon/year demo-scale integrated biorefinery in Newton, Iowa.

In an application filed by Elevance late last month to the Iowa Dept. of Economic Development (IDED) for funding assistance, the company said the proposed biorefinery will convert renewable raw materials primarily sourced from Iowa such as soybean oil, ethanol DDG corn oil, animal fats, algae oil and other emerging oils, into olefins, fuels and specialty chemicals.

About 15-16 million pounds/year of vegetable oil feedstock could be used to operate the proposed facility at 90% capacity. According to Elevance, success of the demo plant will enable the company to retrofit existing biodiesel facilities in Iowa with a fully diversified biorefinery.

REG is expected to provide their existing biodiesel production plant in Newton for the biorefinery location as well as provide their experiences in raw material sourcing/transportation/handling, and in constructing novel, continuous flow operating systems.

REG's experience in fuel and glycerin marketing and logistics will also come in handy, the company said.

Elevance is seeking $800,000 in financial assistance from the IDED and another $2.67 million from the Iowa Power Fund to contribute to the $8.7m estimated cost of the project through 2011. The rest will be funded by the company.

According to the filing, the project is estimated to create around 40-60 full time jobs in 2010 for engineering construction, site preparation and installation. The project will create 7 permanent jobs when the biorefinery starts around 4th quarter of 2010. Full operating capacity is expected in 2012.

Elevance said the company is actively considering locations outside Iowa such as Illinois, Washinigton, Texas and Louisiana, if the project will not proceed in Iowa.

Introducing: Glucaric acid

2009-11-18T18:42:46Z

Here's another green chemistry company start-up to add to my list.

I received an email about Missoula, Montana-based Rivertop Renewables who is developing glucaric acid, a sugar-based acid created by oxidizing glucose which can be used as a building block chemical.

According to the company, the US Department of Energy recognized glucaric acid as one of the top "twelve building block chemicals" that can be subsequently converted to a number of high-value bio-based chemicals or materials.

The markets for glucaric acid derivatives such as glucarates and lactones are said to be undeveloped as they are expensive and the supply has been limited, with most being use for research or as a health supplement ingredient.

Rivertop Renewables said that they were able to develop a scalable, cost-effective and safe glucaric acid production technology based on 10 years of research that started at the University of Montana. Early markets for their product include, among others, detergents (as a builder to replace phosphates), diapers (increasing its biodegradability), road salt deicers (as corrosion inhibitors); and as concrete admixtures.

The company says replacing phosphates in detergents alone represents a $9 billion market opportunity.To produce the acid, the company is using a proprietary oxidation technology.

"We refined the oxidation of nitric acid into a catalytic process that reduces the amount of needed nitric acid, minimizes the production of waste, and increases the yield of valuable end-use products," says Don Kiely founder and chairman. "The oxidation platform is adaptable to feedstocks beyond glucose such as sucrose and xylose."

Rivertop Renewables was established in January 2008 as a spin-off company from the University of Montana. Aside from glucaric acid, the company is also looking at xylaric, arabinaric and mannaric acids, which are derived from sugars extracted exclusively from woody biomass feedstocks, to make a range of bioproducts and novel polymers.

The company is in the midst of their first round of funding of $1.4 million, and said to be in talks with major manufacturers that can make and distribute their chemicals at low cost.

BPA overload

2009-11-17T20:07:54Z

My colleague Simon Robinson noted the increasing hits on ICB's bisphenol-A (BPA) chemical profile online, which was published last year in October. Last week, it generated over 1300 hits. Barbara Ortner, another colleague and author of the Chemicals Confidential blog, dubbed BPA as the current most hated chemical as it is constantly splashed through the news from various studies indicating it's health/environmental risks (or lack thereof from counter studies).

Here are some of the recent ones that came out on the news as well as comments from the American Chemistry Council (ACC) on these findings:

Consumer Reports Study Detected BPA in Some Canned Foods (see ACC comment)

An investigation from Physicians for Social Responsibility (PSR), American Nurses Association (ANA) and Health Care Without Harm (HCWH) revealed that the chemicals BPA, phthalates, PBDEs and PFCs are found in the bodies of health care professionals who participated in the study.(see ACC comment)

High levels of workplace exposure to BPA may increase the risk of reduced sexual function in men, according to a Kaiser Permanente study. (see ACC comment)

A study from the National Institute of Health Sciences (NIEHS) found a link between maternal exposure to BPA in early pregnancy and the behaviour of female children up to the age of two years. (see ACC comment)

ACC also commented that the US Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) recent rodent study finds that low dose exposure of BPA has no effect on female and male rat offspring.

Speaking of endocrine disruptors, another plasticizer being linked to this issue is phthalates. According to a recent study by researchers from the University of Rochester Medical Center, NY, higher concentration of phthalates in mothers' prenatal urine are altering the brains of baby boys and making them more feminine.

