Bio-based Chemical Roundtable

A high level discussion on the issues facing the bio-based economy took place in Amsterdam on Friday, chaired by the Blog's ICIS colleague John Baker. He reports back that it was lively and well-attended, with all the participants turning, up, which is not always the case.

Says John: "It was held in association with NOM, the Northern Netherlands Trade and Investment agency, and brought together experts in the field from the Netherlands, Belgium, the US and Germany, including representatives from DSM and AkzoNobel, Cefic and the VCI and several consultancies. Participants concluded the chemical industry is hampered in its efforts by the focus on biofuels and energy and that it will take many years for even a small scale switch to bio-raw materials in the chemical sector."