Results matching “exxonmobil”

Renewable chemical companies seem to be getting better in raising money from venture firms these days.

An article from Reuters cited the recent news (which I also posted in my news roundup) about biosuccinic acid producer DNP Green Technology raising $12m from venture firms Sofinnova Partners, Mitsui & Co., Venture Partners, Samsung Ventures Investment Corp., Clifton Group, and AquaRIMCO. All are new investors except for AquaRIMCO.

Reuters also noted other examples such as bioplastic developer Novomer when it raised $14m in August; Draths Corp. with $21.7m in spring; Segetis with a $15m start-up investment from Khosla Ventures in 2007; and recently Rennovia, where I posted in September about their $6m seed funding from 5AM Ventures and Versant Ventures.

Other company activities not mention were OPX Biotechnologies which raised $17.5m in April led by Braemar Energy Ventures; Zeachem, which raised $34m in January; Amyris Biotechnologies, which reportedly raised $41.75 million recently from new investors GrupoCornelioBrennand of Brazil and Naxos UK; and it is also noteworthy to mention the formation of Elevance last year with a $40m funding led by TPG Growth and TPG Biotechnology Partners.

There are of course several biofuel/renewable chemical players that are getting funds from traditional oil and chemical firms. These include Gevo that received X amounts of dollars (or Euro?) last April from French oil company Total; Shell increased its equity stake in Codexis last March; and ExxonMobil investing in Synthetic Genomics last July for more than $300m.

I'm sure there are many more out there that I haven't covered. Let me know! One more thing to mention (that probably already mentioned before) is that there seems to be a lot more interests from venture capital firms to look into green chemistry other than biofuels or other clean techs. I also recalled an email last summer from a venture capital firm interested in knowing more about who's who in this area.

That is why I formed my Green Chemical company list, which I hope will continue to grow.

Chemical companies are clamoring to proclaim their energy efficiency success and I got several emails asking why they were left out from my ICIS Chemical Business' August 17 article "Optimizing Energy - Chemical firms lower energy use with new technologies."

Since the blog has unlimited space (I think) and that article only has 2 pages to fit, here are several other energy efficiency initiatives from chemical companies within the past year:

Rhodia:
The company said it was able to reduce energy use and carbon dioxide emissions at its Blue Island, IL, production facility simply by "challenging assumptions about standard industrial practices," according to Operations and Maintenance Manager Nathan Mills.

The facility's natural gas consumption was reduced by 40% over the past 2 years, and some production batches are run with up to 30% less heat. Additional energy savings came from recovering the heat naturally generated by production and using it in place of conventional heating methods during winter months.

Rhodia plans to launch several more energy efficiency projects in the near future.

Bayer MaterialScience:
Bayer says its IMPACT technology for polyether production processes dramatically improved the company's Channelview, Texas, plant by reducing 80% in energy consumption and eliminating 75m lbs/year of wastewater.

The company says the technology is being considered for implementation worldwide as plants are being upgraded or constructed. The key to the new process, according to Bayer, is a combination of a catalyst invention and the design of a novel process where low molecular weight materials react preferentially in a mixture of molecular weights.

ExxonMobil:
ExxonMobil installed in March its newest high efficiency cogeneration plant at its Antwerp, Belgium, refinery, and says that it has invested in over 1,500 megawatts (MW) of cogeneration capacity in five countries since 2004.

Cogeneration is the simultaneous production of electricity and useful heat or steam used for industrial processes. This results in lower operating costs and significantly less greenhouse gas emissions.

Antwerp's new cogeneration plant is capable of generating more than 125 megawatts of electricity. ExxonMobil says additional new facilities are under construction in Singapore and China and will increase the company's cogeneration capacity to more than 5,000 megawatts in the next three years.

Trade union United Steelworkers (USW) is calling for the phaseout of hydrogen fluoride, an acid used as a catalyst in the alkylation unit for high-octane petroleum production, stating that the chemical is health hazard to workers in petroleum refineries.