The ACC noted that the researchers of this study acknowledged that their results are not straightforward.

"It appears that the researchers selectively excluded data, eliminating certain subjects from the analysis, in order to strengthen their conclusion. Even the phraseology of the paper is more sensationalistic than scientific." - ACC

Weekly News Roundup

2009-11-16T22:21:02Z

For those who thought the blog forgot its Weekly News Roundup, I was actually considering not doing it this week as I wasn't able to compile them last week. Fortunately, my Google Reader came to the rescue!

Here are last week's news in no particular order. I will put a separate post about the DOE's biomass grant announced last week.

More money for Metabolix
Bioplastic developer Metabolix has completed its public offering of 3,450,000 shares of its common stock at a price of $9.00 per share for gross proceeds of $31 million. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for working capital and other general corporate purposes.

Recycled plastic bridges
Axion International Holdings completed its $957,000 contract for the construction of two railroad bridges designed from nearly 100% recycled plastics. The US Army has commissioned each of these bridges to be built at Fort Eustis, Virginia.

Carpet fiber eco-certified
Invista said it is the first company to obtain Environmentally Preferable Product (EPP) certification for its carpet fibers under a new, expanded standard by third-party certification company Scientific Certification Systems (SCS).

Biomass fuel plant approved
renewaFUEL LLC plans to construct and operate its next-generation biomass fuel production facility at the Telkite Technology Park near Marquette, Michigan. The plant will produce 150,000 tons/year of high-energy, low-emission biofuel cubes, a composite of collected wood and agricultural feedstocks supplied from local farmers and loggers for the facility.

GE's biggest wind service deal
GE and E.ON Climate & Renewables North America signed a 7-year operation and maintenance agreement covering EC&R's complete fleet of 529 GE wind turbines installed in the United States. The O&M deal is one of the largest wind services agreements ever signed by GE.

And in ICIS news (requires subscription):
Bioplastics' share of auto sector to increase, a consultant with BeOne Hamburg reported.

French chemical maker Arkema forecast that 10% of its sales will come from renewable resources.

Producing biodiesel from sugarcane is less than five years away from becoming commercially viable, as illustrated by two US companies.

BASF's new green acrylic and plastic

2009-11-16T20:57:59Z

It looks like chemical companies are in full swing promoting numerous green projects and products. We recently posted news from Dow Chemical, Honeywell, Clariant, Eastman, Teijin, Arkema... and now here's from BASF.

The company is formally launching on Wednesday its new zero-emission Acrodur® acrylic thermosets for automotive applications. The new acrylics are thermally cross-linkable, said to be free of formaldehyde and other emissions, and offer new routes to innovative composite materials.

With the product, natural-based fibers such as wood, flax, hemp or sisal can be resinated in different ways for used in the production of shaped panels for automobile interiors. Kettering University, which released the news, said that the green acrylic can provide a great variety of other natural and man-made fibers of the nonwoven industry or even granulated materials, which can be bonded with the new binder system.

]]> Last week, BASF also launched its new biodegradable plastic Ecovio® FS for coating paper and for shrink films manufacturing.The company claims that initial production tests for the bioplastic at customers' facilities have been successful, and that sample material is already available.

BASF plans to commercialize the product at large in the first quarter of 2010. Ecovio FS is made from combined PLA (polylactic acid) and BASF's Ecoflex, a petroleum-based (aliphatically aromatic copolyester) biodegradable plastic. The company said the use of the new Ecoflex FS raises the proportion of bio-based material in Ecovio FS Shrink Film to 66% and that of Ecovio FS Paper to a full 75%.

Another use for BASF's biodegradable packaging is for the company's new Interceptor® insecticide-treated mosquito nets. The eco-friendly bags (I'm not sure if this bag is made from BASF's Ecoflex technology) for the mosquito nets will reportedly solve the disposal issue which is pressing in many African countries.

BASF will distribute thousands of Interceptor nets in the new eco-friendly bags in the next few months to evaluate consumer acceptance in select African countries.

For pharmaceutical applications, BASF said its new Kollicoat IR tablet coating system makes colored tablet coating production more efficient; enables pharmaceutical manufacturers to cut their energy bills and reducing CO2 emissions in the production process; and the coating does not require additional plasticizer use.

Kollicoat IR is a graft copolymer composed of polyethylene glycol and polyvinyl alcohol.

In a "not-so-green" news however, BASF recently announced that it is closing its fuel cell site in Frankfurt, Germany, and will concentrate its production of high-temperature membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs) in Somerset, New Jersey, USA.

Operational activities at the Frankfurt fuel cell plant will stop on December 31, 2009, and the site will close sometime next year. The restructuring will result in the loss of 43 positions in Frankfurt.

