Articles in Process
by David Glass (D Glass Associates) One of the morning sessions at the Tenth Annual BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology put four of the companies in the forefront of commercial development of cellulosic ethanol …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Not quite a year after opening a demonstration facility, Switzerland-based specialty chemicals company Clariant AG announced that it has expanded the feedstocks successfully converted to cellulosic ethanol beyond wheat …
Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Is the ultimate industrial fuel system going to be based on electricity, waste CO2 and brackish water – to return society to the days of energy abundance? It will take a …
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A new proposed rulemaking from the U.S. EPA includes several possible modifications to the renewable fuel standard program, including categorizing as advanced biofuels ethanol produced from corn fiber and …
(University of Illinois/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Two University of Illinois scientists have developed an environmentally friendly and more economical way of pretreating miscanthus in the biofuel production process.
“We pretreat the biomass with switchable butadiene sulfone in the …
(Enerkem/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Enerkem Inc. announced the launch of a new research project with the government of Canada. The objective of the project is to develop new catalytic processes for the conversion of waste into …
by Dan Seif (Mother Earth News/Rocky Mountain Institute) Advanced, non-food biofuels are gaining momentum in 2013 as several new plants have gathered the capital and momentum for large-scale production.
…
Despite sparse media coverage, significant volumes of …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) DoD goes forward, after internal wrangle, with advanced biofuels program via $16M phase 1 investment.
With industry cost share, project totals $33M: aims for sub-$4, drop-in military biofuels.
In Washington, the DoD …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Beyond biomass, beyond fossil fuels, beyond light itself. And now, the direct production of drop-in biofuel blendstocks. All available from a microbial “cow”.
This week in California, a research team from …
by Lynn Yarris(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) Joint BioEnergy Institute Researchers Develop Enzyme-free Ionic Liquid Pre-treatment
Advanced biofuels – liquid fuels synthesized from the sugars in cellulosic biomass – offer a clean, green and renewable alternative to …
(United Sorghum Checkoff Program) The Sorghum Checkoff in collaboration with the NCERC at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville (formerly the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center) is pleased to announce a successful bench-scale evaluation of sweet sorghum juice …
(Edeniq/Yahoo! News) Visalia Plant Milestone Signifies Greater Commercial Viability for Cellulosic Ethanol and Sugars
Edeniq, a biomaterials and sustainable fuels company, today announced the company’s first demonstration plant, located at its Visalia, CA headquarters, has completed …
by Barry Cohen (National Algae Association/PR Log) The DoE has spent $2.5 billion on algae research but to date nothing has been commercialized. Why? Because their mission is to develop technologies. It’s not their problem or …
by Adam Wilmoth (News OK) OSU researcher Gerald Schoenknecht and his team recently completed genome sequencing for an algae that thrives inside active volcanoes. The researchers hope to use their findings to help make tough …
(Enerkem/PR NewsWire) Enerkem Inc. (www.enerkem.com), a waste-to-biofuels and renewable chemicals company, announces the launch of a new research project with the Government of Canada. The objective of the project is to develop new catalytic processes for …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … In an exclusive Digest interview, Shell’s VP for Alternative Energy, Matthew Tipper, reveals the company’s thinking about RFS2, their increasing re-focus on North America and the EU. Plus, Shell’s ambition …
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) During a call to discuss its first quarter financial results, Syntroleum Corp. announced that Dynamic Fuels LLC’s renewable diesel plant in Geismar, La., is expected to resume operations in July. …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biofuels’s Montagues and Capulets were at it again last week — with a flurry of press releases about court decisions and commercial timelines regarding their respective isbutanol technologies.
At the heart …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) World’s #1 chemical company to produce renewable Butanediol using Genomatica’s process. The Digest has a one-on-one with Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling to explore the deal in-depth.
