Industry Trends

June 2024

See what has been happening in Asia’s petrochemicals, agrochemicals, automotive, bio energy, and mining industries over the last weeks. What are experts and industry magazines talking about?

What has been happening?

New technique for continuous recycling of solid-state batteries, Medium-chain carboxylates production from plant waste, ETH Zurich researchers engineer bacteria to use methanol efficiently, and more. See what industry experts have been discussing in the last four weeks.

Latest Industry Articles

New technique allows recycling components of solid-state batteries over and over again

MINING.com

Researchers at Penn State University have successfully applied cold sintering to the solid and liquid electrolyte components of solid-state batteries to recycle them. Solid-state lithium batteries are energy-dense, safe, nonflammable and can be used in electric vehicles, wearable devices or laptop batteries.

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Medium-chain carboxylates production from plant waste: kinetic study and effect of an enriched microbiome

Biotechnology for Biofuels – Latest Articles

The need for addition of external electron donors such as ethanol or lactate impairs the economic viability of chain elongation (CE) processes for the production of medium-chain carboxylates (MCC). However, us…

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ETH Zurich researchers engineer bacteria to use methanol efficiently

Biofuels Digest

In Switzerland, researchers at ETH Zurich have engineered bacteria in the laboratory to efficiently use methanol. The metabolism of these bacteria can now be tapped into to produce valuable products currently made by the chemical industry from fossil fuels. Bacteria that feed on methanol, known as methylotrophs, are at the centre of these efforts.

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Existing fossil fuel projects enough to meet energy demands while world transitions to net zero – study

MINING.com

Researchers at the University College London and the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD) estimate that existing fossil fuel projects are enough to meet predicted energy demands in a global transition to net-zero emissions. In a policy paper published in the journal Science, the researchers argue that stopping new fossil fuel projects is a crucial step for countries to achieve their climate goals.

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Covestro invests in BioBTX to demostrate waste-based chemical production

Biofuels Digest

In the Netherlands, by participating as a strategic partner in the company BioBTX, Covestro is enabling the construction of the world’s first innovative demonstration plant for the BioBTX ICCP-Technology in the Netherlands. The technology makes it possible to produce chemicals such as benzene, toluene and xylene from organic and mixed plastic waste. These aromatics are essential building blocks for the chemical industry and are used in plastics production, among other things.

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Reducing Oxygen in Your Finished Beer

BeerSmith

This week I look at methods to reduce oxygen in your finished beer. Oxygen is known to negatively impact beer flavor and long term stability. While oxygen is widely used at the beginning of fermentation to aid in yeast growth, the yeast effectively scrubs virtually all of the oxygen out of the beer during fermentation. However it is very easy to inadvertently add oxygen during dry hopping, aging, transfers, kegging, bottling and storage.

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Evonik Earns Platinum Rating for Sustainability from EcoVadis

Evonik

Evonik ranks among the top one percent of companies rated by EcoVadis in the past 12 months.

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Orion S.A. installs tyre pyrolysis oil tanks to boost carbon black production

Orion S.A.

Orion S.A. is installing multiple tyre pyrolysis oil tanks at its plant in Jaslo, Poland – the company’s latest move toward boosting production of circular carbon black.

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MHI and EGAT sign MoU to introduce hydrogen large gas turbine co-firing technology in Thailand

Biofuels Digest

In Japan, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Thailand’s largest power producer Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to conduct research on the introduction of hydrogen co-firing technologies for gas turbine power generation facilities in Thailand.

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BMI Says Indonesia Upstream Poised to Grow Strongly

Rigzone.com

‘There are a number of key gas projects in the pipeline’, analysts at BMI said.

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China’s C919 and ARJ21 jets complete first SAF flights

Biofuels Digest

In China, ECNS reported that Commercial Aircraft Corporation of China (COMAC) said that an ARJ21 regional jet and a C919 large passenger aircraft completed their first demonstration flights using sustainable aviation fuel. The flights, departing from Shanghai Pudong Airport and Dongying Airport in Shandong respectively, lasted over an hour. The SAF used was produced using a bio-jet fuel production technology independently developed by Sinopec.

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Singapore Issues RFP for Gas-Fired Power Plants as Demand Grows

Rigzone.com

The RFP invites the private sector to build, own, and operate two new hydrogen-ready combined cycle gas turbine (CCGT) generating units to be ready in 2029 and 2030, respectively.

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China to spend $40bn on flying electric vehicle sector

Global Construction Review

China’s Guangdong province is planning to invest $41.4bn in the emerging “low-altitude economy” over the next 2.5 years. The phrase refers to the nascent industrial sector focussed on electric airborne vehicles that are expected to enter Pearl River Delta’s urban scene over this decade. China Daily reported last week that the plan was to build a “world-leading low-altitude economy hub” in Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Zhuhai.

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Indonesia to supply biodiesel distribution management for its producers

Biofuels Digest

In Indonesia, CNBC Indonesia reports PT Pertamina Trans Kontinental (PTK) signed a contract for ship rental services and Ship to Ship (STS) management in distributing biofuel to 22 Association companies Indonesian Biofuel Producer (APROBI). Furthermore, this collaboration also includes increasing infrastructure capacity and biodiesel storage facilities at major ports.

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Pertamina issues first purchase tender for SAF

Biofuels Digest

In Indonesia, Reuters reported that Indonesia’s state-owned energy firm Pertamina Patra Niaga has issued its first spot purchase tender for sustainable aviation fuel. The report noted that the oil company is looking to buy either 150 kiloliters of neat sustainable aviation fuel via isotanks or 3,500 kiloliters of blended sustainable aviation fuel containing up to 30% of neat sustainable aviation fuel for delivery in first week of August.

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Built by Nature prize awards $545,000 to biobased construction innovators

Biofuels Digest

In the Netherlands, Built by Nature announced the winners of its inaugural global prize to stimulate uptake of innovative biobased construction materials, with a $272,000 first prize awarded to Singapore-based company Widuz for its bamboo product solutions.

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NatureWorks secures loan for Thailand PLA site

Biofuels Digest

In Thailand, leading polylactic acid producer NatureWorks has obtained a $350-million loan to finance its fully integrated PLA plant at the Nakhon Sawan Biocomplex. The loan, provided by Krungthai Bank PCL, will support both the construction and ongoing operations at the facility. The plant will utilize locally sourced sugarcane as feedstock.

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Allozymes raises $15 million to scale enzyme solutions

Biofuels Digest

In Singapore, enzyme engineering firm Allozymes has secured $15 million in Series A funding. The company plans to use the funds to accelerate its expansion into Europe, establish strategic partnerships across the food, chemical, pharmaceutical, and life science industries, and build in-house capabilities for strain engineering, bioprocessing, and downstream processing. This will enable Allozymes to provide end-to-end development of new enzymes and strains.

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Louis Dreyfus to expand Indonesia palm oil refining business, executive says

Channel NewsAsia

Agricultural commodity merchant Louis Dreyfus Company (LDC) is expanding its palm oil refining business in Indonesia, which will include construction of a new glycerine plant and higher production of biodiesel, a senior company official said.

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Mercedes-Benz Thailand Expands EV Production, 10 Years More With TAAP

KhaSod English

Mercedes-Benz accelerates the expansion of its EV production base in Thailand, renewing its contract with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant (TAAP) for 10 years, extending the production base, after celebrating 45 years with 200,000 vehicles produced. Chai Watcharong, a Thai government spokesperson, congratulated Mercedes-Benz (Thailand) on Monday for renewing its contract with Thonburi Car Assembly Plant Co., Ltd.

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