Furanic Humins – 100 % bio-based side stream of PEF production, as basis for thermoset and other binder applications (7 November 2023)

Webinar recording from 7 November 2023:

PEFerence establishes a unique, industrial scale, cost-effective flagship plant to convert plant-based sugars into FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid), the building block of PEF (polyethylene furanoate): a plant-based, fully recyclable plastic material with superior performance and significantly reduced carbon footprint compared to conventional plastics. Other promising materials to be validated in the PEFerence project include FDCA-based polyurethanes and humins-based resins. This webinar gives you the opportunity to learn about the validation of furanic humins by Tom Claessen, Business Development Manager Humins at Avantium. The 100 % bio-based side stream of PEF production can be used as a basis for thermoset and other binder applications. After his 30-minute presentation, Tom Claessen answers the viewers' questions.

Food and Feed Crops for Bio-based Materials and the Related Effects on Food Security (22 November 2023)

Using plant-based sugars as a resource leads us to a well-known debate: The competition between food and non-food when it comes to bio-based crops. This debate is flawed, subjective and not fully based on evidence. What is detrimental to food security are, according to the World Food Programme in 2023, climate change, conflict, extreme inequalities in wealth distribution, heavy dependence on food imports from industrial countries, overconsumption of meat, losses along the value chain and the impact of the COVID pandemic. Competition between biomass uses is not mentioned among the relevant causes.

The authors of a related paper (https://renewable-carbon.eu/publications/?search=1&woof_text=food) argue that using food and feed crops for chemicals and materials will not necessarily exacerbate food insecurity, and in fact has the potential to cause multiple benefits for local and global food security, climate mitigation and other factors. One of the main authors is Lara Dammer, Head of the "Economy & Policy" Department at nova-Institute.

This free webinar gives you the opportunity to learn more about the new scientific insights on crops for bio-based materials directly from the source. At the end, the audience's questions are answered live by Lara Dammer.

PEF – A Circular Bio-Based Polymer with Improved Properties – LCA (22 June 2023)

Webinar recording from 22 June 2023:

The nova-Institute conducted a peer-reviewed Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of Avantium’s PEF applications within the framework of the PEFerence project. The study demonstrated that using 100 % renewable carbon in PEF instead of fossil carbon in PET for producing 250 ml and 500 ml bottles would significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Within this recording, Ingrid Goumans (Team Leader Technical Application Managers at Avantium) first gives a short introduction to Avantiums FDCA and PEF production and the PEFerence project. Afterwards, Dr. Ángel Puente (LCA expert at nova-Institute) is giving you details about the beforementioned LCA. He and Ingrid Goumans are answering the questions of the audience during the last 15 minutes of the recording.

Presentation of the PEFerence project (29 March 2021)

Presentation slides by Dr. Ed de Jong (Avantium, The Netherlands)