The demand for the ban comes at a time when several petroleum refineries this year had incidents of HF release including last month's incident at ExxonMobil refinery in Joliet, Ill. According to the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), recent reported releases include those at the CITGO refinery in Corpus Christi, Texas, on July 19, 2009, and at the Sunoco refinery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on March 11, 2009.

USW said solid-state catalysts offer a safer alternative but are currently at the pilot plant stage and have not been used commercially yet for the alkylation process. One-third refineries reportedly used hydrogen fluoride while the other two-thirds use sulfuric acid as a catalyst.

"Hydrogen fluoride turns into hydrofluoric acid when it is in contact with moisture and becomes an extremely corrosive liquid and contact poison that burns skin, tissue and eyes. It rapidly penetrates tissues and can cause systemic toxicity, damaging the heart and lungs and causing death. Under the right conditions, a large release could form a lethal plume of acid vapors that could extend for miles downwind, putting thousands of people at risk." - USW

The group also plans a mid-September meeting between the local and international union, the Sierra Club and Citizens for Environmental Justice in Corpus Christi, Texas.

USW claims to be the largest industrial union in North America representing workers employed in metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining, atomic energy and the service sector.

[Photo from HazmatHelper.com]

The green blogger is preparing for a nice one week vacation next week so hopefully there will be lots of posts in the coming days ahead to keep the readers happy. This week, ICIS Chemical Business published its chemical sites feature and my contribution is an article about how new technologies and processing are helping chemical companies reduce their energy consumption.

By the way, I am starting to work on an article about renewable energy in China, any companies (or consultant) interested in participating, pls. email me this week at doris.de.guzman@icis.com.

For now here are the blog's news roundup:

Microbial oil for biofuel
Oil giant BP has formed a joint development agreement with Martek Biosciences to work on the production of microbial oils for biofuels applications. The partnership combines a broad technology platform and operational capabilities to advance the development of a step-change technology for the conversion of sugars into biodiesel.

Swedish biorefinery project
Chemrec's pulp mill-integrated BioDME (dimethyl ether) biorefinery demonstration plant project will break ground in September in Piteå, Sweden, with expected biofuel production by mid-2010. The BioDME is produced from residual forestry biomass over the black liquor gasification route.

Rockwood gets lithium grant
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Rockwood Holding's Chemetall Foote Corp. subsidiary $28.4m in grant to expand and upgrade the production of lithium carbonate at the company's Silver Peak, Nevada, site and add the production of very high purity lithium hydroxide to the company's Kings Mountain, North Carolina, facility.

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.

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.

There had been a lot of news on electric vehicles launch and development and I was unable to post them until now

First stop, last week, US petrochemical company ExxonMobil Chemical launched an electric car sharing and rental program called AltCar in Baltimore, Maryland, alongside Canadian battery developer Electrovaya.

Vehicles in the program called the Maya-300, are powered by lithium ion battery technology that uses ExxonMobil's battery separator film, which the company manufactures in Nasu, Japan, together with Japanese affiliate TonenGeneral.

ExxonMobil said Baltimore residents and tourists can rent the vehicles at the science center in the Baltimore Inner Harbor during the day. (I wonder how much is the rent though?) Aside from the program, the company also invested in an exhibit for the science center that includes hands-on activities for children and a full-scale car that showcases clean transportation technologies currently being used in the automotive industry.

A lot of chemical investments going on for next generation alternative energy storage (specifically lithium ion), which could accelerate the use of plug-in hybrids and electric vehicles in the near future.

Just this week, BASF announced its plans to build North America's largest cathode material production plant in Ohio as soon as it gets a grant under the Department of Energy's Electric Drive Vehicle Battery and Component Manufacturing Initiative (part of Obama's Recovery Act).

DOE's Argonne National Laboratory and BASF signed a global licensing deal to mass produce and market Argonne's patented composite cathode materials to lithium-ion batteries manufacturers.

Last month, BASF also started its new membrane electrode assembly (MEA) unit in New Jersey. MEA is a major component of fuel cell.

