by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest) ...What exactly are they? As the name suggests, they are products made from renewable sources that are not sold directly into the end-user market but are, instead, sold to other manufacturers who refine, upgrade, blend,
(Renmatix/Sacramento Bee) Building on success in hardwood, Philadelphia-based Renmatix adds on-site capability to convert multiple local and international feedstocks to cellulosic sugar Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of cellulosic sugars for biobased chemical and fuel markets, welcomed Secretary Tom Vilsack, leader of
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Now, yeast is a fungi, but fungi as a Kingdom is a lot broader than our friend yeast and, like Rodney Dangerfield, it been getting, by and large, no respect, no respect. Researchers have for
(Department of Energy) As part of the Obama Administration's all-of-the-above strategy to develop every available source of American energy, the U.S. Department of Energy today announced more than $10 million to five projects in California, Washington, Maryland, and Texas that
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) $4/gallon capex, low opex, $15 million upfront. Existing offtakers. Cellulosic RINs. Expandable. Product diversification. Operating next year. What’s not to like? ...There’s a side door opening into cellulosic ethanol. Costs you very little up front, payback
(Associated Press/Jackson Sun) A Tennessee producer of sustainable feedstock has hit an important milestone by delivering its product to a plant in western Kentucky. Officials say Delta BioRenewables, which is located in Memphis, Tenn., delivered a commercial-sized batch of sweet
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A long war of opinion has been waged for years between advanced biofuels’ detractors and supporters. Mirage or reality? Completion of 6 key projects 2012 decided much of the debate. When these 12 projects open
(BusinessWire) Patented Technology Enables Conversion of Biomass Sugars to Fuels and Chemicals Verdezyne, Inc., a privately-held industrial biotechnology company focused on producing renewable chemicals, announced the sale of its proprietary xylose isomerase technology, enabling the metabolism of 5-carbon sugars, to DuPont Industrial Biosciences,
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... But very few are working in solid phase – where essentially instead of working with a liquid vat, microbes are growing on a fabric or film — and the organisms are provided with a
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Today, we could use a good five-cent renewable sugar, suitable for microorganisms that, from sucrose, make affordable renewable fuels and chemicals. The technologies of companies like Virent, Solazyme, LS9 and Amyris depend on access to
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Why is making affordable renewable sugars potentially big business? Which intrepid investors have targeted biofuels’ biggest bottleneck? News has been circulating that Proterro raised $3.5 million for a demonstration-scale of their renewable sugars technology, and secured
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Policy, finance, technology, feedstocks, markets, prices, opposition. Here’s what’s on your mind, as the critical 2013 deployment year for biofuels looms. So here are 15 burning questions as suggested by various Digesterati — divided for convenience
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It’s been years of struggle to get cellulosic feedstock supply chains downfield. Now, companies like Woodland Biofuels, Sweetwater Energy, Ceres, Delta BioRenewables and Commonwealth Agro-Energy are moving the chains. ...This week in Canada, the MaRS Cleantech Fund
by Jennifer Alsever (CNN Money) ... While most of its rivals raced to commercialize the fuel, San Diego-based SG Biofuels took a different path: It hired plant geneticists. They hunkered down in the laboratory to come up with the best genetic variations
(US Department of Energy) This is a Request for Information (RFI) only. DOE will not pay for information provided under this RFI and no project will be supported as a result of this RFI. This RFI is not accepting applications
(Direvo) Direvo Industrial Biotechnology GmbH is commercializing its BluCon™– platform for complete, one-step conversion of non-food feedstocks to carbohydrates used in the production of fuels and chemicals. In the recent years Direvo has undertaken a huge research program identifying a
by Peter Hemphill (Grain & Hay WeeklyTimes) An American biofuels company is looking to build a refinery in Australia to produce ethanol from wheat straw and other residues. ...Investors in the biorefineries include Australia's Macquarie Bank and Japanese commodity trader Itochu Corporation. ZeaChem
by Tim Thornberry (Business Lexington) ...Producing biofuels on the farm, however, is a bit different and is the focus of a relatively new project being led by the University of Kentucky. Sue Nokes, professor and department chair of biosystems and agricultural
(Transparency Market Research/PR NewsWire) According to a new market report published by Transparency Market Research (http://www.transparencymarketresearch.com) "Biofuel Enzymes Market- Global Industry Size, Market Share, Trends, Analysis and Forecast, 2012 - 2018," the global biofuel enzymes demand was worth USD 1,021.9
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) There is a new process that algae producers can use in the conversion stage to help increase their capacity and add to the bottom line, says Incitor’s VP of Business Development Jacob Berman.