Eastman promotes BPA-free baby bottles

2009-11-16T18:32:05Z

Here's a video from Eastman Chemical promoting its Tritan copolyester for BPA-free baby bottles under the Weil Brand. Eastman said the bottles are also designed as anti-colic because of its unique venting system.

Another interesting news from Eastman is that it recently expanded its bulk storage capacity in the European Union (EU) for its non-phthalate plasticizers Eastman™ 168 and Eastman™ DBT. The company said demand for non-phthalate plasticizers in Europe has been increasing, and that customers need the reliability and quick availability of large quantities of local supply.

Coke's PlantBottle in stores

2009-11-16T16:38:38Z

Coca-Cola announced today that its 500mL and 2L size Coca-Cola, Coca-Cola Light and Coca-Cola Zero are now available in the PlantBottle packaging throughout Denmark. Western Canada will receive their green-bottled Cokes as well as Dasani water, Sprite and Fresca beginning December, while the Western side of the US including Seattle, San Francisco and Los Angeles, will have their turn in January.

Other market launches will soon follow next year. The company plans to produce 2 billion of the PlantBottle PET plastic bottles by the end of 2010.

Somebody asked me before what type of plant-based materials Coca Cola is using in this packaging. Well, the company finally revealed that up to 30% of the PlantBottle's packaging is made from plastic derived from sugar cane and molasses produced in Brazil. Coca-Cola emphasized that the sugar cane used in this process are from rain-fed crops specifically for ethanol used and not for refined sugar (they definitely don't want to hear any uproar about food vs plastic use).

Coca-Cola said its goal is to use non-food, plant-based waste such as wood chips, wheat stalks, etc., to produce their recyclable PET plastic bottles.

In Denmark, the PlantBottle packaging is made of 15% plant-based material and 50% recycled PET, while in the US and Canada, up to 30% of the PET plastic used comes from plants.

Question on a Monday Morning

2009-11-16T15:58:40Z

Here's a question: How can chemical companies prove that they are keen on being green (I mean sustainable - I forgot that they hate the word green...) when there's always the cloud of cynicism hanging over their heads coming from consumers?

For example, I posts these great news from various chemical companies on how they're developing new environment-friendly chemistry, or converting to renewable-based materials, or how they're reducing emissions or reducing energy consumption, or how they minimize waste, and so forth and so on.

I get more tweets doubting these companies' sincerity than praising their efforts. It is true that most of these companies want to be sustainable mostly because this route is becoming more profitable. But isn't this a win-win situation for everybody? If a company is profitable, they make jobs available, and the side benefit to this is that this profitability comes from producing chemicals and products that are more environment- and health- friendly.

So...what's the problem here?

Dow: Sustainability = Money

2009-11-13T22:19:44Z

I feel like I wrote this equation before but yesterday's investor presentation from Dow Chemical emphasized their strategy in incorporating sustainability in all aspects of their operations and businesses mostly because it is profitable to do so.

The company has been busy investing and making deals right and left in lithium battery, carbon capture, solar, and other sustainability-infused projects. Here are some of them announced yesterday:

1. Dow and the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) signed a multi-year research collaboration in the development of new, ultra low cost, high efficiency photovoltaic materials. The solar research initiative is one of Dow's largest externally funded research agreements.

2. Lithium ion battery developer High Power Lithium (HPL) has transferred all of its collective assets to Dow. HPL has been developing next generation metal phosphate electrode materials and electrolyte system technology.

3. Dow Kokam acquires all of the assets of lithium battery manufacturer Kokam America. The acquisition will enable Dow to manufacture a wide range of lithium polymer cells especially to the electric vehicle industry. Dow Kokam has been awarded a $161 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last August to develop new generation of high-power battery technology electric vehicles.

4. Dow and Denbury Onshore LLC (Denbury) signed a memorandum of understanding to capture the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) by-product from Dow's ethylene oxide (EO) plant in Plaquemine, Louisiana. Denbury will use the CO2 for its enhanced oil recovery operations. The CO2 capture project is expected to be operational in mid-2011.

5. Dow's Polyglycols, Surfactants and Fluids business are now supplying their DOWTHERM(TM) heat transfer fluid to three additional Spanish solar power plants enabling the facilities to collect heat and convert it into electrical energy.

]]> Here are photos from Dow's exhibits at their Investor Day conference featuring their "green" products and projects:

Showcasing low VOC-paints as well as its EPA Green Chemistry award-winning Sea-Nine™ CR marine anti-foulant, a technology developed by Rohm and Haas. Sea-Nine™ antifoulants replace environmentally persistent and toxic tin-containing antifoulants.

Samples of Dow Corning's solar material solutions. Dow estimates the polysilicon global market at $3.2bn, growing at 20%/year and encapsulants at $330m growing at 23%/year.

