Gadi Rothenberg is Professor and Chair of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University. For the past 30 years, he has been teaching courses on catalysis, scientific writing and innovation and entrepreneurship. Rothenberg was voted ‘lecturer of the year’ by the chemistry students. He has published five books and 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, invented 16 patents and co-founded four companies. His current research interests include clean energy, biomass conversion, and creating value from waste.

• Preface xiiiNote on the Text xv1 Understanding the Principles of Sustainable Chemistry 11.1 Background: Chemistry and the Global Importance of Sustainability 21.2 Sustainable Chemistry as the Key to Sustainable Development 51.3 What Is 'Sustainable Chemistry'? 51.4 Industrial Examples 252 From Sustainable Science to Sustainable Business 352.1 Evaluating Sustainable Chemistry Ideas, Projects and Products 362.2 The SWOT Analysis 402.3 The PEST Analysis 442.4 Life-cycle Assessment: Quantifying and Qualifying Sustainability 512.5 Converting an Idea into a Business 532.6 Creating and Capturing Value in a Sustainable Business 612.7 Specific Barriers for Sustainable Chemistry Start-Ups 662.8 Co-Founders to Steal Horses with 672.9 Intellectual Property (IP) 682.10 Raising Investment 732.11 Further Reading 823 What's in the Water? 933.1 Taking Part in Europe's Researcher Mobility Programme 933.2 An Invention on the Beach 953.3 Water Quality Monitoring: A Real-Life Problem 973.4 First Experiments and Proof-of-Principle 1003.5 Written Agreements and Patent Application 1043.6 The Theory and Working Principles of the Sorbisamplers 1073.7 The Founding of Sorbisense 1113.8 Sampling Nitrate and Phosphorus in Rivers and Streams 1133.9 Growing the Company and Entering the Market 1163.10 Shifting to the Netherlands and a New Market: VOCs 1193.11 Growth Pains: The Challenge of Business Scale-Up 1243.12 Wastewater Sampling: A New Product and a New Market 1263.13 Takeover by Eurofins 1283.14 So What Have We Learned? 1294 Do-It-Yourself Chemical Company 1334.1 Focus, Hard Work and Organic Growth 1344.2 Hydrogen and More 1384.3 Diversifying to Other Catalytic Processes 1414.4 A Catalyst Development Company 1434.5 Growing the Company and Moving 1484.6 Investing Knowledge in Other Companies 1514.7 Further Growth and a 'Special Sauce' 1554.8 Expanding into Three Business Areas, All Catalysis Related 1564.9 Hire Good People and Keep Them Forever 1604.10 A Solid Company 1635 CO2 Conversion with Microbes and Electricity 1755.1 The Players Involved 1755.2 A Short Overview of the Chemistry and Technology 1765.3 How It All Started 1815.4 Mimicking a Three-Billion-Year-Old Natural Process 1855.5 Practical Barriers and Challenges 1865.6 A Working Process and a Scale-Up in Progress 1905.7 So What Did We Learn? 1936 Biomass Valorisation to Energy and Fuels 1976.1 A Short Overview of Petroleum Diesel and Biodiesel 1976.2 The Rise of Biodiesel in the Beginning of the 21st Century 2026.3 Esterification of Free Fatty Acids 2046.4 A Much Larger Market: Transesterification of Triglycerides 2126.5 An Overwhelming Market Interest 2206.6 The Founding of Yellow Diesel BV 2216.7 Building a Continuous Biodiesel Microplant 2236.8 Solarix: Making Biodiesel from the Ground Up 2256.9 More Exotic Variants: Jatropha Oil and Algae Oil 2296.10 Biodiesel: From Boom to Bust 2306.11 So What Did We Learn? 