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Brent Crude trades this past week at a transorbital $109 per barrel (West Texas Intermediate at a suborbital, if high, $85). It puts the conventional wisdom that biofuels are too infrastructure incompatible and too costly
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 500 ton per day wood biomass to biocrude plant commences oil production – the long wait for cellulosic biofuels at scale is over. ...But the news from Columbus, Mississippi, that cellulosic biocrude production has started up,
by Ed Hamrick (Biofuels Digest/Greenworld Fuels) ... There are more than two billion tons of MSW produced worldwide every year, with more than 250 million tons per year produced in the USA every year. Disposal of MSW is a thousand year
by Kelley Price (Evening Gazette) A Scottish whisky distillery is about to become the first in the world to turn its waste into advanced biofuel - here on Teesside. Tullibardine, an independent malt whisky producer, is using Centre for Process Innovation’s
by Kevin Quon (Seeking Alpha) When it comes to renewable oils company Solazyme (SZYM), it would be good to check your understanding of biofuels at the door. Solazyme's heterotrophic algae are utilized within a closed fermentation process to make triglyceride oils.
(ZeaChem) ZeaChem Inc., developer of highly-efficient biorefineries, today announced that it has completed construction of its 250,000 gallons per year (GPY) cellulosic ethanol biorefinery in Boardman, Oregon. The project was completed on budget and is expected to begin production of
(Fraunhofer Center for Chemical-Biotechnological Processes) Crude oil is getting scarce. This is why researchers are seeking to substitute petroleum-based products – like plastics – with sustainable raw materials. Waste wood, divided into lignin and cellulose, could serve as a raw
by Bruce Dorminey (Renewable Energy World) ...Armed with a $200,000 U.S.D.A. two-year research grant, Fernando Resende will start work on a fast pyrolysis mobile reactor next year that could revolutionize how foresters and the timber industry currently deals with millions of
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) ... So now that Green Crude Farm is in operation, what’s the current activity there? CJ: We are about to do the next big thing with the Farm, which is the strain transition. We’re demonstrating
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Can local communities pyrolize their wastes and residues, to make renewable fuels and chemicals at biobased super-refineries? Two-step processes could be the ticket to the future, according to an Iowa State team. Imagine, for a
(Bioenergy Deployment Consortium/MarketWire) BDC held its 2012 Fall Symposium in Alpena, MI on September 18 & 19, capping the event with a tour of the new cellulosic ethanol plant owned by American Process Inc. (API), a BDC member. API's facility is
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Are they biofuels? We think so – even if they are post-biomass. They do what organisms have done for eons to make biomass in the first place: convert lifeless CO2, sunlight and water and nutrients
by Randal Yakey (The News Herald) Steve Baxley, the senior engineer at Applied Research Associates (ARA), stood Monday among jars of fluids, beakers and equipment, holding a tiny amount of seeds in the palm of his hand. They are carinata
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Every great biofuels technology has its own companion feedstock strategy – with unique advantages and technical challenges. Who’s got what it takes to be a great Sherpa, providing that feedstock or intermediates edge that puts
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The next five years—the often scoffed mantra of cellulosic ethanol developers—is getting whittled down to the next year or two. A milestone was reached this year when Blue Sugars Corp. got the first cellulosic
(Reuters) A small Scottish whisky maker is aiming to turn its by-products into biofuel and become the world's first whisky distillery to fuel car and trucks in a move which could see Scotland's 100-plus distilleries feed a new 60-million-pound industry. Independent
by Dan Conable (Cato Analytics LLC/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Despite weather challenges and the learning curve for farmers unfamiliar with this energy sorghum, one of the first commercial-scale plantings of the crop in the northeastern U.S. has been a success. More than 400
by Sarah Miller (Grist) ...The challenge is not that we are an economy with a dearth of disgusting grease; the problem is getting said disgusting grease from people who would otherwise throw it out to people who would like to
(Melodika.net) ...Biofuels of the 2nd generation are made of agricultural waste - from wood chips, straw or specially cultivated "energy crops". The Austrian competence centre acib (Austrian Centre of Industrial Biotechnology) has found ways to make these renewable sugar resources
(Missouri University of Science & Technology) Biofuel production can be an expensive process that requires considerable use of fossil fuels, but a Missouri University of Science and Technology microbiologist's patented process could reduce the cost and the reliance on fossil
