(Advanced Biofuels USA)  USDA-funded feasibility study based on 2016 energy beet project at University of Maryland Eastern Shore finds Navy solicitation is best market for economic viability of project.
With Norfolk and Mid-Atlantic international airports in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, Vertimass gained its intermediate technology validation with the US DOE’s Bioenergy Technology Office, which verified performance against negotiated milestones, provided progress on scale-up, and reviewed Vertimass’ estimated cost …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The US Department of Energy has set a goal to “Select and develop at least one route for catalytic upgrading of sugars/related intermediates and/or biologically derived intermediates into fuel blendstockswith …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Vertimass’ John Hannon gave this illuminating overview of one-step, high-yield production of drop-in fuels without added hydrogen, at the 2017 DOE Project Peer Review sessions.  READ MORE

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine/Biomass Magazine)  The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials recently released a report reviewing its 2016 activities and highlighting its increased impact and presence in the global renewable fuels industry. The report …

by Debbie Sniderman (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  KnipBio, a Massachusetts-based biotechnology company, has developed a series of microbes that converts low-cost feedstocks into premium, nutritious, single-cell proteins that are an alternative to fishmeal in aquaculture. Its fermentation …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Alcohol-to-jet. Several are working on it – Byogy, for example, and Vertimass, Virent and LanzaTech. But Gevo has been working through the rigorous ASTM process for six years, which includes extensive …

by Jin-Suk Lee and Kyu-Young Kang (IEA Bioenergy Task 39)  Since Korea imports over 95% of its energy demand, thus energy security has always been an important driver in the national agenda. In addition, CO2 mitigation has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The Digest’s Complete March Madness webinars – 700+ slides available for your on-demand review.  —  The Digest’s March Madness series – 20 webinars covering the hottest topics as selected by …

(Commercial Alternative Aviation Fuels Initiative) The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) recently released the aviation biofuels report, “Potential Avenues for Significant Biofuels Penetration in the U.S. Aviation Market.” The report finds that it is possible …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  This week, we hosted a webinar what is universally agreed to be the single largest new application of advanced industrial biotechnology — this is the Big Kahuna, or sustainable aviation fuel. Sustainability …

(Vertimass, LLC)  One of four advanced biofuels and bioproducts technology companies invited to present  —  Vertimass LLC is proud to announce that it is one of four companies selected to present at the “Pitch for …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Byogy has developed a catalytic platform that converts any source of ethanol, butanol, mixed alcohols, or related olefins, into full replacement, and cost competitive biofuels including gasoline, diesel and jet …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  So there’s this gap, say researchers at Utrecht University in their report on aviation biofuels, between the emission goals that airlines have set themselves (call this, carbon-neutral growth), and what …

by Yuthan Praiwan (Bangkok Post)  … At the same time, BCPG’s parent firm state-majority-owned oil refiner BCP is conducting a feasibility study for a new investment project, worth 3 billion baht. President Chaiwat Kovavisarach, said that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The program objective seen in these slides is to take a technology from Technical Readiness Level 2 to TRL 3/4 — a technology that directly upgrades ethanol to a drop-in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … (S)omething less than $200 million has been so far positively and affordably earmarked by lenders to revolutionize the entire supply chain of US air transportation fuels. Which is to say, …

by Kerry Reals (Runway Girl Network)  … But despite widespread concerns, Kevin Weiss, the chief executive of Byogy Renewables – the developer of an alcohol-to-jet (ATJ) fuel process for the aviation industry – tells RGN he …

by Joe Petrie (AviationPros.com)  At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac), Alaska Airlines is forging ahead with plans to implement a biofuel supply for its commercial jets.   …   Carol Sim, director of environmental affairs for Alaska …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  LanzaTech’s gas fermentation platform disrupts the current highly centralized global energy system by enabling the regional production of low-cost energy from local wastes and residues, including gases as varied as …

(U.S. Department of Energy)  Today, the Energy Department (DOE) announced the selection of six projects for up to $12.9 million in federal funding, entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and …

by Bernard Cooker (Chemical Processing Solutions/Biofuels Digest)  This is a review of the biomass-fed chemical process projects to renewable chemicals which were published in Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) and Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) from 1/1/16 …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Greenyug is a privately held technology development company with a mission to research, develop and commercialize production of commodity chemicals, specialty chemicals, polymers and fuels derived from renewable sources. The …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  If you were reading BBC’s coverage of the aviation biofuels space yesterday, you would have seen the provocative headline:
Wood fuel plan to cut plane CO2 branded as ‘pipe dream’
Then would …

by Lorenz Bauer (Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc./Biofuels Digest)  What’s up with C5 and C6 sugars? Given that a significant portion of the several billion dollars spent on renewable fuels spending involves these molecules, it is …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  From Australia comes the news that the country’s former Federal Resources and Energy Minister, Martin Ferguson, is now the chairman of the advisory board for Byogy Renewables, the California-based alcohol-to-jet …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …  In California, Greenyug said it will build an industrial-scale ethyl acetate manufacturing facility adjacent to Archer Daniels Midland Company’s wet mill corn processing facilities in Columbus, Nebraska. Greenyug has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Fuel cells are important technology. You may remember them from the space program. They show up in the drama of Apollo 13, for example. Many car companies have investigated their …

by Committee on Propulsion and Energy Systems to Reduce Commercial Aviation Carbon Emissions; Aeronautics and Space Engineering Board; Division on Engineering and Physical Sciences; National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (National Academies Press) The primary …

(IEA Implementing Agreement for Renewable Energy Technology Deployment)  The integration of advanced (2nd generation / 2G) biofuel plants with conventional (1st generation / 1G) biofuel plants can lead to significant synergies and cost savings, especially …

