by Marcius Extavour (XPRIZE/Biofuels Digest)  … Hydrocarbon drop-in fuels are among the leading products targeted by the CO2 conversion community, be it diesel, methanol, butanol, or others. New approaches to the science and technology of CO2-to-fuels may …

(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory)  Solar-to-Fuel System Recycles CO2 to Make Ethanol and Ethylene  —  Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have harnessed the power of photosynthesis to convert carbon …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …  The most scalable solution is liquid fuels that use water, captured CO2 and renewable electricity.
…
Thinkers have been coming around to the realization that this might be the most sustainable …

(Energy Today/Carnegie Mellon University)  How do you efficiently isolate hydrogen, unlocking its full potential as a primary, mainstream source of energy?  —  The universe consists of a number of elements, the most abundant of which …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … There’s been the cellulosic wave, then waste — and alongside there has been steady progress in what are known as the electrofuels. These are fuels made directly from CO2, water …

by Mark Schwartz (Stanford News)  Most of the fuel additive ethanol used in the U.S. is made from corn. But new research reveals that copper can turn carbon dioxide into ethanol without using corn or …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Arizona State’s Wim Vermaas gave this illuminating overview of Direct Photosynthetic Production of Biodiesel by Decoupled Cyanobacteria at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions.   READ MORE

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Michael Huessmann and John Benemann gave this illuminating overview of Microalgae Biofuels Production on CO2 from Air at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions.  READ MORE

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The Soletair process, developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Lappeenranta University of Technology, is using carbon dioxide and solar power to produce renewable fuels and chemicals and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In the latest news, the Soletair process, developed by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland and Lappeenranta University of Technology, is using carbon dioxide and solar power to produce renewable …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  Today, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced approximately $15.8 million for 30 new projects aimed at discovery and development of novel, low-cost materials necessary for hydrogen production and storage and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  We reported this week that Avantium has acquired Liquid Light’s assets and will take the technology forward. Liquid Light developed electrocatalytic technology to make major chemicals from low-cost, globally abundant …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Newlight, founded in 2003, is harnessing methane-based carbon emissions as a resource to replace oil and reduce the cost of plastics production–fundamentally changing both the economics and environmental impact of …

by Katherine Bourzac (Chemical & Engineering News)  Technology to produce fuels from sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide faces scientific and economic challenges — READ MORE and MORE (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)
 
Excerpt from Environmental and Energy …

(U.S. Department of Energy) Today (November 18, 2016), the Energy Department (DOE) announced approximately $30 million in available funding, subject to appropriations, for research and development of low-cost hydrogen production, onboard hydrogen storage, and proton exchange …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Capturing and concentrate (ambient) CO2 at low prices for direct use and production of fuels and chemicals, using solar or wind energy. That’s Antecy. With the help of an organic, non-amine …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Here, we profile 15 techs that offer incremental to profound shifts in the economics of the Gen-1 ethanol fleet, and have implications for everything from passenger cars to jets.
#15 Vertimass  and Byogy
#14 …

by David Roberts (Vox)  … However, some uses of energy are not easy to electrify in the short term, maybe even in the long term. They rely on energy-dense liquid fuels. So if we’re ever going to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Joule is advancing a production platform for Liquid Fuel from the Sun, expected to eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of any known alternative to fossil fuel today. Its …

by Mahmood Ebadian (Biomass and Bioenergy Research Group/Biomass Supply Chain Consulting Ltd./Biofuels Digest)  …With specialization occurring in feedstock engineering, these new business entities will be well-positioned to produce multiple products including both intermediate and final …

by Vittorio Hernandez  (International Business Times) A one-step conversion process that turns carbon dioxide and water into useable liquid hydrocarbon fuels makes change of current fuel distribution system in vehicles unnecessary. The inexpensive and simple new …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Sweden, IKEA and Newlight Technologies have entered into a supply, collaboration, and technology license agreement that will supply IKEA with Newlight’s AirCarbon and enable IKEA to produce AirCarbon thermoplastic …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Joule is advancing a production platform for Liquid Fuel from the Sun, expected to eclipse the scale, productivity and cost efficiency of any known alternative to fossil fuel today. Its …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  For eight years, Joule has been working under the radar to develop and commercialize its CO2-to-fuel technology. —  When it comes to ethanol production volumes per acre of land, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Patiently, assuredly, one cluster at a time, Canada has amassed a potent armory of renewable fuel and biobased technologies, people and clusters of activity.  Where’s it going? The Digest looks …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Switzerland, 11 leading low carbon fuel companies present a comprehensive guide that identifies a variety of available and accessible low carbon fuel solutions.
…
Today, only 3% of transportation fuels are low …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In the terrestrial world, oxygen is colorless, odorless, and try to get through an hour without some.  In the Bioeconomy Cinematic Universe, oxygen is harder than steel, heavier than a …