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Closely-watched green gasoline producer collapses as Waste Management declines next financing round. What does it mean for companies like Fulcrum Bioenergy, Enerkem, Agilyx, Agnion, Renmatix, Genomatica, and InEnTec? The Digest looks at the inside story. In
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Breakthroughs in making consistent syngas from negative-cost municipal solid waste spells “big prospects” for Enerkem in biobased fuels and chemicals. In oil we have the crack spread, corn ethanol and soy-based biodiesel we have the crush
by Michael Sheffield (Memphis Business Journal) Infinite Enzymes LLC has received a $450,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance its enzyme development technology. This is the second Small Business Innovation Research grant the Jonesboro,
(Waste Management World) Successful field tests of vehicles powered by a biofuel derived from the black liquor wastes produced at a pulp mill have been conducted by Volvo Trucks. The company said that ten of its specially adapted trucks have been
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The new trend in biofuels is not a biofuel at all – it’s an (usually unpronounceable) intermediate that can be refined into an array of fuels, chemicals, flavors, fragrances, and construction or packaging materials. ... Amyris,
(Neste Oil Corp./Biodiesel Magazine) Neste Oil has completed the first phase of its project to build a pilot plant for producing microbial oil. Construction of the plant is on-schedule and on-budget. The first phase will enable the growth of oil-producing
(Business Wire/Aemetis) Biofuels ISOCONVERSION Process licensed by Aemetis to produce 100% drop-in renewable jet and diesel fuels from plant oils Aemetis, Inc., an advanced fuels and renewable chemical company, announced today that the company signed a license agreement with Chevron Lummus
(Renmatix) Companies embark on program to explore viability of MSW as inputs for PlantroseTM process Waste Management, Inc. , the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services, and Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of biobased sugar intermediates for global chemical and fuel markets,
by Anne Ju (Cornell Chronicle) At Cornell, researchers are turning beer into biofuel. It's not the beer that's good to drink -- but fermentation broth, which is chemically identical to the imbibing beer, from which the fuel ethanol is produced. Using a
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As the Pacific-based forces of Can-Do battle the Washington-based forces of Shouldn’t-Try, we look at the 6 Big Myths of Military Biofuels In Hawaii, the US Navy demonstrated its Green Strike Group as part of the 2012 Rim
by Steve Clark (The Brownsville Herald) After a year in development, Tire Recycling & Processing, a facility unlike anything else in Texas and possibly the United States, has thrown the switch in Harlingen. On Friday, several large, expensive, German-made tire-processing
by Lindsay Riddell (San Francisco Business Times) Solazyme Inc. broke ground on its Brazil manufacturing plant adjacent to partner Bunge's sugarcane mill. The companies are targeting the end of 2013 to begin production on renewable oils made from sugarcane using Solazyme's algae-based
Thomas Content (Journal Sentinel) C5-6 Technologies of Middleton and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center in Madison are celebrating a milestone - the awarding of the first patent from the center's next-generation biofuels research. The patent covers research into a heat-resistant
(The Commercial Appeal) BioDimensions Delta BioRenewables (BDBR) will install a sweet sorghum processing facility at AgriCenter International after an investment from Epec Biofuels Holdings. ...“We consider industrial sugar to be ‘Nature’s Crude Oil’ and are making a commitment to help BDDR
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The entropy problem in feedstocks In bioenergy, it’s the chief reason, for example, that otherwise perfectly acceptable fruit waste from citrus harvest is a difficult feedstock for energy production. The process for cellulosic conversion was
(Science Daily/Purdue University) Sweet and biomass sorghum would meet the need for next-generation biofuels to be environmentally sustainable, easily adopted by producers and take advantage of existing agricultural infrastructure, a group of researchers led by Purdue University scientists believes. The scientists
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Yet, even in an era where venture capital has been harder to come by (Why? See these 42 article links under the rubric, “The VC Model is Broken” ) — some great technologies have been getting out
by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Corn ethanol and cellulosic ethanol have previously been viewed as entirely separate products which will be manufactured by two unique types of producers, but the concept of integrating cellulosic production into corn ethanol plants
