ICIS Blogs : environment

Washing machine replaces water with tiny nylon polymer beads

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:00:20 GMT

A new green-friendly washing machine -- that uses only one cup of water along with tiny nylon polymer beads - is set to go on sale next year, according to this article today. The machine leaves clothes virtually dry and aims to save up to 90% of water...(read more)

The challenge of biopesticides

Green Chemicals — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 21:13:07 GMT

Got the copy of my latest article about biopesticide , with pretty cool (and a little gross) graphic of a venus flytrap. As previously tweeted , I was intrigued by how the biopesticide industry have been struggling in the overall pesticide and crop protection...(read more)

High School girl discovers polystyrene eating bacterium

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:24:08 GMT

Top awards in last month's Intel International Science Fair go to Tseng I-Ching from Taiwan who discovered a 'red bacterium' derived from mealworm beetles that metabolizes polystyrene , according to an article in Taiwan News which was picked...(read more)

Soy Industry Adopts Environmental Standards

Green Chemicals — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 18:31:08 GMT

The palm oil industry has been the center of environmentalists' focus because of widespread deforestation going on (especially in Indonesia) blamed on some palm plantation owners. Unilever have already promised to sustainably source their palm products...(read more)

Greenpeace protests against Neste's palm biofuel plans

The Big Biofuels Blog — Thu, 14 May 2009 15:20:20 GMT

Greenpeace is objecting to Neste's plans to become the world's largest consumer of plam oil as it ramps up biofuels production, according to a report on ICIS news. Disclosure (I work for ICIS. About ICIS ) Neste disputes the pressure group's...(read more)

It's about scaling down rather than up

Asian Chemical Connections — Thu, 14 May 2009 07:06:31 GMT

One of the new skills being learnt in this current crisis is how to run plants efficiently at low operating rates. "It's funny that for years now, we've worried about how to scale up profitably. Now industry is faced with just the opposite...(read more)

25x25 warns on restricting cellulosic biomass

The Big Biofuels Blog — Mon, 11 May 2009 10:55:31 GMT

25x25 a pressure group in the US is warning that some proposed legislation in the US could severely restrict the amount of cellulose available for biofuels in what is effectively a call for managed woodlands. I can see why the Waxman-Markley proposal...(read more)

Vast island of plastic floats in mid-Pacific

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Tue, 05 May 2009 08:20:42 GMT

A revolting mass of six million tonnes of discarded plastic is spinning slowly on its own axis in a patch of the northeastern Pacific, roughly twice the size of Texas, according to the leader and a two-page article in Saturday's Times. Now Project...(read more)

California looks at emissions from crop to tail pipe and legislates

The Big Biofuels Blog — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:16:28 GMT

California's newly adopted low-carbon fuel standard may mark the beginning of the end of ethanol, according to a report on Planet Ark. The new legislation examines the carbon impact from seed to tailpipe, which seems sensible. Read More......(read more)

US anti-chemical campaigns intensify

Green Chemicals — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 16:20:13 GMT

ICIS News (subscription required) reported on Wednesday about the intensifying anti-chemical attacks from state-legislative and advocacy groups and that according to the American Chemistry Council , it is getting harder for the chemical industry to contest...(read more)

The Big Biofuels Blog — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:10:38 GMT

The Scientifc Committee on Problems of the Environment (SCOPE) has produced a report looking at the enviromental impacts of biofuels ,. The group makes a number of recomendations for second generation feedstocks, and favours woody or grassy plants. As...(read more)

Green lobby strikes again

India Chemicals Blog — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 09:40:59 GMT

Chemplast Sanmar's new PVC plant is ready but commissioning remains uncertain as the company faces two petitions in the Supreme Court against the company's marine terminal facility that would be used to import vinyl chloride monomer feedstock...(read more)

Ethanol update: The good and the bad

Green Chemicals — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:03:47 GMT

THE GOOD NEWS: A new report from the International Energy Agency said that greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions savings from corn ethanol production and use have more than doubled between 1995 and the projected level in 2015. The report said that GHG reductions...(read more)

The right cellulosic biofuels might help protect the environment

The Big Biofuels Blog — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 15:00:31 GMT

Biofuels from cellulosic feedstock could help to protect the environment by reducing the amount of nitrogen that runs off into rivers and by providing coverage that helps protect the land against wind and rain erosion. That is one of the central assertions...(read more)

UK has enough land for non-food biofuels -- study

The Big Biofuels Blog — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 13:33:11 GMT

A study in the Journal of Applied Ecology says that there is enough land in the UK for non-food biofuels. The abstract, which is copied on envirolation.org says that there is 3.1m Ha of acceptable land in the UK, that's land that isn't of great...(read more)