Petrochemicals
Jul 14th, 2010
Global Acetic Acid Demand Is Forecast to Grow at 3 – 4% per Year
The three largest derivatives of methanol are formaldehyde, methyl tertiary butyl ether and Acetic acid (one of the simplest carboxylic acids).
Acetic acid is an important chemical reagent and industrial chemical, used in the production of polyethylene terephthalate (used in soft drink bottles), cellulose acetate (for photographic film), and polyvinyl acetate (for wood glue), as well...
Jul 13th, 2010
BP Oil Spill: New Cap ‘Successfully Installed’ on Leaking Well
BP to begin tests to close valves on new containment cap in Gulf of Mexico and hopes to temporarily stop oil gushing from wellhead
BP has fitted a larger, tighter-fitting containment cap on the ruptured Gulf of Mexico wellhead that has been gushing with oil since the Deepwater Horizon explosion on 20 April.Crude oil continues to...
Jul 12th, 2010
Formaldehyde Is the Most Commercially Important Aldehyde.
The simple molecule of Formaldehyde plays an invaluable role in many areas of the economy including the aerospace, automotive and building and construction sectors. It is essential to the workings of the human body and other biological systems and is used in making pill coatings, heart valves and vaccines. Its benefits have been improving our...
Jun 16th, 2010
Fabric Could Help Clean Up US Oil Spill
A company from Switzerland which produces a fabric used for absorbing oil said on Tuesday that it had been visited by US officials, after claiming that it could aid in the clean-up effort in the Gulf of Mexico.
Carlo Centonze, chief executive of HeiQ Materials, said the company had received a visit from US army and...
Jun 16th, 2010
US Projects Receive Funds to Demonstrate Carbon Capture
Three projects in the US have been selected to receive up to $612m (£414m) from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act - matched by $368m in private funding - to demonstrate large-scale carbon capture and storage from industrial sources.
Two of the three projects will use the stored CO2 for enhancing the recovery of oil, while...
Jun 15th, 2010
Vietnam’s Participation in WTO, Rising Consumer Price Index, Increasing Income Have Positive Impact on Country’s Pharmaceutical Market
In 2007 Pharmaceutical industry in Vietnam produced $600 mln worth volume of medications (16.5% more than in 2006). However, due to the economic recession in 2009 this growth started to slow down.
According to the forecasts, in 2019 per capita expenditure on medicine in Vietnam will rise from $16,13 (the level of 2008) to $60,30.
Today Pharmaceutical...
Jun 15th, 2010
Uptrend is Outlined on the Global Phenol Market
Uptrend is outlined on the global Phenol market, in 2010 the market will generally see demand increase, major part of it attributed to Asia.
In 2008 production output shrank due to the recession and amounted 7.2 mln tons. In 2009 relative improvement of the market was estimated for major regions, apart from the USA where the...
May 25th, 2010
Despite Brazil’s Attempts, U.S. Ethanol Proves Itself
While Brazil spends millions of dollars to persuade Americans otherwise - the facts show that American ethanol is superior to - and actually cheaper than - Brazilian ethanol. The Renewable Fuels Association reports a gallon of gasoline mixed with 10-percent ethanol from the U.S. would be 11 cents cheaper than a gallon of gas with...
May 25th, 2010
Biotechnology Industry Organization Spent $2.2M on Lobbying U.S. Government in 1Q
The Biotechnology Industry Organization spent $2.2 million lobbying the federal government in the first quarter on health care, agricultural, and economic issues affecting the biotech industry.
The spending marks a 15 percent boost from just over $1.9 million spent during the same period in 2009, according to a recent disclosure form.
The industry group, whose members include...
May 10th, 2010
Ethanol Industry: Too Big to De-Subsidize?
The ethanol lobby has been extremely successful over the course of the last decade in growing the industry into one of Washington’s favorite pet projects. A reported 76 percent of each dollar in subsidies to renewable energies is allocated to ethanol, including $5 billion in annual tax credits. Auto companies historically have been supportive of...
