Process – Advanced BioFuels USA

Commercializing Conventional and Advanced Transport Biofuels from Biomass and Other Renewable Feedstocks — Co-processing

(IEA Bioenergy Task 39) Many petroleum refiners in Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia are thinking about upgrading bio-feedstocks using existing infrastructure. Approximately 40 refineries around the world have so far implemented or tested some type of hydroprocessing of mixed petroleum and bio-intermediate feedstocks, co-processing these feeds at biointermediate levels

August 23, 2019 Read Full Article

From Chicken Kiev to ZEV: The Birth of Electro-Active Technologies, and Hydrogen Fuel for Zero Emission Vehicles, the Newfangled Way

by jmlhydrogen (Hydrogen Digest) From Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee comes news that Electro-Active Technologies has exclusively licensed two biorefinery technologies to convert organic waste into renewable hydrogen gas for use as a biofuel. The Technology The system combines biology and electrochemistry to degrade organic waste—such as plant biomass or

August 22, 2019 Read Full Article

Mimicking the Diving Bell Spider to Improve Carbon Conversion into Fuels

by Bob Yirka (Phys.org) A team of researchers affiliated with several institutions in France has found a way to improve the conversion of CO2 into fuels by mimicking the behavior of the diving bell spider. In their paper published in the journal Nature Materials, the group describes using captured air bubbles to

August 22, 2019 Read Full Article

From Lignin to Value: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to MetGen’s Enzymes

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) MetGen are pioneers in industrial enzymes for lignocellulosic biomass and are trying to empower industries to get the most out of biomass with their enzymatic technologies. Alex Michine, CEO of MetGen gave this enlightening overview of MetGen’s ‘how’, the Sweetwoods project and its integrated biorefinery flagship, enzymatic

August 22, 2019 Read Full Article

New Catalysts, Improved Genetic Tools Bring New Opportunities: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to ORNL’s Biomass to Bioproducts

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Organisms are interesting creatures and genetic tools and biochemical pathway knowledge is changing the way we look at them. Brian Davison, Chief Scientist for Biotechnology at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, gave this knowledge-filled presentation on how to leverage organisms for biofuels and bioproducts, consolidated bioprocessing, barriers

August 22, 2019 Read Full Article

Bioenergy Startup Licenses ORNL Food-Waste-to-Fuel System

(Oak Ridge National Laboratory) Electro-Active Technologies, Inc., of Knoxville, Tenn., has exclusively licensed two biorefinery technologies invented and patented by the startup’s co-founders while working at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The technologies work as a system that converts organic waste into renewable hydrogen gas for use as

August 20, 2019 Read Full Article

British Airways and Shell to Build Europe’s First Facility to Convert Rubbish into Jet Fuel

by Oliver Gill (The Telegraph) British Airways and Royal Dutch Shell have submitted plans to build Europe’s first plant that converts household waste into jet fuel. The duo will work with Velocys, a sustainable fuel specialist, on the site near to the Humber estuary in North Lincolnshire. It is hoped that around

August 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Replacing Crude Oil with Waste Plastics

(Neste) The aim is to proceed to an industrial scale trial during 2019. By 2030, Neste targets to process more than one million tons of plastic waste annually by 2030. Neste is already the world’s largest producer of renewable diesel from waste and residues and now it’s target is to

August 19, 2019 Read Full Article

How Floating Solar Farms Could Make Fuel and Help Solve the Climate Crisis

by Denise Chow (NBC News) “Solar methanol islands” could curb our reliance on fossil fuels that belch harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. — Huge solar farms floating in the ocean could be used to convert carbon dioxide in seawater into methanol, a fuel that can power airplanes, trucks and other long-haul

August 16, 2019 Read Full Article

SoCalGas and Electrochaea Announce Commissioning of New Biomethanation Reactor System Pilot Project

(Southern California Gas Co./PR Newswire) Innovative project with U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory converts renewable electricity into renewable methane for storage in existing natural gas pipelines — Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) and Electrochaea today announced the commissioning of the nation’s first scalable biomethanation reactor system at the U.S. Department of

August 15, 2019 Read Full Article

No Carbon Left Behind: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to LanzaTech

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) LanzaTech has produced 5.5 million gallons of ethanol since start up and has compelling project economics to back it up. Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech gave this ‘Carbon Smart’ overview of how LanzaTech is recycling carbon from industrial off gas biomass and MSW syngas and