High-tech battery manufacturer Saft is also seeking a DOE grant to build a new high-volume lithium-ion cells and integrate batteries manufacturing plant in Jacksonville, Florida, for military vehicles, aviation, smart grid support, broadband backup power and other emerging applications. Saft proposed plant will cost up to $200 million and the company is expecting (or hoping) to get at least $100 million from the DOE, which will be announced in July.

Green chemical development heats up in May with new product launch announcements emailed to me. Do they deserve to be in the green chemical category or not?

1. Low VOC construction chems - Specialty product manufacturer RectorSeal® has added Low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) solvent cements, primers and cleaners to its line of quality products for the building and construction trades.

2. Battery separator for electrics - ExxonMobil Chemical developed two new grades of V series co-extruded battery separator films to help make lithium-ion batteries safer than ever before for hybrid and electric vehicles, power tools and electronic devices including laptop computers.

3. Bio-hydraulic fluid - Dow Chemical's Performance Fluids Business introduces DOW™ SYMBIO base fluid and hydraulic fluid, containing more than 50% high oleic canola oil. The biodegradable fluids is available on a direct sales basis or through authorized Dow distributors starting this month.

4. Green fuel additive - EthosFR+ fuel additive, which reportedly reduces vehicle emissions by 30% and increases gas mileage by 7%-19% is now available for direct purchase by consumers by the group ReduceMyEmissions.com.

5. New green propellant - Honeywell said its new HFO-1234ze propellant is reducing the global-warming impact of some industrial aerosol cleaning products by up to 99.6%. In some aerosol applications, HFO-1234ze can reportedly serve as a direct replacement for HFC-134a.

6. PVC replacement - Spartech Corporation introduced EnviroSeal™, a family of sealable, polyester products designed to replace clear, rigid PVC packaging such as blister packaging, clamshells, produce containers, display boxes and containers.

7. Natural flavors - Flavors and fragrance company WILD Flavors has developed an acid-stable, naturally-derived blue color additive for use in food and beverage applications. WILD's blue color additive is manufactured completely with fresh fruit.

According to advocacy group the Center For American Progress, oil companies BP, Chevron, Conoco Phillips, ExxonMobil, and Shell are said to be big misers when it comes to renewable energy investments even though they spend millions of advertising dollars in green energy promotion.

The group's new report says that the five companies made a combined profit of $100 billion last year but they just invested an average of 4% of their total 2008 profits in renewable and alternative energy ventures.

"This reality contrasts with their ads that promote greener, cleaner images," the group says. "Despite their soaring earnings, the big five companies were very stingy with investments in renewable and low-carbon energy technologies and fuels that would reduce oil dependence."

Here is why the coal industry in the Western world is losing their battle over environmental groups.

Videos such as the one below from Greenpeace are spreading the dirtiness of coal across the web using animated graphics. If the coal industry wants to put out the message of being clean and green, they should spend their money making cartoons. Of course that will elicit various response of them greenwashing...

Still there is hope for the coal industry. As soon as CCS technology can be economically commercialized, they can put out an animated ad of their own to replace Mr. Graverson Green.

In fact, UK power provider Powerful Power Ltd. (my tongue just got twisted I think) plans to start operating its new clean coal power station in in Stainforth, South Yorkshire, by 2013 using a carbon capture technology from Honeywell's UOP business.

Honeywell said the new facility will be the first clean-power coal station in Europe and is designed for up to 90 percent overall carbon capture.

In the US, oil company ExxonMobil said it has committed more than $100 million to complete development and testing of an improved natural gas treating technology known as Controlled Freeze Zone (CFZ), which could make CCS more affordable and significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

ExxonMobil is building a commercial CFZ demonstration plant near LaBarge, Wyoming, which is expected to be operational in late 2009.

ICIS Chemical Business (the magazine I work for) published yesterday its feature on Innovations and most innovations nowadays it seems is focused on the environment.

Specialty chemicals company Rhodia is certainly on top of this trend as they talked about how sustainability issues are largely affecting their R&D projects during my visit to their Center for Research and Technology in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Rhodia said 30% of their overall company sales last year are generated by products that offer sustainable solutions.

