polymerguru

Meredian Inc., a privately held biopolymer manufacturer and one of the world's largest producers of PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), announced the receipt of an investment from the world class engineering and construction group, Perry-McCall. Prior to this investment decision, the group was selected and is currently building out Meredian's manufacturing facility to produce the completely biodegradable plastic. "As part of our validation of proof of concept and business model we addressed scalability with Tate and Lyle and modularity and buildout with Perry Mcall. Our model has been validated every step of the way by third party credible professional organizations," said Paul Pereira, Executive Chairman to the Board of Directors at Meredian Inc. In August 2013, the Engineering and Construction Group of Perry-McCall started working with the Engineering and Process Development Group at Meredian to create the design for the facility. After eight months of studying the process...

Ask anyone in the automotive design or engineering community what technologies they are working on to lower emissions and improve fuel economy and half the time you'll hear "lightweighting," according to the results of a July WardsAuto survey sponsored by DuPont. Also topping the list are engine efficiency programs, vehicle electrification and adoption of diesel for engines. Sixty six percent of the nearly 900 respondents said again this year that the 2017-2025 CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards) could get more stringent as a result of the upcoming mid-term reviews. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) standards require, on an average industry fleet-wide basis, 163 g/mile of CO 2  in model year 2025, which would be equivalent to 54.5 mpg (4.3 L/100km) if this level were achieved solely through improvements in fuel efficiency. "The automotive industry is racing to develop safe, fun and affordable vehicles that are much more fuel efficient a...

LAUNCH is an open innovation platform that was founded by NASA, NIKE, The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and The U.S. Department of State to identify and foster breakthrough ideas for a more sustainable world. LAUNCH aims to move beyond incremental change and make an impact at a system-wide level. LAUNCH is currently focused on positively transforming the system of materials and manufacturing, which can have dramatic social, environmental and economic impacts on the world. In order to harness the innovation needed to advance this system, LAUNCH has issued a series of global challenges to address key barriers. Its current challenge focuses on green chemistry, a crucial component in a sustainable materials and manufacturing system. A portfolio of approximately 10 innovators will be selected for support, networking, and mentoring from influential business and government leaders. With this LAUNCH System Challenge: Green Chemistry, LAUNCH seeks innovations that l...

Genomatica announced that major nylon intermediates – including hexamethylenediamine, caprolactam and adipic acid (HMD, CPL and ADA) – are the focus of its third publicly-disclosed development program. Genomatica is developing complete process technologies for the biobased production of these intermediates, which it will then license to major firms in the nylon value chain. These three chemicals, with a total market of over $18 billion per year, are used primarily in the production of nylon 6 and nylon 6,6, also referred to as the polyamides PA 6 and PA 6,6. Genomatica has been building a comprehensive set of nylon program assets over the last few years. The nylon program builds on a large body of intellectual property (IP), which includes but is not limited to eight issued U.S. patents and numerous pending applications worldwide, as well as trade secrets that include engineered strains, with some of the IP developed internally and some from a recent IP acquisition. A number of the...