In Germany, BASF announced that …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …“Building on the first gallons of cellulosic diesel we shipped in March, we continue to make progress with operations at our Columbus facility,” said KiOR CEO Fred Cannon. “The on-stream …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Raises $80M at $10 per share; becomes first new industrial biotech company to complete IPO in more than a year. What went right and how? Is the IPO window re-opening?
…
First …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Gevo Inc. provided updated information on it Luverne, Minn., plant and patent dispute with Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC as part of its recent first quarter 2013 financial announcement.
During a …
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The International Energy Agency Bioenergy Task 39 group recently published a report that outlines progress on more than 100 advanced biofuel projects under development worldwide. The report, titled “Status …
by Fritz Bush (The Journal) A Sibley East High School sophomore earned a spot at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ESEF) in Phoenix next month for his research on the use of anaerobic …
(American Chemical Society) Scientists today reported a discovery that could speed an emerging effort to replace ethanol in gasoline with a substantially better fuel additive called butanol, which some experts regard as “the gasoline of …
by Kathy Robertson (Sacramento Business Journal) Novozymes Inc. is staffing up to support a $2.5 million Department of Energy contract to find new and more efficient enzymes for turning corn leaves and stalks into fuel for …
by Carlin Rosengarten (Fueling Growth) Nearly 30 years ago, Paul Woods invented the Direct to Ethanol technology that his company, Algenol Biofuels, utilizes today to produce ethanol from blue-green algae at its state-of-the-art commercial development campus …
(Prime Minister of Canada Stephen Harper) The Government of Canada is committed to investing in innovative clean energy technologies that create high-quality jobs, generate new economic opportunities and protect the environment.
To this end, on May …
(SEKAB) SEKAB E-Technology welcomes SP Technical Research Institute of Sweden’s (SP) engagement in the Biorefinery Demo Plant in Örnsköldsvik, previously known as the Ethanol Pilot. SP and SEKAB have signed an agreement, which ensures continued …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Norway, Norwegian Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen officially inaugurated the Borregaard biorefinery demonstration plant in Sarpsborg, which will produce green chemicals and sugars based on biomass from wood and agricultural …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) With a fresh investment from Brazil’s GranBio, American Process Inc. is poised to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in both the U.S. and Brazil. API CEO Theodora …
by Russ White (MLive) … Michigan State University leads research of bioenergies and biofuels through AgBioResearch and the Kellogg Biological Station and partnerships with coalitions such as the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and the Global …
by Ann Perry (US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service) A new strain of yeast that could help streamline cellulosic ethanol costs and production has been developed by U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) researchers. This …
(National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Enzymes could break down cell walls faster – leading to less expensive biofuels for transportation – if two enzyme systems are brought together in an industrial setting, new research …
(Metso) Domtar has successfully started up a commercial-scale LignoBoost™ lignin separation plant at its Plymouth, North Carolina mill, in the USA. This is the first commercial installation of a LignoBoost plant in the world and the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Promiscuous, because a zillion organisms know how to use photosynthesis, under a zillion set of circumstances, to turn simple and abundant molecular compounds — like carbon dioxide and water — …
by Min Zhang and Randy Schekman (Science Magazine) Most eukaryotic secretory proteins are directed into the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) by an amino-terminal signal peptide (leader sequence) and progress to the cell surface through vesicular flow via …
(Los Alamos National Laboratory/Biodiesel Magazine) …Los Alamos scientists and collaborators from The University of Guelph in Canada published an article in the scientific journal Nature Chemistry this week that could offer a big step on the path …
(American Chemical Society) The search for a less-expensive, sustainable source of biomass, or plant material, for producing gasoline, diesel and jet fuel has led scientists to duckweed, that fast-growing floating plant that turns ponds and …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The stock has not recovered much — but it’s remarkable the progress the company has made, all the same. Analysts are now expecting the company to bring its first production …
(Fresh Plaza) Bananas in poor condition could become a type of biofuel thanks to a study by the Canary Islands Technological Institute (ITC) with the support of the DISA Foundation.