Apr 15th, 2010
EFSA to Provide Comprehensive Overview on Bisphenol A Safety by end May
BPA is permitted for use in food contact materials in the European Union, under Commission Directive 2002/72/EC of 6 August 2002 relating to plastic materials and articles intending to come into contact with foodstuffs. It is also permitted for food contact use in other countries such as the USA and Japan.
Bisphenol A (BPA) is a...
Apr 15th, 2010
US Navy Base to Produce Own Biofuel
A biodiesel production system that will enable the US Navy to produce its own sustainable fuel has been delivered to a base in South California, US.
The system, which can produce around 3-10 million gallons of biofuel annually, is a result of a close partnership between Biodiesel Industries and Navy and aerospace technology company Aerojet. Together...
Mar 23rd, 2010
Ethanol is Not the Fuel of the Future for U.S.
Tennessee Voices
The Tennessee Voices article on ethanol by Jaime Dachelet (”Ethanol provides many benefits,” March 10) reads like a free advertisement for Eco-Energy, a business that markets ethanol.
The writer, their director of public relations, dismisses as “bugaboo” any engine problems related to this form of alcohol distilled from corn.
Yet, as my friend and mechanic of...
Mar 10th, 2010
Recycling of non-bottle rigid plastics in USA
The American Chemistry Council recently released the 2008 report on the collection and recycling of post-consumer non-bottle rigid plastics across the United States. The report, found that in 2008, over 361 million lbs of post-consumer rigid plastics were collected for recycling nationwide, an increase of nearly 11% from 2007. Also, in North American markets, much...
Feb 25th, 2010
Ethylene prices in USA continue to rise during February
US ethylene prices continued to rise during February. March Nymex cleared ethylene settling and expiring at US$0.54/lb. The contract, which began trading in July 2009, settled for February last month at US$0.4675/lb. Ethylene trades in 100,000 lb lots per contract on the NYMEX’s Clearport system. In the overall cash markets, March ethylene traded up from...
Feb 17th, 2010
Oxea: Rise in Prices for Carboxylic Acids and Polyols
Effective immediately, US chemicals group Oxea (Dallas, Texas) will increase the prices for carboxylic acids and polyols. In Europe, the group will charge an additional EUR 100/t for 2-ethylhexanoid acid, butyric acid will cost an additional EUR 50/t and the price of both neopentylglycol and trimethylolpropane will rise by EUR 300/t.
The group also said it...
Feb 12th, 2010
Vero Beach to own Florida’s first bioethanol plant
Vero Beach, a joint venture between New Planet Energy and INEOS BioEnergy, will soon find out how much it will cost to build Florida’s first bioethanol plant.
Valero Beach has been planning to acquire Ocean Spray Cranberries’ former grapefruit-processing plant and turn it into a biofuels refinery.
If the construction of the plant goes ahead, it is...
Feb 9th, 2010
POET VP to discuss how co-products can expand options for ethanol producers
San Diego, Calif. - New ethanol co-products can help ethanol plants become true biorefineries, unlocking the additional potential of each kernel of corn.
POET Vice President of Commercial Development Scott Weishaar will discuss opportunities and challenges of adding such co-products to the ethanol production process at the Next Generation Bio-Based Chemicals Summit this week at the...
Feb 9th, 2010
Dow Chemicals to Close Freeport TDI plant
US firm Dow Chemical said it will permanently shut down its 100-kilotonne-per-year capacity toluene diisocyanate (TDI) production plant in Freeport, Texas.
Dow Polyurethanes will work with Dow Texas Operations to minimise the impact of this decision on the workforce, the company said.
The plant will close because the company found manufacturing TDI is no longer economically viable,...
Feb 2nd, 2010
US Gas Consumption Down, Biofuels Replacing Oil
Three years ago, petroleum-based gasoline consumption was the highest the U.S. had ever seen. But thanks in part to biofuels, including biodiesel and ethanol, the amount of gas we use has actually gone down since the peak of 2007.
This article in the Kansas City Star says that while the recession and the increased popularity of...