(Joule/BusinessWire)  Joule, the pioneer of liquid fuels from recycled CO2, today announced that its fuel grade Sunflow®-E ethanol has been registered by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for commercial use in E10 and E15 …

by Paul Bunje (NRG COSIA)  More than a decade ago, a group of researchers published a landmark study showing the correlation between human development and energy consumption. The conclusion? Industrialized countries and those that have …

by Jeremy Plester (The Guardian)  Imagine if waste carbon dioxide in the air could be turned into useful products such as fuels, building materials or even baking powder. At a stroke it would help get rid …

(Algenol/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Offering ethanol made from algae for the first time commercially, Algenol Biotech LLC and Protec Fuel Management LLC have entered into an agreement to market and distribute ethanol from Algenol’s Fort Myers, Florida., …

by Joanne Ivancic* (Alberta Council of Technologies/Advanced Biofuels USA)  Myths and misunderstandings about biofuels abound.  You’ve heard them–food vs. fuel, land use change, energy return on energy invested, decreased mileage, harmful to engines, and more.
Nevertheless, …

by Robert F. Service (Science Magazine)  Stuart Licht has designed the ultimate recycling machine. The solar reactor that he and colleagues built in his lab at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., takes carbon dioxide (CO2) …

by Robert F. Service (Science Magazine)  Liquid fuels aren’t the only things made from oil. Chemical companies start with oil to make thousands of different products, including plastics and pharmaceuticals. Most of these other commodities are …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Why not reduce atmospheric CO2 by capturing it? Why pay $500-$1000 per ton to reduce CO2 via electric cars, if you could pay 80% less via a direct capture of …

by Padraig Belton (BBC) … German company Sunfire produced its first batches of so-called e-diesel in April. Federal Minister of Education and Research, Johanna Wanka, put a few litres in her car, to celebrate.
And the Canadian …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  It’s not just fish meal, it’s happy meal — for investors, we hear. As Calysta pivots towards methane-to-protein and supersizes its business plan, we visit with CEO Alan Shaw to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Oberon Fuels is launching DME (dimethyl ether) in North America as a clean-burning, alternative to diesel. Using various, domestic feedstocks such as food and green waste and natural gas, Oberon …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  No fossil fuel, no biomass, low carbon, no kidding. —  …  The top 10 new technologies.
Note: Some amazing technologies such as Industrial Microbes, Trelys, Kiverdi and Mango Materials fell outside the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Which microbes achieve a better, faster, cheaper transformation of the world around us?  …  Down there in the mud, too small to be seen with the naked eye, are some …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, Newlight Technologies has signed a 20-year take-or-pay off-take agreement with Vinmar International for 1 billion pounds of AirCarbon PHA.
Critical to the deal? Newlight’s catalyst aims to transform the …

by Kelly Taylor  (Chronicle Herald) …  Still, ethanol does have some advantages, including lower net greenhouse gas emissions due to its recycling of carbon-dioxide emitted by today’s plants (or factories), as opposed to oil, which is …

by Osaretin Omorodion* (Advanced Biofuels USA) During late March 2015, the US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) offered what amounted to a seminar for the public consisting of a series of presentations …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Massachusetts, news arrives from Joule that the company’s CO2-recycled  ethanol meets US and European fuel specifications. No one is dying of surprise that they would do so, but  getting …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)   In Massachusetts, the remarkable journey of Joule Unlimited towards commercial-scale continued to add exciting chapters with the news that the company has closed on $40 million in private equity …

by Richard E. Engler, Ph.D. (Bergeson & Campbell, P.C. and The Acta Group)  When I meet people from bioeconomy companies, I ask them about their products’ status under the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA). The most …

(TopSpeed.com)  According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, carbon dioxide levels are at an 800,000-year high, but what if we could pluck CO2 particles out of thin air to use as a raw material …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, a new UC Berkeley study shows that if biomass electricity production is combined with carbon capture and sequestration in the western United States, by 2050 power generators could …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Aviation biofuels on the rise, in the skies” tops the trend list; drop-in and cellulosic ethanol projects; M&A and cap raises, and action from strategic investors and customers dominate the …

(Algae Industry Magazine)  Algenol Biofuels has been named the recipient of the 2014 Global Energy Award for Industry Leadership in Biofuels, presented by PLATTS Global Energy Awards. PLATTS, a global provider of information for the …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Take CO2, add water and an energy source: voila, Fuels & Chemicals from Microbial Dairies.  We revisit 3 top practitioners of the art and one outlier, and their progress.
…
There are a …

(Audi)  New Audi activity in the development of CO2-neutral fuels; Pilot plant for e-diesel production opened in Dresden; Audi partnership with Climeworks and sunfire
Audi is active in the development of CO2-neutral, synthetic fuels. The latest project is …

by Andrew Hard (Digital Trends)  … Now Audi has announced the development of “e-diesel,” a CO2-neutral fuel made from sustainable raw materials like air, water, and electricity.
Like e-gas, e-diesel is created by combining hydrogen and CO2. Using …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Sapphire Energy’s new multi-market product approach