August 15, 2019 Read Full Article

Aemetis Cuts Carbon Score of Keyes Ethanol Plant

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Aemetis Inc. released second quarter 2019 financial results Aug. 8. The company reported strong growth for its biodiesel business in India, outlined improvement projects underway at its corn ethanol plant, and discussed planned renewable natural gas (RNG) and cellulosic ethanol production. During an earnings call,

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Promising New Solar-Powered Path to Hydrogen Fuel Production

(Lehigh News) A team at Lehigh is the first to use a single enzyme biomineralization process to create a solar-driven water splitting catalyst that produces hydrogen with the potential to be manufactured sustainably, cheaply and abundantly. — Engineers at Lehigh University are the first to utilize a single enzyme biomineralization process

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

33 Million Reasons Why Your Garbage Is Worth More than You Think: Breakthrough, Cox et al Investing, Accelerating Sierra Energy in Waste-to-X Race

(Hydrogen Digest) … In 2015, we reported that the Defense Logistics Agency awarded Sierra Energy a $100,000 Small Business Innovation Research grant $100,000 grant to further explore the production of hydrogen fuel from waste. Sierra Energy’s patented FastOx gasifier converts waste into an energy-dense gas with high hydrogen content. The system’s

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Minnesota Funds E15, E85 Fuel Infrastructure Project

by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The Minnesota Department of Agriculture announced Aug. 6 funding for a bioenergy pilot plant and three biofuel blending infrastructure projects, including one that that focuses on E15 and E85 distribution. The MDA has awarded $82,687.40 to Denco II LLC, a 24 MMgy ethanol plant in

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Tulane Researcher Working to Turn Waste to Fuel Wins NSF Career Award

by Barri Bronston (Tulane University) Nicholas Sandoval’s lab at Tulane works on the development and application of advanced synthetic biology tools for microbes and other model cell lines for the purpose of therapeutics and sustainable fuel and chemical production. — Nicholas Sandoval, an assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Tulane

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Innovate AND Implement: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to ICM’s Ethanol and Biorefining

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Innovation is great but without implementation, the story ends there. Not so for ICM, a Kanasas-based company that took its small business roots in a farming community and an idea and turned it into 1/3 of the world’s ethanol produced every year by ICM technologies. With

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Vegan Renewable Diesel, Futurol Tech: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Axens’ Fuel Feedstocks

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Axens Solutions is covering the entire project development cycle and working on things like BioTfuel and Vegan which are renewable diesel and jet fuels, Futurol, a cellulosic ethanol using biomass enzymatic fermentation, Atol made from ethylene using ethanol dehydration, and other feedstocks for fuel. David

August 14, 2019 Read Full Article

DOE Seeks Information on Opportunities to Leverage Bioethanol Production Facilities, Food Waste Streams, High-Impact Data, and Algal Biomass to Advance the Domestic Bioeconomy –DE-FOA-0002150: FY 2019 BETO-WIDE RFI DEADLINE: September 6, 2019

(U.S. Department of Energy) The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy’s (EERE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) is requesting information on the following research opportunities to help inform its priorities and funding strategies: advanced processes and retrofits to co-produce cellulosic biofuels and other products at existing

August 13, 2019 Read Full Article

New Energy Blue Buys Inbicon’s Low-Carbon Fuel Technology

(Oil and Gas 360/New Energy Blue) NewEnergyBlue acquired exclusive rights to Inbicon bio-conversion technology throughout the Americas and will first employ it to turn North Dakota wheat straw into a high-value, carbon-neutral automotive fuel. The technology license was purchased from Ørsted, a Danish green-energy company. Ørsted developed the technology over 15 years at

August 13, 2019 Read Full Article

Just Drop It in!: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Gevo’s Drop-in Hydrocarbons

by Jim Lane (Biofuhttp://radar.weather.gov/radar_lite.php?product=NCR&rid=LWX&loop=yesels Digest) Gevo produces and sells low-carbon, renewable, high-performance fuel products. From ethanol to isobutanol, jet fuel, isooctane, oxygenate blendstocks, and more, Gevo is on a mission to replace fossil based products and decarbonize products for large markets. Tim Cesarek, Executive VP and COO of Gevo gave this

