In China, butadiene, one of the most important light olefins in the petrochemical industry with a global production capacity of 18 million metric tons per year, is currently produced through the extractive distillation of C4 fractions from naphtha steam cracking processes or dehydrogenation of C4 hydrocarbons, both of which involve extensive energy consumption and significant […]
Here is my Astronomy of Plastics, since you didn’t ask. Doomsayers about the shortcomings of plastics, they are like comets in the Kuiper Belt, too numerous to count, full of Hollywood disaster movie scenarios, ultimately and usually way off base. Proposers of solutions for the problems of plastics, those are more like the planets, fewer […]
In Washington, animal fats and used cooking oil are increasingly joining the likes of lithium, cobalt and copper as energy transitional materials where supply constraints are of growing concern, according to a new analysis of trade flows by S&P Global Commodity Insights Agribusiness Consulting group. The analysis, entitled Biofuel Feedstock Trade Flows: First Come, First […]
In New York, athleisure brand PANGAIA has expanded its collection of plant-based activewear using biobased spandex from Hyosung. Dubbed Motion, the collection is made with 99.99% plant-based EVO® Nylon and 30% plant-based creora® spandex produced by the South Korean chemicals company. For men, the collection include Mesh T-shirt, Zipped Long Sleeve Top and Tights in […]
By Charles Forsberg ([email protected]) and Bruce Dale ([email protected]) Special to The Digest In the United States, crude oil products provide 48% of the total energy to the final customer: residential, commercial, industrial and transportation. Replacement of crude oil products (gasoline, diesel, jet fuel, chemical feed stocks, etc.) made from non-fossil-fuel carbon sources, principally products made […]
In Russia, RUDN University chemists have improved the catalyst for ethanol conversion. With it, a mixture of compounds with a high octane number was obtained. This was achieved thanks to a special substrate for the activated carbon catalyst. In the future, such developments will help to obtain more environmentally friendly fuel additives and thus reduce […]
By Dave Stoltz Special to The Digest Electric cars for our entire light duty vehicle fleet as Governor Newsom and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) want are iffy. The key word to not getting ourselves into the same predicament that we’re in right now with finite energy resources is RENEWABLE! Electric cars are powered […]
In South Korea, LG Chem is expanding its investment in carbon nanotubes (CNT) with the construction of the world’s largest single-line CNT manufacturing plant. The new plant is part of LG Chem’s initiative to gain a more competitive edge in the rapidly growing global CNT market focused on electric vehicle (EV) battery materials. The new […]
In South Korea, hydrogen can be produced sustainably by electrocatalytic water splitting, a process where the water molecule is split into oxygen and hydrogen gas using electricity. However, the need for expensive and rare metal catalysts makes the process unfeasible for large-scale industrial use. In a new study, Chung-Ang University researchers develop an inexpensive catalyst […]
In Japan, photoreduction of CO2 into transportable fuel like formic acid (HCOOH) is a great way of dealing with CO2’s rising levels in the atmosphere. To aid in this mission, a research team from Tokyo Tech chose an easily available iron-based mineral and loaded it onto an alumina support to develop a catalyst that can […]
