Several companies are developing new cleaner fuels Cleaner fuels As controls on exhaust emissions are becoming tighter producers are meeting the challenge to develop cleaner fuels. Elf Elf has launched a new fuel (Europe Environment 530 p II.4) which is claimed to reduce emissions by up to 25% as well as reduce fuel consumption by up to 5%. Shell Shell has launched an improved diesel (Shell UK Focus 10 27) which has a sulfur content at least 90% lower than standard diesel and produces fewer particulates and less smoke. The Rentech gas-to-liquids process Rentech Rentech based in Denver Colorado is currently promoting its patented technology which it claims produces fuels which exceed all current and proposed US federal and state diesel emission requirements.The process is based on Fischer-Tropsch technology which does not involve sulfur making the fuels sulfur-free. Furthermore the fuels produced contain no aromatics (making them devoid of carcinogens) burn with 80-90% less smoke than other diesels and emit less CO and NOx. For more information see http://www.gastoliquids.com. C G N EWS BP Amoco BP Amoco has announced that its service stations in the UK are to be the first in its worldwide network to move to selling an ultra-low-sulfur diesel. The new fuel already available at 75% of the company’s 1600 sites across Britain will soon be available to the remainder. BP Greener Diesel as the fuel is known emits 90% less sulfur dioxide and nearly a third less particulates and black smoke than standard diesel.This is the first phase of a much larger investment which the company plans over the next 6 years to produce a range of cleaner fuels that maximise performance but minimise exhaust emissions. A high-activity HDS catalyst for diesel fuel Cosmo Oil and Petroleum Energy Center (PEC) have developed a new hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst of high activity C-603A to produce clean diesel fuel whose sulfur content is less than 0.05 mass %. The preparation of this catalyst combines the use of zeolite technology and impregnation technology to provide excellent HDS activity [Catalysis Today 45(1-4) 307-312]. C-603A possesses significantly higher activity than conventional Co-Mo/alumina catalysts.Industrial operation with this catalyst has successfully proven its high performance. New industrial processes 7-ADCA DSM will be commissioning its new 7-ADCA (7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporinic acid) plant at Delft at the end of 2000. The new facility which will create several dozen new jobs will manufacture this semisynthetic antibiotic raw material using a new green process involving genetically modified strains of Penicillium. According to the company this innovation will substantially reduce the cost of production cutting energy consumption by 35% doing away with the need for toluene (30 tonnes/year) and reducing the use of other solvents from 25 tonnes/year to just several kg/year. The new facility will have a capacity of several 100 tonnes/year Green Chemistry April 1999 G31 N EWS C G which is roughly the same as DSM's existing 7-ADCA unit; this will eventually be used for other purposes.For further information see http://www.dsmr.com. Ethyl acetate A team from the Qingdao Institute of Chemical Technology in China has developed a novel process for the production of ethyl acetate from ethanol and acetic acid. In this process sulfuric acid is replaced by zeolite H-ZSM5. Despite the fact that the conversion is slightly lower than with the conventional process the new route reduces waste and corrosion to plant is also less extending plant lifetime (Xiangdai Huagong 18(11) 49). VAM BP Amoco has announced a new technology (called LEAP) which is being used to produce Vinyl Acetate Monomer (VAM).The new process involves the same raw materials—acetic acid ethylene and oxygen as the current process. However the benefits derive from advanced reactor design and process engineering. The new system relies on a fluidised bed reactor incorporating new reactor and catalyst design and allows substantial downsizing of the plant. The new plant will be situated at the company’s site in Hull UK and will be commissioned at the end of 2000. Production volumes will be 250 000 tonnes/year. For further information see http://www.bp amoco.com. and for an article on the impact of the intensive processing on green chemistry see Green Chemistry 1(1) G15-G17.Pigment intermediate Wakayama Seika Kogyo a Japanese manufacturer has announced a new process for the preparation of its dichlodine-H yellow pigment intermediate. The technique produces the pigment with a drainage volume of virtually zero while reducing the output of wastes to 40%. Global demand for the final pigment is ca. 20,000 tonnes/year. 3 Bn Yen will be invested in the new technology at its Kainan site in Wakayama Prefecture. The first material is due to be produced in 2000 [Japan Chemical Week 39(2004) 3]. Potassium dithiocarbamate-derived oil additives A newly developed clean technology developed at the National Ukrainian Academy of Sciences at Kiev for production of a highly pure potassium Filaments of the nitrogen-fixing cyanobacterium Nostoc 73102 forming heterocysts (h; site of nitrogen fixation) and vegetative cells (v; harbouring a complete photosynthesis) G32 Green Chemistry April 1999 dithiocarbamate additive (used as oxidation inhibitor in lubricating oils) consists of synthesis of 3-aminothiolane- 1,1-dioxide from butadiene sulfur dioxide and ammonia in isopropanol (yield 85 to 90% by butadiene mass) and subsequent conversion of the resulted amine with hydrogen sulfide and potassium hydroxide in water-ethanol medium at 30 to 40°C for 3.5 h to potassium (1,1-dioxothiolan-3-yl)dithiocarbamate (yield 80.8% by amine mass) and potassium ethylxanthogenate by-product.Neither wastewaters nor solid wastes were formed. The process has been implemented in a commercial plant (capacity 150 tonnes/year) (Khim.Tekhnol. Topl. Masel 4 19-20). Renewable resources Cyanobacteria as producers of molecular hydrogen—a clean and renewable energy source 2 Hydrogen is a potential renewable replacement for fossil fuels. An attractive possibility is the direct splitting of water for generation of H2 using solar radiation. This splitting can be achieved either in photochemical fuel cells or by applying photovoltaics which directly utilizes solar radiation for electrolysis of water into H and O2. The third and most challenging option according to Dr Peter Lindblad (Department of Physiological Botany Uppsala University Sweden) is the 2 2 production of hydrogen by photosynthetic microorganisms.For photobiological H production cyanobacteria are among the ideal candidates since they have minimal nutritional requirements. They can thrive on air (N2 and CO2) water (electrons and reductant) and mineral salts with light as the only energy source. Cultivation is therefore simple and relatively inexpensive. In N2-fixing cyanobacteria H2 is mainly produced by nitrogenases but its partial consumption is quickly catalyzed by a unidirectional uptake hydrogenase. In addition a bidirectional (reversible) enzyme may also oxidize some of the molecular hydrogen. Filamentous cyanobacteria have been used in bioreactors for the photobiological conversion of water to hydrogen. However the conversion efficiencies achieved are low because the net H2 production is the result of H2 evolution via a nitrogenase and H2 consumption mainly via an uptake hydrogenase.In order to achieve significant H production rates over long time the following need to be considered l the strains used must be selected for their specific hydrogen metabolism. l the selected strains must be genetically engineered in order to produce large amounts of H2 (e.g. to increase the H2 evolution by nitrogenase and/or by the bidirectional hydrogenase as well as through the production of mutants deficient in H2 uptake activity). l the overall conditions for cultivation in bioreactors must be improved. Symbiotic cells are of fundamental interest since they in situ ‘function as a bioreactor’—high metabolism transfer of metabolite(s) from symbiont to host (‘bioreactor’) but almost no growth.Moreover international coordination is necessary and at present two major initiatives can be recognized l IEA (http://www.iea.org) Agreement of the Production and Utilization of Hydrogen Annex 14. l COST 8.18 (continues as COST 8.41) (http://www.cordis.lu/cost/). More information see Hansel A. and Lindblad P. (1998) Mini-Review Towards optimization of cyanobacteria as biotechnologically relevant producers of molecular hydrogen a clean and renewable energy source. (Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 50 153-160) and http://www.fysbot.uu. se/fysbot/Cyano/Cyanomain5.html Monsanto stops Biopol project Scientists at the U.S.Department of Agriculture have developed wheat-based concrete C G 1996. Though significantly below today’s costs for biodegradable polymers the cost of Biopol production is still estimated to be 25-50% higher than conventional commodity polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene. Moreover the earliest time to market is 2005. This expected cost premium of the future product and the length of time to commercialisation has limited large-scale conversion away from conventional polymers to Biopol. Facing these challenges Monsanto have over the past year sought a strategic alliance or investment partner to participate in further development of Biopol. It is as a result of failing to find such a partner that Monsanto have decided to stop the Biopol project.Wheat-based concrete Lightweight concrete products such as exterior panels for high-rise office buildings may soon be made with an unusual ingredient—wheat starch. The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) chief research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture and Artlo Industries Inc. of Perris California have entered into a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement today in Washington D.C. to develop test and commercialize wheat-based concrete. Artlo Industries provides concrete products for some of the world's largest construction corporations as well as for other architectural design and engineering firms. Under the new agreement ARS scientists in Albany California will provide samples of wheat-based aggregate for making the concrete to Artlo Industries.Artlo Industries will test various mixes of the concrete for strength and durability and will also determine cost-effective ways to manufacture lightweight pre-cast wheat starch-based concrete products for indoor and outdoor uses. At the ARS Western Regional Research Center in Albany plant physiologist Gregory Glenn will help develop specifications for commercial products. Glenn holds a patent for wheat-based concretes. For further information contact Martha B. Steinbock Technology Transfer Coordinator Pacific West Area Agricultural Research Service USDA 800 Buchanan St. Albany CA 94710 USA. Tel. (510) 559-5641 Fax (510) 559-5963 E-mail msteinbock@pw.usda.gov With the Biopol project Monsanto has been working on the twin objectives of delivering low-cost polymer in plants through biotechnology and winning acceptance in the market for the compostable materials based on renewable resources. Today this product is being produced through fermentation technology acquired with the purchase of the Biopol business from Zeneca in N E WS Green Chemistry April 1999 G33