2317 Flight of the Phoenix 2357.1 An Exciting Hydrogen Carrier Concept 2367.2 Improved Technology at Small Scale 2387.3 The Solid Fuel Paradigm Shift 2407.4 Searching for a Stable Catalyst for Hydrogen Release 2447.5 Scaling Up the Technology: MOSES and JOSHUA 2547.6 For Lack of Hydrogen, the Phoenix Burns 2588 Waking Up the Sleeping Giant 2618.1 Contract Research or Own IP? 2628.2 The Secret Meeting and the Furanics 'Bible' 2678.3 Scaling Up from Grams to Tons: Too Big to Succeed? 2718.4 First Contract with NatureWorks 2738.5 Coca-Cola, Danone and the 'Golden Bottle' 2748.6 Completing the Route from Sugar to Plastic 2778.7 The Big Money: A Joint Venture with BASF 2788.8 Even More Money: Avantium Becomes a Publicly Listed Company 2798.9 The End of the Affair: BASF Steps Out of the JV 2838.10 A Positive Outlook for PEF, with a Sprinkling of Patience 2858.11 So What Have We Learned? 2879 Once in a Lifetime 2939.1 The Rocker Chemist 2939.2 Inspiration in Monterey 2949.3 The Incredible Accidental Discovery of Sticky Goo 2959.4 Media Attention and Lots of Opportunities 3039.5 The Boardroom Table and the Big Oven 3069.6 The Founding of Plantics BV 3089.7 Too Many Applications? 3099.8 A New CEO and a Business Vision for the Company 3119.9 R&D Projects Turning into Real Products 3139.10 Scaling Up Production to Multi-ton Scale 3149.11 Appointing an Advisory Board 3169.12 A License Business Model and a Broad Technology Platform 3179.13 More People, New Equipment and a New Building 3199.14 A New Strategic Partner: Saint-Gobain Invests in Plantics 3249.15 So What Did We Learn? 324References 326Index 329

Gadi Rothenberg is Professor and Chair of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University. For the past 30 years, he has been teaching courses on catalysis, scientific writing and innovation and entrepreneurship. Rothenberg was voted ‘lecturer of the year’ by the chemistry students. He has published five books and 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, invented 16 patents and co-founded four companies. His current research interests include clean energy, biomass conversion, and creating value from waste.

• Preface xiiiNote on the Text xv1 Understanding the Principles of Sustainable Chemistry 11.1 Background: Chemistry and the Global Importance of Sustainability 21.2 Sustainable Chemistry as the Key to Sustainable Development 51.3 What Is 'Sustainable Chemistry'? 51.4 Industrial Examples 252 From Sustainable Science to Sustainable Business 352.1 Evaluating Sustainable Chemistry Ideas, Projects and Products 362.2 The SWOT Analysis 402.3 The PEST Analysis 442.4 Life-cycle Assessment: Quantifying and Qualifying Sustainability 512.5 Converting an Idea into a Business 532.6 Creating and Capturing Value in a Sustainable Business 612.7 Specific Barriers for Sustainable Chemistry Start-Ups 662.8 Co-Founders to Steal Horses with 672.9 Intellectual Property (IP) 682.10 Raising Investment 732.11 Further Reading 823 What's in the Water? 933.1 Taking Part in Europe's Researcher Mobility Programme 933.2 An Invention on the Beach 953.3 Water Quality Monitoring: A Real-Life Problem 973.4 First Experiments and Proof-of-Principle 1003.5 Written Agreements and Patent Application 1043.6 The Theory and Working Principles of the Sorbisamplers 1073.7 The Founding of Sorbisense 1113.8 Sampling Nitrate and Phosphorus in Rivers and Streams 1133.9 Growing the Company and Entering the Market 1163.10 Shifting to the Netherlands and a New Market: VOCs 1193.11 Growth Pains: The Challenge of Business Scale-Up 1243.12 Wastewater Sampling: A New Product and a New Market 1263.13 Takeover by Eurofins 1283.14 So What Have We Learned? 