Douglas Escalante (an intern of the …
by Andrew Noel (Bloomberg) Clariant AG (CLN) said it’s prepared to take on a partner and help fund a second-generation bioethanol plant to prove the effectiveness of its biotechnology and compete against Royal DSM NV …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Energy cane for California’s Imperial Valley? Canergy lines up Beta, CHS, Certis as partners for greenfield low-carbon fuel project slated for 2016 opening.
In California, Canergy announced that it has selected …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …It used to be that the outskirts of Honolulu had the dual scent of diesel and pineapple processing — but now, all you really smell is the diesel. Sugarcane and …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Advanced Biofuels Corp. has bought a legacy 7 MMgy ethanol plant in Moses Lake, Wash., with plans to retrofit existing systems and install new pretreatment process equipment, converting …
(The Wall Street Journal/Dyadic) …We are using that technology to produce enzymes for converting biomass into cellulosic sugars to produce second-generation fuels and chemicals, like ethanol, butanol, succinic acid, lactic acid, etc. We are also …
(Brookhaven National Laboratory) Promising results are a step toward a range of renewable energy strategies fueled by Nature
In a paper to be published in an upcoming issue of Energy & Environmental Science (now available online), …
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) On April 23 Joule Unlimited announced it was selected as a 2013 Bloomberg New Energy Pioneer by Bloomberg New Energy Finance. The award aims to recognize game-changing clean energy companies. …
by Aino Siirala (Advanced Biofuels USA) Steve Csonka, as director of Enviro Strategy and Ecomagination, GE Aviation, the world-leading provider of jet engines, gave an overview of the importance of renewable jet fuel specifications leading …
(US Department of Energy) The Bioenergy Technologies Office 2013 Project Peer Review will take place at the Hilton Alexandria Hotel from Monday, May 20, 2013, to Thursday, May 23, 2013. The peer review process will …
by Chris Hanson (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers from U.K.’s University of Bristol reported the development of new catalysts that are able to convert ethanol to butanol at the national meeting and exposition of the American Chemical …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) A team of Virginia Tech researchers have adapted existing technologies to make a new product, transforming cellulose into amylose. One target market for the amylose would be functional foods, said …
by Charles Q. Choi (TechNewsDaily/LiveScience) A new synthetic type of biofuel created by mixing and matching bits of DNA from different organisms could one day replace diesel and jet fuel, scientists say.
…The researchers devoted a …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to …
by Stuart Radnedge (GasWorld) Air Liquide has just signed a partnership agreement with the CEA (Commission for atomic energy and alternative energies in France) aiming to develop a second-generation biofuel production pilot unit in France.
As part …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Aemetis announced that its 60 million gallon per year capacity ethanol facility in Keyes, CA has completed maintenance and Advanced Biofuels retrofit, and is now restarting production.
Last December, …
by Pavel Molchanov (Raymond James and Associates/Biofuels Digest) …There is no question that there have been growing pains along the way, more than we would have hoped, but the industry continues along its trajectory towards scale. We …
(Science Daily) Stepping into unexplored territory in efforts to use corn stalks, grass and other non-food plants to make biofuels, scientists have described the discovery of a potential treasure-trove of candidate enzymes in fungi thriving …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The end-goal? High-value oils. Low-cost sugars become shock troops in the war for sustainability.
In New York, we’ve learned that Sweetwater Energy will announce a project today to provide Naturally Scientific …
by Anneli Waara (Algae Industry Magazine) …However, a group of researchers at Sweden’s Uppsala University, led by Senior Lecturer Fikret Mamedov and Professor Stenbjörn Styring, have just announced a discovery that changes the view on …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … LS9 CEO Tjerk de Ruiter announced the expansion of its operations at the Company’s Okeechobee, Florida demonstration facility with a successful customer trial.
