Renegy Holdings announces corporatereorganisation
Renegy Holdings Inc (Renegy), awholly-owned subsidiary of CatalyticaEnergy Systems Inc, has announcedthe resignation of Howard Hoffen,chairman and chief executive officerof Metalmark Capital LLC, from itsBoard of Directors. Renegy regretfullyrequested the resignation of MrHoffen to enable it better to satisfycertain listing criteria of NASDAQpursuant to an application submittedby Renegy for the inclusion of Renegycommon stock on the NASDAQ StockMarket.
Press release from: Renegy Holdings, Tempe, AZ,USA. Tel: +1 650 631 2847. Website:http://www.CatalyticaEnergy.com (17 Sep 2007)
Chemico Chemicals offers twoantimony products
Chemico Chemicals has launched twoantimony products namely antimonyglycolate and antimony pentoxide.The antimony glycolate brandedChemico C-15 finds use as a catalystin production of polyethyleneterephthalate, polycondensation, andwith titanium based catalyst forpolyester. The antimony pentoxide isbranded as Chemico A-40, for usewith a halogenated flame retardant.
Purchase, Jun 2007, 30 (6), 196
Diversa, Celunol merge
Diversa and Celunol have merged tocreate Verenium. Verenium, whichconsists of Specialty Enzymes andBiofuels business units, will focus onthe conversion of biomass-basedsugars into fuels using specialityenzymes. The new company also hasa separate R&D arm. Verenium isexpected to enter the commercialmarket with the large-scalemanufacture of cellulosic ethanol fromvarious biomass feedstocks.
Speciality Chemicals, Jul/Aug 2007, 27 (6), 12
Dyadic fires its CEO
Dyadic, a US producer of enzymes formaking ethanol from cellulose, hasfired its CEO and president, MarkEmalfarb, alleging that he kept thecompany uninformed of “questionablefinancial dealings”. The company is
discontinuing its Asian operations andEmalfarb is contesting his dismissal.
ICIS Chemical Business, 1 Oct 2007, 272 (12), 12
Enantis to launch yperite disposalenzyme
Enantis (Brno, Czech Republic),biotechnology spin-off firm, will launchan yperite disposal enzyme shortly.The enzyme is non-toxic and is notaggressive towards commonstructural materials. The new methodof yperite disposal holds a Czechpatent. It was developed by scientistsfrom the Faculty of Natural Sciencesof the Masaryk University in Brno,Czech Republic, and the MilitaryTechnical Institute of the CzechRepublic in two years. The technologyis usable in the military as well as civilsectors.
Ekonom, 6 Sep 2007, 51 (36), 16 (in Czech)
Danisco collaborates with DONG Energyin second generation bioethanol
Danisco’s enzymes division Genencorand the energy company DONGEnergy are to enter into a collaborativeagreement for the production of secondgeneration bioethanol. Genencor,together with DONG Energy, Statoil,and AgBioEnergy, will apply for publicsupport for the establishment of ademonstration plant at Kalundborg.Genencor will supply enzymes to thisplant and Danisco will participate in oneof the leading European developmentcentres for second generationbioethanol. The plant, which should beready in time for the climate summit in2009, will be able to handle 4 tonnes ofhay per hour, equivalent to a productionof 4500 tonne/y bioethanol.
Net Posten, 14 & 18 Sep 2007 (Website:http://www.netposten.dk/) (in Danish) & Press releasefrom: Danisco A/S, Langebrogade 1, PO Box 17, DK-1001 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Tel: +45 32 66 20 00.Fax: +45 32 66 21 75. Website:http://www.danisco.com (14 Sep 2007)
Haldor Topsoe: low-temperaturesulfuric acid catalysts catching on
Haldor Topsoe has registered doubledigit growth in worldwide sales in2006 and expects to become thenumber one producer of catalysts foruse in sulfuric acid production. TheTokyo office is set to promotecatalysts for desulfurization and
manufacture of hydrogen, syngas,and sulfuric acid used in the oilrefining, petrochemical, andnonferrous smelting industries. Thecompany’s VK69 cesium-promotedcatalysts have obtained a warmmarket response. It is said to beactive at ultralow temperature andenhance the final conversion rate atthe lower portion of intermediateabsorption towers.
Japan Chemical Week, 13 Sep 2007, 48 (2432), 8
JM restructures for simplicity
Johnson Matthey has consolidated itsoperations under a new structure thatis focused on more market-facingoperations. The company combinedthe former Pharmaceutical Materialsdivision with segments of the formerProcess Catalysts & Technologiesbusiness into the new Fine Chemicals& Catalysts division, which will focus onspeciality chemicals andpharmaceutical markets. The companyalso combined the EnvironmentalCatalysts & Technologies business andthe Fuel Cells business into the newEnvironmental Technologies division.The company retained the PreciousMetal Products division, while theformer Ceramics division was divestedin Feb 2007. Johnson Matthey posted arevenue of €9.093 bn for the year2006-2007, up 25% or €2.149 bn. Pre-tax profits were 18% higher at €334.8 M.
Speciality Chemicals, Jul/Aug 2007, 27 (6), 16
JM to start catalyst production inKrasnoyarsk
Krasnoyarskii zavod tsvetnykhmetallov (KZTsM, Krasnoyarsk plantof nonferrous metals, Russia) is oneof the leading domestic platinoidprocessing plants. Johnson Matthey(UK) intends to produce catalysts forthe automotive industry based oncapacity at KZTsM. Planned output is1 M catalysts each year. The projectwill cost around $30 M. The first stagewill begin production at the end of2007 and the second in 2010.
Kommersant, 29 Aug 2007, (155), 25 (in Russian)
Nippon Shokubai FY2006-2007:environment and catalysts business
For its fiscal 2006 (period ends 31Mar 2007), the environment and
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