1294 Do-It-Yourself Chemical Company 1334.1 Focus, Hard Work and Organic Growth 1344.2 Hydrogen and More 1384.3 Diversifying to Other Catalytic Processes 1414.4 A Catalyst Development Company 1434.5 Growing the Company and Moving 1484.6 Investing Knowledge in Other Companies 1514.7 Further Growth and a 'Special Sauce' 1554.8 Expanding into Three Business Areas, All Catalysis Related 1564.9 Hire Good People and Keep Them Forever 1604.10 A Solid Company 1635 CO2 Conversion with Microbes and Electricity 1755.1 The Players Involved 1755.2 A Short Overview of the Chemistry and Technology 1765.3 How It All Started 1815.4 Mimicking a Three-Billion-Year-Old Natural Process 1855.5 Practical Barriers and Challenges 1865.6 A Working Process and a Scale-Up in Progress 1905.7 So What Did We Learn? 1936 Biomass Valorisation to Energy and Fuels 1976.1 A Short Overview of Petroleum Diesel and Biodiesel 1976.2 The Rise of Biodiesel in the Beginning of the 21st Century 2026.3 Esterification of Free Fatty Acids 2046.4 A Much Larger Market: Transesterification of Triglycerides 2126.5 An Overwhelming Market Interest 2206.6 The Founding of Yellow Diesel BV 2216.7 Building a Continuous Biodiesel Microplant 2236.8 Solarix: Making Biodiesel from the Ground Up 2256.9 More Exotic Variants: Jatropha Oil and Algae Oil 2296.10 Biodiesel: From Boom to Bust 2306.11 So What Did We Learn? 2317 Flight of the Phoenix 2357.1 An Exciting Hydrogen Carrier Concept 2367.2 Improved Technology at Small Scale 2387.3 The Solid Fuel Paradigm Shift 2407.4 Searching for a Stable Catalyst for Hydrogen Release 2447.5 Scaling Up the Technology: MOSES and JOSHUA 2547.6 For Lack of Hydrogen, the Phoenix Burns 2588 Waking Up the Sleeping Giant 2618.1 Contract Research or Own IP? 2628.2 The Secret Meeting and the Furanics 'Bible' 2678.3 Scaling Up from Grams to Tons: Too Big to Succeed? 2718.4 First Contract with NatureWorks 2738.5 Coca-Cola, Danone and the 'Golden Bottle' 2748.6 Completing the Route from Sugar to Plastic 2778.7 The Big Money: A Joint Venture with BASF 2788.8 Even More Money: Avantium Becomes a Publicly Listed Company 2798.9 The End of the Affair: BASF Steps Out of the JV 2838.10 A Positive Outlook for PEF, with a Sprinkling of Patience 2858.11 So What Have We Learned? 2879 Once in a Lifetime 2939.1 The Rocker Chemist 2939.2 Inspiration in Monterey 2949.3 The Incredible Accidental Discovery of Sticky Goo 2959.4 Media Attention and Lots of Opportunities 3039.5 The Boardroom Table and the Big Oven 3069.6 The Founding of Plantics BV 3089.7 Too Many Applications? 3099.8 A New CEO and a Business Vision for the Company 3119.9 R&D Projects Turning into Real Products 3139.10 Scaling Up Production to Multi-ton Scale 3149.11 Appointing an Advisory Board 3169.12 A License Business Model and a Broad Technology Platform 3179.13 More People, New Equipment and a New Building 3199.14 A New Strategic Partner: Saint-Gobain Invests in Plantics 3249.15 So What Did We Learn? 324References 326Index 329

Gadi Rothenberg is Professor and Chair of Heterogeneous Catalysis and Sustainable Chemistry at the University of Amsterdam and Distinguished Visiting Professor at Tsinghua University. For the past 30 years, he has been teaching courses on catalysis, scientific writing and innovation and entrepreneurship. Rothenberg was voted ‘lecturer of the year’ by the chemistry students. He has published five books and 250 papers in peer-reviewed journals, invented 16 patents and co-founded four companies. His current research interests include clean energy, biomass conversion, and creating value from waste.