 
 
Joule’s breakthrough photosynthetic efficiency

 
 
Cellana – multi-products for algae, just like petroleum

READ MORE

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A new agricultural outlook report published by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development and the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations predicts that the consumption and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Could a liquid fuel technology emerge that connects solar PV to the efficiency of electric engines — but, this time with long driving range and near-instant refueling instead of laborious …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … From Massachusetts, word arrived from Joule this week that the EPA has favorably reviewed the company’s Microbial Commercial Activity Notice for Joule’s first commercial ethanol-producing catalyst. This clears the catalyst …

by Will Dunham (Reuters Africa)  … The scientists said their process turns carbon monoxide gas into liquid ethanol with the help of an electrode made of a form of copper. They said the new technique may …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  On ABLC’s opening morning, we have some of the top slides -an inside look from Inbicon, Ensyn, GranBio, Sapphire Energy, LanzaTech – hot topics such as product portfolios, refinery integration, …

by  Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Sweetwater Energy and Proterro, two companies using widely different approaches, aim for low-cost sugar that may give today’s corn ethanol plants a glide path into advanced ethanol production. They’re …

(US Department of Energy)  In 2013, BETO implemented a comprehensive external review of its project portfolio through a Project Peer Review and Program Management Review. Results of this peer review process inform the Office’s strategic …

by  Robert C. Brown and Tristan Brown (The Gazette)  In the face of criticism about ethanol, delays in the commercialization of advanced biofuels and the recent development of domestic supplies of fracked gas and petroleum, some …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Photobioreactor is a key innovation in Proterro’s patented sugar-making process now deployed at the company’s pilot plant in Orlando, Florida
In New Jersey, the United States Patent and Trademark Office has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Beta Renewables, Abengoa, Enerkem, Proterro among the winners for Project of the Year — as residues and waste are keys to the big wins.  For Fuel of the Year, Renewable …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The technology is there. Demand for alternative fuels, chemicals and materials is there. Feedstock is expensive.   In so many of the signature developments announced around the world this year, there’s …

(BusinessWire/Proterro)  The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 8,597,914 to Proterro, Inc., protecting Proterro’s unique, biosynthetic sugar-making process.
The only biofeedstock company that makes sugar instead of extracting it from crops …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The new technologies that come along have to provide pressure, temperature and feedstock at their own cost. So it’s the cost of those three elements, competing against the cost of …

by Ned Stowe (Environmental and Energy Study Institute)  For many supporters of the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), a key goal was to stimulate the development and use of low-carbon, next generation biofuels – to help …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Next-gen biofuels technologies may be key to making the International Space Station cost effective — not to mention, other destinations in the NASA agenda.  Which may explain why a high-tech …

by Tim Stephens (University of California Santa Cruz)  A novel device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas could provide a sustainable energy source while improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment.
A research …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As ABLC-Next concludes, here is the first installment in a review of the hottest slides, stories, intrigue and perspective from the Big Conversation amongst the bioeconomy’s elite.
… (see these slides and …

(Proterro)  The biofeedstock company also validates low fabrication cost and completes preliminary design, layout, and cost estimate for demonstration-scale plant.
– Proterro, Inc., the only biofeedstock company that actually makes sucrose instead of extracting it from crops …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Long-term, there are numerous opportunities for developing the right kind of renewable feedstocks based on careful development of agricultural markets and gaining grower adoption. But anyone who has been through …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … “What you really are in the business of,” Aemetis CEO Eric McAfee reflects, “is capturing the arbitrage between the commodity price of your most expensive feedstock — and the price …

by Alan Ohnsman (Bloomberg) …Mimicking the way plants turn sunlight and carbon dioxide in the air into energy and oxygen, the Joint Center for Artificial Photosynthesis at the California Institute of Technology is in a race to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Upstream, downstream, processing, policy, finance – opportunities and challenges abound in the bioeconomy – but which challenges are the most intractable and daunting of them all?   In today’s part 2, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …The financing of biofuels is founded, to put it as simply as possible, upon the economics of substitution. On the one hand, there’s the price of energy currently locked inside …

by Carl Franzen (The Verge)  …Chang-Yeob Lee of the Royal College of Art wants to radically transform London’s BT Tower at some point in the future, equipping it with exterior carbon fiber and steel rigging, designed …

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 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 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 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. …

(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 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 …

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)  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 …

On July 31–August 1, 2013, US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office and Advanced Biofuels USA will co-host the sixth annual biomass conference, Biomass 2013: How the Advanced Bioindustry is Reshaping American Energy, at the …

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 …

(The Economist) …A report published last year by the American Physical Society (APS) put the cost of extracting and storing carbon dioxide using an air-capture system based on known technology at between $600 and $800 …