A consultant from UK-based Sagentia, Chris Richardson, also talked about green chemistry, what it means, and how chemical companies can capitalize on its opportunities.

"Business leaders should review both business development and technology strategies in order to understand how to deploy green chemistry to improve their environmental credentials, secure the bottom line and gain essential commercial advantage."

organizations that are able to embrace the sustainability challenge are more likely to succeed.

Finally, ICIS also published yesterday in the magazine the winners for its 5th ICIS Innovation Award, which was sponsored by Dow Corning. The winners include:

1. ExxonMobil Chemical and Tonen Chemical for their polymer-based battery separator film for lithium ion batteries;
2. Virent Energy Systems for their processing technology in producing hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals from plant sugars
3. DSM Nutritional Products for their "Sight and Life Project" with the United Nation World Food Program;
4. Dow Chemical in their project to reuse city wastewater effluent as process water.

According to John Baker, who launched and runs the awards at ICIS:

"Environmental and social benefits formed a strong theme in this year's entries, regardless of which category was being entered. This is an encouraging trend, highlighting the fact that companies are taking wider issues into account when planning and prioritizing innovation projects."

Hopefully with these new ideas, the chemical industry will soon regain its former glory as the champion of innovation (that crown I think is now in the hands of the electronics industry), and be able to help Mother Earth be healthy again at the same time.

Posts from the green blog will still be sporadic for the next three days due to increasing work pressures (say it ain't so Joe!). I am happy to note, however, that the weekly roundup was made possible by sheer persistence (and late night caffeine) despite its delay.

Biofoam in cushions
Cushion manufacturer Carpenter Co. has adopted Cargill's soybean-based BiOH polyols for its new Renew™ brand of foam cushioning, that are said to be fully recyclable and available in a wide assortment of firmness and densities.

Asbestos haunts Exxon
The Louisiana First Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court's 2006 judgment awarding substantial damages to the family of a former ExxonMobil employee, Bruce Spillman of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, who died of mesothelioma, an asbestos-related cancer, in 2005.

You don't usually associate Danisco, globally-known for its yummy biscuits, in producing rubber tire chemicals.

However, Danisco's biotechnology company Genencor has been active in producing renewable-based chemicals and fuels, and just this week announced a joint collaboration deal with Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company to develop biobased isoprene - a key feedstock in rubber tire manufacture.

This is good news for the rubber industry as the petroleum-derived isoprene is said to be globally tight, although this situation might change by the time Genencor will produce its BioIsoprene in 2012.

Still, a biobased alternative to synthetic rubber is very much welcome by tire manufacturers who have to depend on the volatility of crude oil price as well as that of natural rubber supply. The added important factor is the greenness of BioIsoprene production compared to traditional isoprene processing. I'm sure green marketing labels for Goodyear tires are ready to be plastered.

Speaking of green tires, recent developments in this area also include ExxonMobil's new Exxcore™ dynamically vulcanized alloy (DVA) for tire inner liners, which the company said helps improve vehicle fuel efficiency; and Chrysler eliminating the use of lead wheel weights on its vehicles by using steel and zinc instead.

ICIS Chemical Business also published on September 8 its Automotive feature which includes (among others) articles such as the growing use of plastics to make cars more fuel-efficient by Elaine Burridge; budget cars in developing countries by Malini Hariharan; and catalysts developments to lower car emissions by Sean Milmo.

After Shell, ExxonMobil is the next Big Oil advertiser to get bitten by the UK media watchdog, Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).

The agency received four complaints challenging ExxonMobil's television ad that claims natural gas is one of the world's cleanest fuel.

ASA ruled that the ad should not be broadcast again since "it misleadingly implied that natural gas was one of the cleanest sources of energy and that liquefied natural gas (LNG) was environmentally friendly."

I guess ASA reasoned out that when being compared to wind and solar (coal, oil, and nuclear was also mentioned by ExxonMobil as other energy sources), LNG is less cleaner.