• Preface xiiiNote on the Text xv1 Understanding the Principles of Sustainable Chemistry 11.1 Background: Chemistry and the Global Importance of Sustainability 21.2 Sustainable Chemistry as the Key to Sustainable Development 51.3 What Is 'Sustainable Chemistry'? 51.4 Industrial Examples 252 From Sustainable Science to Sustainable Business 352.1 Evaluating Sustainable Chemistry Ideas, Projects and Products 362.2 The SWOT Analysis 402.3 The PEST Analysis 442.4 Life-cycle Assessment: Quantifying and Qualifying Sustainability 512.5 Converting an Idea into a Business 532.6 Creating and Capturing Value in a Sustainable Business 612.7 Specific Barriers for Sustainable Chemistry Start-Ups 662.8 Co-Founders to Steal Horses with 672.9 Intellectual Property (IP) 682.10 Raising Investment 732.11 Further Reading 823 What's in the Water? 933.1 Taking Part in Europe's Researcher Mobility Programme 933.2 An Invention on the Beach 953.3 Water Quality Monitoring: A Real-Life Problem 973.4 First Experiments and Proof-of-Principle 1003.5 Written Agreements and Patent Application 1043.6 The Theory and Working Principles of the Sorbisamplers 1073.7 The Founding of Sorbisense 1113.8 Sampling Nitrate and Phosphorus in Rivers and Streams 1133.9 Growing the Company and Entering the Market 1163.10 Shifting to the Netherlands and a New Market: VOCs 1193.11 Growth Pains: The Challenge of Business Scale-Up 1243.12 Wastewater Sampling: A New Product and a New Market 1263.13 Takeover by Eurofins 1283.14 So What Have We Learned? 1294 Do-It-Yourself Chemical Company 1334.1 Focus, Hard Work and Organic Growth 1344.2 Hydrogen and More 1384.3 Diversifying to Other Catalytic Processes 1414.4 A Catalyst Development Company 1434.5 Growing the Company and Moving 1484.6 Investing Knowledge in Other Companies 1514.7 Further Growth and a 'Special Sauce' 1554.8 Expanding into Three Business Areas, All Catalysis Related 1564.9 Hire Good People and Keep Them Forever 1604.10 A Solid Company 1635 CO2 Conversion with Microbes and Electricity 1755.1 The Players Involved 1755.2 A Short Overview of the Chemistry and Technology 1765.3 How It All Started 1815.4 Mimicking a Three-Billion-Year-Old Natural Process 1855.5 Practical Barriers and Challenges 1865.6 A Working Process and a Scale-Up in Progress 1905.7 So What Did We Learn? 1936 Biomass Valorisation to Energy and Fuels 1976.1 A Short Overview of Petroleum Diesel and Biodiesel 1976.2 The Rise of Biodiesel in the Beginning of the 21st Century 2026.3 Esterification of Free Fatty Acids 2046.4 A Much Larger Market: Transesterification of Triglycerides 2126.5 An Overwhelming Market Interest 2206.6 The Founding of Yellow Diesel BV 2216.7 Building a Continuous Biodiesel Microplant 2236.8 Solarix: Making Biodiesel from the Ground Up 2256.9 More Exotic Variants: Jatropha Oil and Algae Oil 2296.10 Biodiesel: From Boom to Bust 2306.11 So What Did We Learn? 2317 Flight of the Phoenix 2357.1 An Exciting Hydrogen Carrier Concept 2367.2 Improved Technology at Small Scale 2387.3 The Solid Fuel Paradigm Shift 2407.4 Searching for a Stable Catalyst for Hydrogen Release 2447.5 Scaling Up the Technology: MOSES and JOSHUA 2547.6 For Lack of Hydrogen, the Phoenix Burns 2588 Waking Up the Sleeping Giant 2618.1 Contract Research or Own IP? 2628.2 The Secret Meeting and the Furanics 'Bible' 2678.3 Scaling Up from Grams to Tons: Too Big to Succeed? 2718.4 First Contract with NatureWorks 2738.5 Coca-Cola, Danone and the 'Golden Bottle' 2748.6 Completing the Route from Sugar to Plastic 2778.7 The Big Money: A Joint Venture with BASF 2788.8 Even More Money: Avantium Becomes a Publicly Listed Company 2798.9 The End of the Affair: BASF Steps Out of the JV 2838.10 A Positive Outlook for PEF, with a Sprinkling of Patience 2858.11 So What Have We Learned? 2879 Once in a Lifetime 2939.1 The Rocker Chemist 2939.2 Inspiration in Monterey 2949.3 The Incredible Accidental Discovery of Sticky Goo 2959.4 Media Attention and Lots of Opportunities 3039.5 The Boardroom Table and the Big Oven 3069.6 The Founding of Plantics BV 3089.7 Too Many Applications? 3099.8 A New CEO and a Business Vision for the Company 3119.9 R&D Projects Turning into Real Products 3139.10 Scaling Up Production to Multi-ton Scale 3149.11 Appointing an Advisory Board 3169.12 A License Business Model and a Broad Technology Platform 3179.13 More People, New Equipment and a New Building 3199.14 A New Strategic Partner: Saint-Gobain Invests in Plantics 3249.15 So What Did We Learn? 324References 326Index 329