The Florida facility was initially designed, and has …
by Aldo Svaldi (The Denver Post) Cool Planet Energy Systems took a step closer Friday to a corporate relocation and expansion that could bring nearly 400 jobs to the metro area and place the state …
(XS4Green.com) Ductor, the Finnish biotechnology company specializing in disruptive algae technology, announce today that Red Herring, a global media company, has named Ductor a winner of the Red Herring Europe 100 awards.
Ductor’s products and business …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …In Delaware, the United States District Court for the District of Delaware entered a final judgment in favor of Gevo and against Butamax Advanced Biofuels, LLC (Butamax), a 50/50 joint …
(Algae Industry Magazine) Premier of Queensland, Australia, Campbell Newman, has cut the ribbon on an advanced solar biofuels pilot plant designed to develop microalgae-based systems as a source of clean fuel and animal feeds.
The $3.5 …
by Emily Pickrell (FuelFix) On Jan. 1, Congress made algae-based fuel production eligible for a $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic biofuel production federal tax credit.
Cellulosic biofuels typically are made from woody, non-food material such as grasses or wood …
by David Wogan (Scientific American) The idea is straightforward: grow algae in large quantities and harvest the energy dense byproducts as an alternative to fossil fuels. Like larger plants, microalgae use solar energy to fix …
(EurekAlert!/American Chemical Society) Genes from the family of bacteria that produce vinegar, Kombucha tea and nata de coco have become stars in a project — which scientists today said has reached an advanced stage — …
(ENP Newswire/Cogeneration and On-Site Power Production) Abengoa (MCE: ABG.B), the international company that applies innovative technology solutions for sustainable development in the energy and environment sectors, has started operations at the demonstration plant that uses …
(Star-Advertiser) The state has invested $200,000 toward a initiative that seeks to develop an economically sustainable zero-waste conversion project in Hilo that will turn unmarketable papaya into biofuel and high-protein animal feed.
Gov. Neil Abercrombie presented …
(Maryland Technology Enterprise Institute/PR NewsWire) The $100K ACC Clean Energy Challenge, a business plan competition supported by the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) encouraging students from universities in the southeastern United …
(Virginia Tech News) A team of Virginia Tech researchers has discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to bring a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The International Energy Agency, through its Task 39 group, has published its 207-page report on the “Status of Advanced Biofuels Demonstration Facilities in 2012″.
The report, in its pages, contains detailed …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Algenetix, an industrial biotech company incubated from the pipeline of Kapyon Ventures has closed $2.0M in Series A-1 funding to further commercialize its PhotoSeed platform.
The groundbreaking technology vastly …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A numbers of readers responding to “Biofuels from a raging fireball” (Friday’s Top Story, on research work with the raging fireball, Pyrococchus furiosus, to make biofuels and renewable chemicals from …
(Lund University) …The ash is what is left when rubbish has been burnt in thermal power stations. A researcher from Lund University in Sweden has now developed a technique to use the ash to produce …
by James Hataway (University of Georgia) Excess carbon dioxide in the Earth’s atmosphere created by the widespread burning of fossil fuels is the major driving force of global climate change, and researchers the world over …
by Chris Hanson (Biomass Magazine) Southern Research Institute won a $925,000 energy award from the U.S. DOE to develop a mild liquefaction process to convert biomass to petroleum refinery-ready bio-oils.
“We hope the project will advance …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today in part II, we look at a new set of technologies coming along that are redefining our ideas about scale and cost.
… A barrier to long term deployment? The …
by Dana Blankenhorn (TheStreet) These are desperate times for Big Oil. Fracking (which involves shooting water and sand into a wellhead, at high pressure, fracturing the surrounding rock) brings enormous profits, but anyone can frack. The …
by Jessica Nelson (Auburn University) Maobing Tu, an assistant professor in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences, has received a $401,155 National Science Foundation Faculty Early Career Development Award for his research in biofuels …
(Ship & Bunker) A.P. Møller-Maersk (Maersk) says it is working with partners on two projects designed to develop biomass-based marine fuels.