August 8, 2019 Read Full Article

Course Set for Western Australia’s Renewable Hydrogen Future

(Government of Western Australia) Renewable Hydrogen Strategy to position Western Australia as a frontrunner in the burgeoning global renewable hydrogen industry; McGowan Government commits to $10 million Renewable Hydrogen Fund The McGowan Government has launched its Renewable Hydrogen Strategy to position Western Australia as a major producer and exporter of

August 7, 2019 Read Full Article

FuelCell Energy, Drax Announce New Carbon Capture Project

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) FuelCell Energy Inc. announced June 27 it has entered into a contract with Drax Power Station for an application of its carbon capture solution. Drax secured £500,000 ($633,503) in government funding to support the project. Under the contract, FuelCell Energy will support Drax with a front

August 7, 2019 Read Full Article

Stanford Researchers Create Hydrogen Fuel from Seawater

by Erin I. Garcia de Jesus (Stanford University News Service) Splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen presents an alternative to fossil fuels, but purified water is a precious resource. A Stanford-led team has now developed a way to harness seawater – Earth’s most abundant source – for chemical energy. — Stanford researchers have

August 7, 2019 Read Full Article

Ready to Meet Market Growth?: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Biomass Gasification

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Missed The Digest’s webinar on Biomass Gasification? Wondering what it is or where it’s at? Biomass Gasification is a thermochemical process in which a renewable solid carbonaceous feedstock is reacted with air, oxygen, CO2 and/or steam to produce a gaseous product stream containing hydrogen and carbon

August 7, 2019 Read Full Article

Novo Holdings Invests $72 Million in Sustainable Products Leader LanzaTech

(Lanza Tech) Novo Holdings A/S (Novo Holdings) and LanzaTech, a pioneer in the production of next generation fuels and chemicals through the recycling of carbon pollution, announce today that they have formed a partnership to grow LanzaTech’s revolutionary sustainable fuels and chemicals platform. Novo Holdings is making a $72 million investment

August 6, 2019 Read Full Article

Range of Possibilities: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Global Bioenergies’ Bio-Isobutene

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Global Bioenergies produces isobutene from sugars with a commercial plant in preparation. Their technology can transform isobutene into isooctane, ETBE, C12/C16 hydrocarbons and more, which makes it relevant for a wide range of markets including specialty fuels, green chemistry, cosmetics, jet fuels, car fuels, and more.

August 6, 2019 Read Full Article

Power Generation Achieved by a Self-Assembled Biofuel Cell

by Lisa Zyga (Phys.org) … The biofuel cell reported here is designed to convert fructose-containing fluids, such as grape juice, into electrical power. To do this, the cell uses enzymes as an active element to release electrons from the sugar (through oxidation) into the anode. Then the electrons travel through a wire

August 5, 2019 Read Full Article

Supercomputing Improves Biomass Fuel Conversion

by Holly Ober (Univesity of California Riverside News) Researchers combine supercomputing with nano-imaging to reveal how to efficiently break down plant biomass and transform it into transportation fuels — … In order to access the energy-rich sugars found in the plant cell walls, researchers have renewed focus on solvating lignin, a

August 5, 2019 Read Full Article

Euglena Sets Sights as an Olympic Hopeful for Algae-Based Aviation Jet Fuel

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Midorimushi – other than being a cool sounding Ninja name, it’s scientific name is Euglena. No, it’s not the latest superhero in a manga comic. It’s a kind of algae. In a magical sort of hybrid way, it has both plant and animal properties and has

August 5, 2019 Read Full Article

Adding Sugar and Salt to Catalyse Production of Biofuels

by M Somasekhar (The Hindu Business Line) A nanocarbon catalyst developed by IIT-Hyderabad can be used to convert corn cob waste into valuable fuels — Using sugar and salt, researchers at IIT Hyderabad have developed a nanocarbon catalyst to help in the production of biofuel precursors. The catalyst shows better efficiency and

August 1, 2019 Read Full Article

Development of a Biorefinery Scheme to Produce Biofuels from Waste Cooking Oil

by Araceli Guadalupe Romero-Izquierdo, Fernando Israel Gómez-Castro, Claudia Gutiérrez-Antonio, Rogelio Cruz Baraja, Salvador Hernández (Computer Aided Chemical Engineering) … In this work, a biorefinery scheme using waste cooking oil (WCO) is presented, aiming to obtain biodiesel and biojet fuel simultaneously as main products. The modelling of the biorefinery scheme is performed in

August 1, 2019 Read Full Article

Solar Energy Becomes Biofuel without Solar Cells

(Uppsala University/Science Codex) Soon we will be able to replace fossil fuels with a carbon-neutral product created from solar energy, carbon dioxide and water. Researchers at Uppsala University have successfully produced microorganisms that can efficiently produce the alcohol butanol using carbon dioxide and solar energy, without needing to use solar cells.

