Locally sourced materials
The first batches of biosourced isobutene have been manufactured at this unit in March 2022.
This new and fully French production chain, using raw materials sourced locally, was established thanks to developments in the manufacturing process, which now relies on subcontractors both upstream (industrial fermentation) and downstream (green chemistry). All of that fully on schedule according to Global Bioenergies.
Commercial launch at in-cosmetics in Paris
The commercial launch of the first renewable isododécane will take place under the “Isonaturane 12” brand at in-cosmetics in Paris from 5 to 7 April, 2022.
“The in-cosmetics show is a great place to showcase innovations and the ideal venue to launch a new ingredient on the market. It will represent a new milestone for Global Bioenergies: Isonaturane 12 has cleared all the regulatory hurdles. It has been validated at market scale with our LAST make-up brand, the first in the world to combine longwear, waterproof and no transfer properties with natural origin. Our aim is now to distribute this innovative ingredient to players in the field, in order to help them convert their make-up ranges to naturalness without any compromise on performance. The start-up of the new unit will enable us to respond to sampling requests from numerous prospects, and complete referencing procedures prior to the commercial delivery of material in the second half of 2022,” said Daphne Galvez, Global Bioenergies Head of Sales.
Accelerated scale-up prospects
According to Global Bioenergies, the success of the unit’s start-up without any major difficulties means that the scale-up schedule can be accelerated: the Company now expects to reach full capacity by the end of 2022, rather than over 18 months as initially projected. That will take the unit’s isobutene annual production capacity to 100 tonnes. The isobutene will then be converted into isododecane for the make-up ingredients market.
The scale-up to 1,000 tonnes, planned for late 2024 or early 2025, is starting to look like a realistic prospect. The aim will be to target the broader dermo-cosmetics and hair care markets.
Beyond personal care products, Global Bioenergies continues to target the much larger aviation biofuels market by 2026 or 2027. Using the ingredient in this sector will bring a significant environmental impact (CO2 reductions), while at the same time helping reduce Europe’s energy dependency.
“The fight against global warming and the quest to achieve Europe’s strategic challenges have become central concerns across the board, and remind us of the relevance of the Company’s strategy and investments since its creation in 2008. Our target markets, cosmetic ingredients in the short term and aviation biofuels in the medium term, are booming: the number of potential customers is increasing rapidly, as are the potential competitors for our Company. We can now state that our process, patiently developed over more than 10 years, is unique and offers specific and decisive advantages that will enable us to compete in the cosmetic ingredients market. In the aviation biofuels market, it will be necessary to improve performance further, but we believe that to be achievable within 12 to 24 months. We will then boast the best fermentation process in the world to decarbonise air transport,” concluded Marc Delcourt, Chief Executive Officer of Global Bioenergies.