Oil-service provider Petrofac is to pay out a total GBP77 million (USD104.6 million) after pleading guilty to seven separate counts of failure to prevent bribery to win over GBP2.6 billion (USD3.5 billion) in Middle East contracts. In a case brought by the UK Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Her Honour Judge Deborah Taylor October 4 sentenced the Jersey-based contractor in Southwark Crown Court to pay GBP47,197,640 (USD64,208,613) in fines, a GBP22,836,985 (USD31,066,704) confiscation order plus the SFO’s GBP7 million (USD9.5 million) costs.…

Food manufacturers across the European Union (EU) may pay more for their ingredients because of new EU rules requiring farmers to undertake additional work to get the same subsidies, while the cost of fuel and fertiliser is also rising.

“I think you will see that the industry will, at least initially, eat some of the price increases,” predicted Gunnar Kvistgaard, director of Denmark-based 1A Food Consulting.…

Growth in demand for and production of renewable diesel is set to disrupt the global liquid fuels sector, with major increases in refining capacity being developed now. Renewable diesel has major potential as a transitional alternative energy source, because, unlike standard biofuels, in its highest quality form, it is chemically identical to fossil fuel diesel. …

Sub-Saharan Africa has natural resources that aids the development of renewable energy, it has lots of sun, plentiful wind, and much potentially sustainable biomass. With the development of small-scale affordable renewable energy technologies, such systems have been promoted by major aid agencies keen to prevent deforestation and excessive reliance on fossil fuels, that – even where they are plentiful, have not usually led to widespread economic development.

THE FINNISH can manufacturing industry has been growing, with new production coming online in the past 10 years to diversify a sector that is able to draw on effective access to raw materials and a highly skilled workforce.

Both Rexam (now part of Ball) and Poland-based Canpack operate efficient Finnish can-making plants.…

INTRODUCTION

Think of finishing and some consumers may conclude that integrating chemicals with or within fibres will always be the most effective way to create a performance or protective textile. But the reality is that applying coatings to textiles and yarns is anything but superficial as a finishing technique.…

Production of a new drop-in biofuel that is truly user-friendly for the USA automotive industry – especially for trucks and larger pick-ups – is expected to boom in the next three years, as major refineries for ‘renewable diesel’ come onstream.

While it uses the same soy or other bio-feedstock as traditional biodiesel, the manufacturing process is completely different, and it is popular for automakers because it can be easily substituted for fossil fuels without changing combustion systems.…

Higher education institutions in Mozambique are now under legal pressure to replace lecturers who only have bachelors’ degrees with those who have masters and PhD qualifications. A law, the ‘Regulamento de licenciamento e funcionamento das Instituições só Ensino Superior decree 46/2018’, has been formally enforced since August (2021) a Mozambique government official told UWN.…

INTRODUCTION

Textile and clothing companies are well aware of two major trends driving sales in the industry – sustainability and digitisation. One is driven by the need to adopt sustainable manufacturing processes and materials, to boost sales amongst environmentally conscious consumers and reduce financial and regulatory costs associated with pollution and carbon emissions.…

The food halal market for Portugal, a largely Christian country that was in the early Middle Ages part of the Muslim world, has been expanding, serving a growing local Muslim community and Muslim tourists keen to taste Portuguese food.

Between 711 and 1249, most of Portugal was under Muslim rule, which influenced its language and culture.…