ExxonMobil released a statement today pronouncing their disappointment in ASA's ruling. The company said it will appeal the decision.

One of the big news this week is the pending pthalates ban on kids' products. Both Senate and Congress already approved the bill that contains the ban and is just waiting for President Bush's signature. This is a major blow for the chemical industry and a big win for public advocates.

Another is the record-breaking $11.7bn quarter earnings pumped by the US oil mogul ExxonMobil. Investors might be unimpressed with the company's $1,485 per second profit but gas consumers will surely be irate with this news and will be more supportive of alternative energy investments.

As for the rest of this week's green news roundup...

Launderer likes NPE-free
Cintas Corp. has become the first industrial launderer to ban the use of nonylphenol ethoxylate (NPE) - based detergent in its facilities nationwide. The company will start using NPE-free detergents manufactured by Washing Systems.

IBC enters bio-ethylene
Industrial Biotechnology Corp.'s newly formed subsidiary Renewable Chemicals will soon produce ethylene made from sugarcane-based ethanol using their proprietary AlchemX production platforms. The company can use existing petroleum-based ethylene manufacturing infrastructure.

Daimler's fuel cell buses
Ballard Power Systems will continue to supply fuel cell systems to Daimler's Mercedes-Benz Citaro buses in Hamburg, Germany, for two years. The buses are said to be the largest fleet of fuel cell buses currently in operation worldwide.

Albemarle buys sorbent tech
Specialty chemicals Albemarle acquired the power plant mercury-control provider Sorbent Technologies. Sorbent Technologies supplies brominated carbon adsorbents and advanced sorbent injection systems to control mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.

My bank invests in green
Bank of America has sourced Field Diagnostic Services for their software, energy efficiency diagnostic tools, and project management services to reduce the bank's energy costs and carbon footprint by 50%. The investment is part of Bank of America's $20 billion, ten-year sustainability initiatives.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):
A study reported that US shale gas reserves can meet all of the country's natural gas demand growth for the next 100 years and can supplement oil and coal use.

Chemical producers should consider water conservation at the top of their agenda to cut costs by up to 30%.

A two-mile portion of the Mississippi river was closed on Wednesday after a damaged barge released more fuel oil, according to the US Coast Guard.

It's that time of the month to check out some newly launched green-hot chemical products. More environment- and health-friendly plastics continue to be developed; the solar energy and hybrid transportation markets are getting new technology boosts; and in between are air pollution control and new water treatment technologies.

1. Honeywell's solar shield - It is not natural or renewable based but Honeywell's UV-, moisture- and weather-resistant PowerShield PV325 does protects photovoltaic modules -- including critical components that convert sunlight into electricity -- in all types of environments.

2. PlastiPure's healthy plastic - Austin, Texas-based PlastiPure said it has developed the first plastic bottles completely free of estrogenic activity. The company's first product line includes 4 oz. to 32 oz. polyethylene or polypropylene bottles.

3. ExxonMobil's new films - ExxonMobil Chemical and its Japanese affiliate Tonen Chemical launched their co-extruded separator films for hybrid and electric vehicle lithium-ion batteries. The films are said to improve battery safety and performance. You might ask if this product is within the context of green chemicals but you be the judge!

4. Biotherm plastic-based oil - Swiss company Biotherm Technologie now offers a process that can produce diesel fuel and heating oil from used plastics and waste or bilge oil. The company expects Japan's commercial shipping fleet as a potential big market for the technology.

5. SABIC's non-halogenated plastic - SABIC Innovative Plastics introduced last month its EFR 735 film, the company's first thermoplastic film made without the use of brominated or chlorinated flame-retardants.

6. PolyOne packaging system - PolyOne introduced its PlanetPak packaging system for environment-friendly packaging of color and additive concentrates. The system is said to offer sustainability and economic benefits over traditional steel-rimmed fiber drums.