Both projects involve work on an organic polymer called lignin found in plants, which is …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Although no commercial-scale cellulosic biofuels facilities are operating in the United States at present, at least ten projects exceeding 20 million gallons per year are expected to begin operations by …
by Katie Feherenbacher (Gigaom) Companies that are still looking to produce biofuels from plant waste (and not corn) are making slow, but steady progress on milestones in 2013.
On Monday, KiOR, which was largely funded by …
(Southern Research Institute) Research could encourage blending of bio-oils into refinery streams for producing renewable diesel and gasoline
Durham, North Carolina — Southern Research Institute today announced it has entered into a cooperative agreement with the …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Texas, KiOR announced the initial shipments of cellulosic diesel from its first commercial-scale facility in Columbus, Mississippi.
KiOR’s facility uses pine wood chips previously feeding a shut down paper mill …
by John Ramsey (FayObserver.com) Construction on a $170 million refinery in Clinton to convert 20 million tons of grass into fuel each year could start as early as this fall.
Chemtex, an international company with offices …
by Scott M. Paapa, Todd H. West, Dawn K. Manley, Eric J. Steen, Harry R. Beller, Jay D. Keasling, Dean C. Dibble, Shiyan Chang, Blake A. Simmons (Biomass and Bioenergy) As advances in biotechnology have …
by David Dreeszen (Sioux City Journal) …What makes it more valuable?
The variety, called Enogen, is genetically engineered to boost ethanol output and reduce energy costs and water use. The hybrid, developed by Syngenta, contains a …
(ETH Bioenergy/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Brazil-based ETH Bioenergy, a company of the Odebrecht Group, which operates in the production of ethanol, sugar and electricity from biomass of cane sugar, and Inbicon, a Danish company owned by …
by James Frugé and Raul Gamboa (Ethanol Producer Magazine) With corn costs comprising over 87 percent of the cost of ethanol production, a small improvement in corn-to-ethanol yield can have a large impact on plant profitability. …
(Biomass Magazine) Applied Research Associates Inc. and Blue Sun Energy Inc. are partnering to develop a demonstration-scale facility to scale up the Biofuels Isoconversion Process system using technology developed by ARA and Chevron Lummus Global. …
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) In early March, the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology in Germany announced the successful commissioning of the second stage of its bioliq pilot plant. The achievement was made in cooperation with …
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Interest in the Beta Renewables SpA commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol plant undergoing commissioning in Crescentino, Italy, has been high. “I was surprised,” said Guido Ghisolfi, CEO. “I expected perhaps 10 …
(Domtar) Plymouth Mill to produce bio-material with wide range of industrial applications as petro-chemical alternative – the first of its kind in over quarter century
Domtar Corporation (NYSE: UFS) (TSX: UFS) today announced that it has successfully …
(SEKAB/Davy Process Technology) Davy Process Technology Limited (Davy), a Johnson Matthey company, andSEKAB, a leading player in the field of the ethanol based chemicals and biofuels, today announced at World Biofuels Markets that they are …
(Direvo) Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH (Direvo) today announced that it reached an important milestone in developing a consolidated bioprocess for lactic acid production from lignocellulose.
Up until now, there has not been any known consolidated bioprocess …
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Compared to prior generations, CodeXyme 4 and CodeXyme 4X significantly reduce the cost of cellulosic sugar production for biofuels and bio‐based chemicals.
…Codexis’ latest generation of advanced cellulase enzymes, CodeXyme 4 …
(PR NewsWire/ZeaChem) Facility will prove biorefining process for commercial-scale production
ZeaChem Inc., developer of highly-efficient biorefineries, today announced that it has produced commercial-grade cellulosic chemicals and ethanol at its 250,000 gallons per year (GPY) biorefinery in Boardman, …
by Debra Fiakas (Alt Energy Stocks) As part of its program to promote beneficial reuse of carbon dioxide, the Department of Energy awarded a total of $27.2 million ($3.0 million in the first phase and $24.2 …