Dow's vegetable oil-based polyol Renuva, which was launched in 2007, are now found in furniture, bedding, carpets, home decor, footwear, automobiles, toys, paints, adhesives and sealants.

Dow Agrosciences claims that it has more US EPA Presidential Green Chemistry awards than any other ag company. The company also said that it has the largest natural product research program in the industry.

Dow said its POWERHOUSE Solar Shingles opens a new market with a potential global opportunity of $5bn. The solar shingles will be available in limited quantities in 2010 but will be widely available in 2011.

US bioplastics reached $1bn in sales

2009-11-11T22:17:52Z

The U.S. bio-plastics market accounted for approximately $1 billion in sales in 2007 and is expected to reach $10 billion by 2020, according to bioplastic producer Cereplast.

The company notes estimates pointing to bio-plastics capturing up to 30% of the total US plastics market within 10 years. Cereplast said that algae-based bioplastic, of which the company is currently developing, will open up a whole new source of feedstock and result in a broad range of new applications.

Consulting firm Freedonia, meanwhile, estimated that global demand for bioplastics in 2008 was 200,000 metric tons and is expected to increase to 900,000 metric tons in 2013, valued at $2.6bn.

Bioplastic demand in North America last year was estimated at 58,000 MT while Western Europe was 77,000 MT, Asia/Pacific at 58,000, and the rest at 7,000 MT. Aggregate growth rate for global bioplastic demand between 2008 and 2013 is expected at 35%.

Also check out the blog's recent post about a bioplastic study from the European Bioplastics association. Lots of good information in that study.

Finally, in another bioplastic news, I received an email from my colleague Will Beacham about a Belgian bioplastic company Futerro - a 50/50 joint venture established in September 2007 by Galactic and Total Petrochemicals, starting up its polylactic acid bioplastics demo unit in Escanaffles.

The 1,500 tonnes/year pilot plant will be used to test and improve the company's bioplastic process during an internal evaluation, which is expected to last around six months. Futerro expects to soon offer a full range of products made from lactic acid, including lactide, oligomers and PLA polymers for the packaging market, especially food packaging.

Ford to use wheat straw plastic in 2010

2009-11-11T21:18:48Z

Ford Motor announced today that it will use wheat-straw reinforced plastic in its vehicle Ford Flex in 2010. The company is working with plastic compounder A. Schulman of Akron, Ohio, as well as with the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, in the development of wheat straw-based plastics formulation as part of the Ontario BioCar Initiative.

Ford said it is the first automaker to use wheat-straw plastics in vehicles. The company plans to use the bio-based material in Ford Flex's third-row interior storage bins, which, they said will reduce petroleum use by 20,000 pounds/year and will reduce carbon emissions by 30,000 pounds/year.

The wheat straw-reinforced resin is said to be BioCar Initiative's first production-ready application. the bio-resin reportedly demonstrates better dimensional integrity than a non-reinforced plastic and weighs up to 10 percent less than a plastic reinforced with talc or glass.

Other applications being planned for the plastic include center console bins and trays, interior air register, door trim panel components, and armrest liners. Currently, Ford and its suppliers are said to be working with four southern Ontario farmers for the wheat straw supply.

More on Ford's bioplastic initiatives here.

GE exits US solar panel production

2009-11-11T19:00:26Z

I tried to find this press release on GE's website but was unsuccessful. According to a Dow Jones article, GE will close its only solar panel manufacturing facility in the US as prices for panels become cheaper.

GE's crystalline silicone panels production facility in Delaware will reportedly stop by January and will completely shut down by the end of June next year. The plant employs 80 people and all will be laid off and receive severance and benefits packages.

The plant has capacity to produce 34 megawatts of panels annually, which could be expanded to 68 MW. It was reported that GE wants to sell 100% of the facility for cash by the end of the year.

BP solar was mentioned in the article as another traditional solar materials player that exited the US manufacturing industry. BP announced in March that it is closing down its module assembly activity at Frederick, Maryland, as well as its cell manufacture and module assembly facilities in Madrid, Spain.

The phase out of module assembly at Frederick will result in the elimination of approximately 140 jobs out of about 600. The plant continues its silicon casting, wafering, sizing and solar cell production. Dow Jones reported that the assembly plant is still on sale.

It is also interesting to note that while these traditional players are closing down shops in the US, foreign-based manufacturers are setting up plants such as Chinese panel manufacturers Suntech Power Holdings Co. and Yingli Green Energy Holdings Co. The drivers behind this move, according to the Dow Jones article, is concern on "Buy American" potential regulations, increasing shipping costs, and getting a piece of the stimulus funds for renewable energy investments in the US.

Suntech and Yingli have both filed applications for the renewable energy tax breaks under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.