Mobile Navigation

Sustainability

Commercial debut for sand-based thermal-energy storage

Last month, operation began at Polar Night Energy Oy’s (Tampere, Finland; www.polarnightenergy.com) first commercial sand-based thermal-energy storage system. The thermal storage system, which is located at the Vatajankoski power plant, is now producing low-emission district heating to the city of…

Extending the operating temperature of biological phosphorus removal

Currently, enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) techniques in municipal wastewater-treatment plants (WWTPs) do not work well at temperatures above 25°C, which is common in warm countries. This limitation is expected to extend to more countries with the advent of global…

Biosynthesis of renewable, high-energy-density, cyclopropane-based fuels

Cyclopropane-functionalized hydrocarbons can be excellent fuels because of their high energy densities, but organic synthesis of such fuels is difficult. In work recently published in the journal Joule, a research team led by Jay Keasling at the Joint Bioenergy Institute…

Neste makes acquisition in Ireland to strengthen its renewable raw-material sourcing

Neste Corp. (Espoo, Finland) has agreed to acquire 100% of Walco Foods, an Irish trader of animal fats. The transaction is subject to the fulfillment of customary closing conditions and regulatory approval. “This is another important step for Neste in…

Black & Veatch joins Australian Hydrogen Council

Black & Veatch (Overland Park, Kan.) has joined the Australian Hydrogen Council (AHC) as part of its efforts to accelerate the global shift to zero emission energy and speed the development of a global hydrogen energy economy. “As a leading…

LG Chem and GS Caltex announce 3-hydroxypropionic acid pilot plant, MOU for BDO technology

LG Chem Ltd. and GS Caltex (both Seoul, South Korea) are establishing a pilot plant to develop a white-bio ecosystem and commercialize bio raw materials following the announcement of their joint development agreement last year. LG Chem’s CEO Hak Cheol…

Dow and Valoregan to build hybrid plastics-recycling plant in France

Dow (Midland, Mich.) announced an agreement with French recycling company Valoregen to contribute to building the largest single hybrid recycling site in France, to be owned and operated by Valoregen. This accompanies Dow’s recent plans to build an advanced recycling…

Unigel installs the first industrial-scale green hydrogen production site in Brazil using thyssenkrupp nucera technology

Thyssenkrupp nucera announced that Unigel has installed the first industrial-scale green hydrogen plant in Brazil. The company, which is one of the largest chemical companies in Latin America and the largest manufacturer of nitrogen fertilizers in Brazil, invests a total…

Dow and Nexus Circular to build new advanced-recycling facility in Dallas

Dow (Midland, Mich.) and Nexus Circular announced that they have signed a detailed letter of intent (LOI) for Dow to secure the production output of a newly constructed advanced recycling facility in Dallas, Texas. The new facility will process and…

Geno and Aquafil begin pre-commercial production of plant-based nylon-6

Genomatica (Geno; San Diego) alongside longtime collaborator Aquafil successfully completed the first demonstration-scale production runs for plant-based nylon-6. The material is intended to reshape the $22-billion nylon industry, enabling brands to meet demand from consumers for sustainable everyday materials from…