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In-field bioprocessing? Dramatically higher plant oil production? R&D breakthroughs offer new paths to victory for Millers vs Drillers. If you haven’t been getting most of your information on the Renewable Fuel Standard from the Grocers Manufacturing
(PRNewswire) -- At a time when regulatory agencies are increasing pressure for the disposal of wastewater containing soluble sugars, ThermoEnergy Corporation's CASTion® Sugar Recovery System is a proven, cost-effective technology to capture and recover sugar in wastewater. Food and beverage wastewaters have
by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine) The biorefining industry is hungry for a low-cost, high-quality and readily available supply of sugar feedstock from nonfood biomass sources. A number of pure-play sugar technology developers and manufacturers like Renmatix, Virdia (formerly HCL CleanTech),
by Denise Deveau (Financial Post) {ISSUE} Soaring energy prices are thinning profit margins in the transport sector and increasing operational costs in many manufacturing industries {SHIFT} Turning wood waste into bio-fuel helps industry find a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable energy
by Margaret Broeren (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center) ...Much more than a buzzword, “sustainable” means that trade-offs—social, environmental and economic factors—have been measured, modeled and validated against actual “boots on the ground data” measured at agricultural research stations and on Midwestern
(U.S. Department of Energy) As part of President Obama’s blueprint for an economy fueled by homegrown and alternative energy sources, the Energy Department announced today up to $15 million available to demonstrate biomass-based oil supplements that can be blended with
(Virdia/Biorefining Magazine) Cellulosic sugar developer Virdia announced April 24 the opening of its demonstration facility at its new technology center in Danville, Va. Located on the campus for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research, the facility is designed to
(MarketWire) - Biofuel test program led by Bombardier Aerospace, Porter Airlines, Pratt & Whitney Canada and Targeted Growth successfully concluded - Program funded by the key partners and by Business-Led Networks of Centres of Excellence (BL-NCE) Program through GARDN Porter Airlines today
(UPI) The U.S. Energy Department said up to $15 million is available to help support nearly a dozen so-called bio-oil projects targeted for the transportation sector. ...The Energy Department said the so-called bio-oil precursors could find their way into gasoline, diesel
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Virent, Virdia debut super-performing drop-in aviation biofuels made from drop-in cellulosic pine tree sugars; “passed under conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail,” says Air Force. In Wisconsin, Virent and Virdia (formerly HCL CleanTech), announced the
(Cobalt Technologies/Sacramento Bee) Contract Issued to Albemarle to Process First Run of N-Butanol Into Jet Fuel Today, the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division (NAWCWD), China Lake announced a contract award to Albemarle Corporation, a leading specialty chemicals company, to complete its first biojet fuel production run
By Meng Yew Choong (The Star) Palm oil milling is far from benign, but the industry is frantically conducting research to realise low-emission technologies. The zero-discharge plant is one such bold concept. THE extraction of palm oil involves a number of
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In California, Virdia, formerly HCL CleanTech, a leading developer of cellulosic sugars, today announced major company milestones, including a new brand and CEO, its latest funding round, and a $75 million deal with the Mississippi
(EurekAlert/Michigan State University) MSU research looks for ways to improve shipping of materials for biofuels If the increased use of biomass to produce alternative fuels is to become a reality, more attention needs to be paid to logistics – how, for
(Science Daily) A team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst has discovered a small molecule that behaves the same as cellulose when it is converted to biofuel. Studying this 'mini-cellulose' molecule reveals for the first time the
(SucreSource/PRNewsWire) First Cellulose-to-Sugar Plant Sale and Partnership SucreSource, a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueFire Renewables, Inc., has signed agreements with GS Caltex, a Korean petroleum company, to build a cellulose to sugar plant in Korea. "This agreement validates SucreSource's business model of
(BlackGold Biofuels/Biodiesel Magazine) Through a partnership between BlackGold Biofuels and SLM Facility Solutions Nationwide, restaurants around the U.S. will soon be able to more easily recycle greasy kitchen waste while saving money. BlackGold and SLM have formed a strategic partnership to
by Pavel Molchanov (Raymond James) As energy investors know well, it is much better to own the oil than to refine it. In other words, the bulk of the value is in the upstream of the value chain. Next-generation (Gen2) biofuels
