There are about four generations in a century. That used to be five, but today youngsters take more time to start a new generation. In some technological fields, such as electronics, the reverse trend can be seen
new generations follow each other faster and faster. In our corner of the world (process technology), however, it still takes some 25 years from proof-of-principle to commercial application. The latest example of this is flow chemistry: since the 1990’s its advantages have been clear, but only now the first mentions of sales of actual plants are beginning to appear. Both Flowid and Chemtrix recently announced several sales of their micro reactors. Interestingly – all to India and Japan. If anything was sold closer to home, it was kept a closely guarded secret. Many ‘green’ technologies are being developed now for the sustainable production of chemical building blocks such as FDCA or bio-propanol. But keep those 25 years in mind when you think of their contribution to a sustainable economy.