£25.1bn UKRI funding
In March 2022, the UK government announced that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) would receive £25.1bn for the three next financial years, the first time it has received a multi-year budget since it was established four years ago. Now it has confirmed how UKRI will allocate this money, see footnote. Core budgets for all the research councils, as well as Innovate UK, will rise during this period.
Highwire act
We are now halfway to COP27 and three years after the UK set its Net Zero target. Meanwhile the UK, along with the rest of Europe, is facing a winter of extraordinary fuel bills as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its impact on the world energy markets. So where does the UK currently stand?
Enzyme for aromatics
A group in the US has opened the spigots for plants to make more aromatic compounds. This could allow crops to convert more atmospheric CO2 into high-value aromatic compounds, important precursors for pharmaceuticals, dyes, plastics, and commodity chemicals.
Origami robot
By using the principles of origami, researchers have produced a wirelessly propelled, mm-scale robot capable of swimming through bodily fluids, traversing organ surfaces and delivering liquid medicines. The new millibots promise to be useful for disease diagnosis, targeted drug delivery and minimally invasive surgery.
Fasting aids nerve repair
A diverse gut microbiome is now accepted as a key component of healthy living, but UK researchers add another surprising contribution. They report that a metabolite produced by a Clostridium bacterial species in the gut encouraged the repair of nerve injuries in lab mice. Read the full article.
Peas-y cheese
A researcher in Denmark is creating a base for plant-based cheese made from pea proteins. Rising pressure on natural resources and climate change is creating demand for alternatives to animal-based foodstuffs.
Methane leaks from bioenergy facilities
Facilities making biogas and biomethane can leak twice as much methane as previously believed, a new analysis has shown. Methane has a much stronger global warming potential than carbon dioxide and is responsible for at least one-quarter of global warming.
Business digest
The latest business digest for C&I Issue 7-8 2022 with all the latest mergers and acquisitions in the chemical industry.
M&A to increase in 2022
M&A activity in the chemicals sector has been declining since 2019, with a 29% decrease in deals value from the $333bn recorded in 2019 to the $236bn in 2021. The transaction size has also decreased sharply with less ‘mega-deals’ available. In 2019, 21% of recorded deals topped $10bn, compared with only 3% in 2021.