(European Commission CORDIS) Europeans believe in a sustainable environment, and a way of ensuring its future is to promote and build energy resources based on residual biomass. Supporting this objective is the BIOBOOST ('Biomass-based energy intermediates boosting biofuel production') project. Set
by Lauren Sommer (KQED) ...The idea behind biofuels is pretty simple. Plants take sunlight and use that energy to make sugars. The biofuels industry wants to transform those sugars into fuel. That requires some molecular rearranging, so they’re looking to
by Heather Lammers (National Renewable Energy Laboratory/Renewable Energy World) ...In June, DOE announced an award of up to $13.4 million dollars to Virent and its partners to develop a process to cost effectively convert cellulosic biomass — in this case
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, more than 350 delegates gathered at Advanced Biofuesl Markets to set industry priorities for the next six months,seal partnerships, and exchange outlooks on 2012. It didn’t take long for the Top 10 priorities
(GreenTechMedia/PR NewsWire) Today, at the Advanced Biofuels Markets Conference in San Francisco, Arnold Klann, Chief Executive Officer and President of BlueFire Renewables (OTC BB: BFRE.OB), a company focused on shifting the paradigm for energy sources by converting non-food cellulosic wastes into renewable
(Sapphire Energy) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced today that USDA has issued a loan guarantee that will allow a biofuels firm to construct a facility in New Mexico to produce "green crude" oil from algae which can be refined into
(TradingCharts.com) Comet Biorefining Inc., a leader in low cost cellulosic sugar technology, today announced that it has begun fabrication of a cellulosic sugar toll processing plant to be located in Southwestern Ontario. This facility will produce cellulosic sugar on a tolling basis for
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Does continuous harvest, and direct production from CO2 and water, offer a transformative, no-kill way to improve the carbon and dollar economics of biofuels? Can the dairy model work? ...In beef and grain, the whole organism
by Erin Voegele (Biodiesel Magazine) Approximately 100 professionals working in the feedstock and biorefining sectors recently met at Idaho National Laboratory to participate in a U.S. DOE-funded workshop. ...“Our objective was to broaden the view of densification from just a
(M&G) Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi ("M&G"), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Chemtex, is pleased to announce that it has founded BETA RENEWABLES, a joint venture with TPG Capital and TPG Biotech (collectively "TPG"), established to exclusively license Chemtex's PROESA® Technology into
by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine) Sean Arnold, chief operating officer for Cleveland, Ohio-based Vadxx Energy and Lawrence Walmsley, CEO of New York-based Culture Fuels Inc. discussed how waste plastics and algae are viable feedstock for the production of green fuels, chemicals
by Hoyt Thomas (OpenAlgae) Hoyt Thomas, President and CEO of OpenAlgae, points out that the algae industry is suffering from a case of separation anxiety. To find out the solutions, OpenAlgae developed unique separation technologies focusing on improving processes to
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced five major agricultural research projects today aimed at developing regional, renewable energy markets, generating rural jobs, and decreasing America's dependence on foreign oil. Altogether, the five-year program will deliver more than
(PR Newswire/Renmatix) Kleiner Perkins' John Doerr, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Corbett, and Amyris CEO John Melo laud company's novel use of super critical water Renmatix, the leading producer of cellulosic sugars, today unveiled the Plantrose™ process, the company's commercial approach to producing
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...But underneath all the excitement, one feels just a little bit of desperation – oh, perhaps not just from these companies but their competitors. Everyone knows at some macro level that, while there are hundreds
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What this country really needs is a good, five-cent sugar. Got one? Riches await. One of the most interesting developments in recent months has been the emergence, out of stealth, of a number of companies focused
Stefan Kuhnel; Henk A Schols; Harry Gruppen (Biotechnology for Biofuels/Highbeam Business) Sugar-beet pulp (SBP) consists of up to 75% w/w of carbohydrates (dry matter). Arabinose, glucose and galacturonic acid (GA) are the main sugar moieties present in complex polysaccharide structures
by Susan Taylor (Reuters) A tiny Canadian startup company that is preparing to open a biodiesel plant in Toronto this spring says it will produce clean fuel, animal feed and human food all from the modest flax seed. Privately held Energy
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