ICIS Blogs : icb

Learning from Green's History

Green Chemicals — Thu, 28 May 2009 14:00:30 GMT

Speaking of history, have you ever wondered how the green movement came to being? An article from ICIS Chemical Business (the magazine I work for) examined the rise of green consciousness during the 1960s triggered by Rachel Carson's 1962 bestselling...(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)

New soy-based industrial projects

Green Chemicals — Tue, 05 May 2009 14:33:23 GMT

The United Soybean Board (USB) gave me an update during the #AOCS meeting about new industrial projects (and a long list at that) on soy-based development as of April 2009. In plastics category, there are about 28 projects; 7 in lubricants and solvents;...(read more)

Texas tornadoes play havoc with ICIS cyclists

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Fri, 01 May 2009 12:03:14 GMT

A team from ICIS Houston tackled an epic journey on two wheels across central Texas last week, but there was more than a bit of drama along the way. Stephen Burns, Angela Garzon, Ron Marshall, Heather Doyle, Landon Feller and Steven McGinn, plus Fred...(read more)

Roland Berger Strategy interview on video

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:08:39 GMT

I'm impressed at this video which Will shot on his own camera while interviewing a leading chemical industry consultant today in the leafy surroundings of London's Berkeley Square (of nightingale fame ). Will Beacham, European bureau chief of...(read more)

Soy foam market expands

Green Chemicals — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 16:01:37 GMT

Although soy chemicals (excluding biodiesel) account for a very small portion of soybean oil consumption, this news regarding expansion of soy-based chemical development is still a very good news for the US agriculture industry. According to the United...(read more)

More biobutanol supply coming soon

Green Chemicals — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:06:09 GMT

I mentioned last month about the development of biobutanol in fuel application. Butanol is currently being used as an industrial solvent and most of it is produced via petrochemical processing. According to industry sources, fermented butanol is only...(read more)

Bio-funding slumps in Europe

Green Chemicals — Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:39:51 GMT

Bad news for green chemistry and industrial biotechnology proponents in Europe. According to this article from ICIS Chemical Business , Europe is losing ground when it comes to bio-refinery R&D and infrastructure because of decreasing funding and...(read more)

Chemistry: The alternative energizers

Green Chemicals — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 15:52:59 GMT

I just finished an alternative energy article featuring chemical companies that contribute on making clean energy technologies more affordable. Companies included in my interviews were Dow Chemical, Rohm and Haas, Air Products, Evonik, and Dow Corning...(read more)

The sweet smell of maple syrup chemicals

ICIS Chemicals Confidential — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 16:04:25 GMT

A mysterious maple syrup smell has been wafting across New York City and into the offices of ICIS Chemical Business (ICB) on Park Avenue South for the past five years. At last city officials have sniffed out the source of the sweet smell - a New Jersey...(read more)

Booming green jobs

Green Chemicals — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 12:15:45 GMT

Apologies for not being able to post yesterday as I had to line up for registration to my next class which will start on January 26. I will not regale you with the horrors of my College enrollment and instead will hopefully cheer you up (and maybe myself...(read more)

Green chemistry in ICIS

Green Chemicals — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 14:01:17 GMT

ICIS Chemical Business (the magazine I work for) published on Monday several interesting articles on the fields of green and chemistry. I already mentioned in my previous post about the growth of carbon capture technology and its potential for chemical...(read more)

CCS article from ICIS Chemical Business

Green Chemicals — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 12:55:38 GMT

Despite its complexities, the market for carbon capture and storage technology is indeed fascinating to follow. I tried my best to capture (pun intended) an overview of this market mostly on the capture part and ICIS Chemical Business just released online...(read more)

GreenExchange in San Francisco

Green Chemicals — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:08:21 GMT

A very exciting green event is going to be held in January next year in San Francisco. ICIS Chemical Business (the magazine I work for) is co-sponsoring a roundtable event within a newly launched green chemistry program called GreenExchange at InformexUSA...(read more)

Green packaging is hot

Green Chemicals — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 12:30:56 GMT

ICIS Chemical Business released this Monday its feature on packaging and from what the magazine's editors have found out is that sustainability is definitely becoming more ingrained within this industry mostly driven by consumer demand. The benefits...(read more)