7. RG Global's water treatment - RG Global launched its first plant that uses ion exchange technology to treat discharge water from coal bed methane (CBM) wells. The technology is said to resolve the problem of disposing massive volumes of contaminated CBM produced water without depleting groundwater supplies or harming the surrounding environment or water bodies. It also reduces treatment cost by 50%, the company said.

8. Solvay's air solution - Solvay Chemical's new sodium bicarbonate-based SOLVAir Select 300 is said to be specifically designed for use in air pollution control applications particularly the treatment of sulfur dioxide. Solvay plans to built a 125,000 tonnes/year plant to manufacture the product in Wyoming.

ExxonMobil shareholders seem to think that the oil company is lagging behind competitors when dealing with climate change.

Several major investors, which include ExxonMobil's largest share owners plan to vote next week in a resolution that will force the company to address climate change risks. The investors hold over 91 million ExxonMobil shares currently valued at more than $8.6bn.

According to Ceres, a coalition of investors and environmental groups who helped organize the shareholder resolutions:

"While industry peers including Chevron, BP and Shell have already invested billions of dollars in renewable energy and set company-wide greenhouse gas reduction targets, Exxon Mobil has yet to take substantial action to deal with the economic, competitive, physical and regulatory risks resulting from climate change. Exxon also stands alone among many of its peers in opposing national climate policies to curb greenhouse emissions."

Come to think of it, I did not hear any presentations from ExxonMobil nor saw any representatives from the company when I last attended BIO's World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Processing. But maybe this is just a coincidence...

I received a suggestion to break out the Weekly News Roundup and make it as an individual post. That can be done but let me know what you think about it. For now, here's this week's news bites from ExxonMobil's CO2 remover to Solvay's garbage-powered plant in Germany.

A cool way to remove CO2
ExxonMobil is building a commercial demonstration plant in Wyoming to showcase its Controlled Freeze Zone (CFZ) technology, which can reduce the cost of carbon dioxide removal and storage from produced natural gas. The $100m plant will process 14m cu.ft. of gas per day.

Portugal heats up
German companies Qimonda and Centrosolar will jointly build and operate a silicon-based solar cell plant in Portugal. The EUR70m ($108m) plant will have initial capacity of 30m/year solar cells and will start producing in the second half of next year.

...and China not far behind
DuPont is building a solar research center in Hong Kong and a manufacturing facility for crystalline silicone and amorphous silicon thin film in Shenzhen. DuPont expects growth in the photovoltaic market to exceed 30 percent in the next several years.

Steeling air quality standards
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing stronger air quality standards for lead for the first time in 30 years. The proposal will revise the existing standard of 1.5 micrograms per cubic meter of air to a level within the range of 0.10 to 0.30 micrograms per cubic meter.

Garbage powers chemicals
Belgian chemical group Solvay is constructing a refuse-derived power plant in Bernburg, Germany, to supply energy to the company's sodium carbonate and hydrogen peroxide plant, which will start in the second quarter of 2010. The power plant will use mixture of used plastics and wood from furniture and buildings, textiles, paper and cardboard and will have Solvay's sodium bicarbonate technology to freshen its gaseous smell.

And in ICIS News (which requires subscription):

Two US congressmen have asked infant formula manufacturers to stop using bisphenol-A in their food packaging. Several Chinese villagers have been hospitalized after a poisonous gas leak at a phosphorous trichloride plant in Handan City. And California's academia blame the current lax federal policy in inhibiting development of green chemistry innovation.

The Society of Plastics Industry (SPI) released a video statement on Monday clarifying the intended purpose of the marked recycled numbers found on the bottom of most plastic bottles and rigid containers.

According to SPI President and CEO William Carteaux, the resin codes are simply to help sort the type of plastics that can be properly recycled or reused.

"The resin codes do not provide guidance on the safe or intended use of a bottle or a container, as well as the product inside the container. They should not be used for that purpose.”

"Look for number 1 on the bottom of the bottle," says MPI Packaging president Ron O'Brien.

This week DuPont also gave out its annual Packaging Innovation awards focusing on sustainability. Photos of this year's recipients and their products can be found on the DuPont website.