Todays Latest Updates: 18 May 2026

Biobased chemicals: Thailand. NatureWorks, the leading manufacturer of polylactic acid (PLA) biopolymers made from renewable resources, today announced the grand opening of its new fully integrated Ingeo™ biopolymer manufacturing facility in Nakhon Sawan, Thailand. The new site brings together lactic acid production derived from locally sourced sugarcane, lactide monomer production, and polymer manufacturing in a single, fully integrated complex. Link 18/05/2026.

Bioecomony: Europe. A new Bioeconomy Investment Group is being set up to help Europe’s sustainable industries secure the funding they need to grow. The group aims to reduce financial risks for investors, create clear funding standards, and bring together public and private money. Europe leads in bioeconomy research, yet the European Investment Bank Group’s recent study, Scaling up Europe’s bio-based industries, confirms that the sector suffers from structural financing gaps at the most capital-intensive stages of the innovation curve: pilot to demonstration, and demonstration to first-of-a-kind industrial deployment and commercialisation. Link 18/05/2026.

Biofuels: Denmark. Topsoe has entered into an agreement with Texas based, BioVeritas, a sustainable fuels and chemicals technology company commercializing a platform to unlock advantaged feedstocks for existing infrastructure. The agreement will enable fuel producers to license Topsoe’s HydroFlex® technology alongside the BioVeritas Process™ to produce renewable fuels from second-generation feedstocks, such as woody biomass, corn stover, wheat straw, and similar waste and residual biomass. Link 18/05/2026.

Biogas: Hungary. MOL is expanding the biogas plant in Szarvas with a biomethane plant. The plant is expected to be completed by the end of the year and will produce more than 7 million cubic meters of biomethanes that will generate natural gas in the gas network every year. Link 18/05/2026.

Hydrogen: Sweden. Swedish e-fuels developer Liquid Wind filed for bankruptcy, putting major green methanol plans in Örnsköldsvik, Sundsvall and other Swedish cities under fresh pressure. Liquid Wind has filed for bankruptcy, according to Swedish reports, creating immediate uncertainty around several planned green shipping-fuel projects in northern Sweden. The company had been developing multi-billion-krona e-methanol projects in Örnsköldsvik, Sundsvall, Umeå and Östersund, with the Örnsköldsvik project planned next to Övik Energi’s Hörneborgsverket site. The bankruptcy filing came only days after Liquid Wind submitted an environmental permit application for its EFÖvik electrofuel facility in Örnsköldsvik. Link 18/05/2026.