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 Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Russia, ETB Catalytic Technologies has received $0.6 million from ZAVKOM and Skolkovo Fund as a series A investment to build a pilot plant for the production of 1,3-butadiene from …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Yesterday, we held a well-attended webinar on “Drop-In Fuels” Here below is the first slide deck presented on the day. We’ll have the remainder of slides tomorrow.
The recorded version can …

by Kapil Lokare (Lee Enterprises/Ethanol Producer Magazine) … Jet Fuel Potential  — Another large-scale market attracts developers in alcohol-to-jet fuel blends. For example, a Boeing 747 consumes approximately 1 gallon of fuel per second. Over the course of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Florida, the Digest has released the 30 Hottest Biobased Molecules for 2016, as voted by the Digest’s global readership. The Readers were surveyed over December and January, and rated …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Alcohol-to-jet. Several are working on it – Byogy, for example, and Vertimass, Virent and LanzaTech. But Gevo has been working through the rigorous ASTM process for six years, which includes …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  As ASTM technical balloting is underway and as experts sift through and request revised submissions of technical data, insiders are pointing to an early 2016 approval for Gevo’s renewable alcohol-to-jet …

(PR NewsWire)  The Port of Seattle, Alaska Airlines [NYSE: ALK] and Boeing [NYSE: BA] are partnering to move toward a significant environmental goal: powering all flights by all airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport with sustainable …

by Tina Hilding (Washington State University News)  Washington State University researchers have developed a catalyst that easily converts bio-based ethanol to a widely used industrial chemical, paving the way for more environmentally friendly, bio-based plastics …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Are high prices good for renewable fuels? The hard data actually goes the other way. The Digest investigates. …  What we can see from the following chart is confirmation that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Minnesota Awards $26 Million to Fund Sweetwater’s Biochemical Facility  —   In Minnesota, Sweetwater Energy has received commitment for $26 million in long-term loans from the state of Minnesota to construct …

(Green Car Congress)  Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have discovered that the reactions underlying the transformation of ethanol into higher-grade hydrocarbons unfolds in a different manner than previously thought.
The research, supported by DOE’s …

by Katie Fletcher (Biomass Magazine)  The U.S. Department of Defense has yet to purchase alternative fuels beyond testing and demonstration purposes, but intentions remain.  —  In July, the U.S. Government Accountability Office published a report …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, Vertimass completed its DOE technology validation that verifies the benchmark performance, initial process design and preliminary cost information for a new award of $2 million by the U.S. …

by  Yana Palagacheva (ICIS News)  … After successfully establishing its alternative ethanol production route, Abengoa is now seeking to diversify its portfolio with its bio-alcohols project, particularly bio-butanol.
“We have quite a wide branch of final products and …

by Dr Kapil S Lokare (Biofuels Digest/Emerging Technologies Division of Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc.)  … Globally it has been recognized that there is an urgent need to create paradigm shifting disruptive technology that would help sustain individual …

(US Department of Energy)  The Energy Department today announced two additional projects selected to receive up to $4 million to develop next-generation biofuels that will help reduce the cost of producing gasoline, diesel, and jet …

by Jesse Sokolow (Frequent Business Traveler)  Alaska Airlines announced a new partnership with Northwest Advanced Renewables Alliance, or NARA, that is aimed at furthering the production and use of alternative jet fuel made from leftover …

by Jon C. Ogg  (24/7 Wall Street)  … The EPA is now seeking public input to inform future steps by the agency regarding emissions from the commercial airline sector. While the effort is new, this has …

by Cindy Zimmerman (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Expanding export markets for U.S. ethanol was the focus last month as a group of industry representatives to Mexico and Japan on trade missions coordinated through a partnership between …

(American Council on Renewable Energy)  ACORE Brings Together Biofuel Industry to Publish Comments Addressing RFS Rules — Industry leaders and ACORE members take up issues with co-location requirements under the RFS which impede advanced biofuels development.
Today, …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Biobased chemicals are two steps closer to the tipping point when the growing demand for sustainable products opens huge global markets for renewables. Last fall, DuPont announced a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Alaska Airlines ups the ante in the search for sustainable, affordable jet fuels.  In Colorado, Gevo and Alaska Airlines announced a strategic alliance to purchase Gevo’s renewable jet fuel and fly …

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 …

(The Biobased and Renewable Products Advocacy Group/The Oil Price Information Network)  (The Oil Price Information Network (OPIS) spoke with BRAG’s Richard E. Engler, Ph.D., Senior Policy Advisor with B&C, regarding the application of the Toxic …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Specialty chemical manufacturer Croda Inc. is planning to break ground in April on a $170 million upgrade to its Atlas Point manufacturing site in Delaware. When completed in …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Great Scott! New molecules, new feedstocks, new technologies, and reaching scale — the best of the best.  At ABLC 2015, the focus on innovation included a complete program on aviaiton …

by Bekezela Phakathi (Business Day Live)  The Western Cape government is investigating alternative uses for cheap, low-quality wine, such as converting it into biofuel for tractors and generators as part of efforts to curb alcohol …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In the world of aviation biofuels, the bands and the bunting are rolling out less frequently. But mostly, because the sector has moved out of a noise-filled early R&D phase …

(Croda)  Croda International Plc, manufacturers of speciality chemical ingredients that enhance everyday consumer and industrial products, today announced its plans to make a significant investment at its Atlas Point manufacturing site in Delaware, North America …

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 …

(Vertimass)  “Green” Catalyst Technology Will be Commercialized Into Stocks Compatible With Current Transportation Fuel Infrastructure
Vertimass LLC announced today the company has received a grant of up to $2 million from the U.S. Department of Energy. …