August 1, 2019 Read Full Article

Trash to Treasure: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Fulcrum Bioenergy

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Fulcrum Bioenergy is a pioneer in making low-carbon, low-cost, transportation fuels from one of our nation’s most abundant resources – household garbage. And transforming waste to fuel is a beautiful thing, especially when industries like aviation are committed to alternative, more sustainable fuels. … Jim Macias,

August 1, 2019 Read Full Article

How Nature Builds Hydrogen-Producing Enzymes

(Ruhr University Bochum) The heart of the biological catalyst is introduced in the last step. The process is complex. A team from the Ruhr University Bochum and the University of Oxford has found out how hydrogen-producing enzymes, the so-called hydrogenases, are activated during their biosynthesis. They showed how the cofactor – a

July 29, 2019 Read Full Article

EERE Helps American Small Businesses with $43.6 Million for Phase II Innovation Projects

(U.S. Department of Energy) American small businesses received a near-$44 million boost from the Energy Department’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program. As part of last Monday’s announcement, small businesses are receiving Phase II Release 2 grants that demonstrate commercial feasibility for innovations during the

July 29, 2019 Read Full Article

Here Comes the Sun – Sunliquid Tech: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Clariant

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Clariant, a Switzerland based specialty chemicals company, has four business areas: Care Chemicals, Natural Resources, Catalysis and Plastics & Coatings. While the first half of the year has been challenging, Clariant was able to increase sales by 4% and operating cash flow increased by 11%. Paolo

July 29, 2019 Read Full Article

Department of Energy Announces $50 Million for Commercial Truck, Off-road Vehicle, and Gaseous Fuels Research

(U.S. Department of Energy) Today, the U.S. Department of Energy announced $50 million for new and innovative research of technologies for trucks, off-road vehicles, and the fuels that power them. Funded through the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), these selections highlight the DOE’s

July 29, 2019 Read Full Article

Genera Repositions Itself, Gets $118M Investment – Movin’ on up to Get a Piece of the Pie

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) … A $118 million pie in new investment money for this Tennessee-based biomass company. The financing was anchored by an equity investment from WindSail Capital Group, which partnered with investors Coppermine Capital and Stairway Capital in the Genera financing. The money will be used for

July 26, 2019 Read Full Article

Airgas Opens Liquid Carbon Dioxide and Dry Ice Facility in Stockton, California

(Airgas) Airgas, an Air Liquide company and a leading U.S. supplier of industrial, medical and specialty gases, and related products, announces the grand opening of its new liquid carbon dioxide and dry ice facility in Stockton, California. The facility, which was engineered to have minimal environmental impact, is a zero runoff/discharge

July 23, 2019 Read Full Article

Ayas Renewables Completes Definitive Engineering for Glycerin to Bio-Renewable Propylene Glycol Plant

(Ayas Renewables/PR NewsWire) New Facility To Showcase US Presidential Green Chemistry Award-Winning Process That Provides 99.9% Pure, Bio-Renewable Propylene Glycol At Competitive Price — Ayas Renewables, Inc. has completed definitive engineering and is in the process of final site selection for a large-scale domestic plant to convert low-value waste biodiesel crude glycerol

July 23, 2019 Read Full Article

Renewable Hydrogen: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to SBI BioEnergy

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today’s top story talks about the value of hydrogen so what better Multi-Slide Guide than SBI BioEnergy and their renewable fuel process including their new venture of what they call bio-hydrogen using a proprietary catalytic technology. Simply put, they turn bioethanol into green hydrogen via their

July 23, 2019 Read Full Article

Negatonnes: Beyond the ZEV, the Negative Emission Vehicle and Its Amazing Hydrogen Fuel and Electric Drive

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … There’s the technically tougher path, which is to split ethanol and make CO2 and hydrogen. The point source, high-grade CO2 has value. The bio-based hydrogen has even more value than the ethanol. Conceptually, the recipe is simple. Take ethanol, add water, apply energy, and split

July 23, 2019 Read Full Article

POET Outlines Lessons from 4-Year Long Startup of Project Liberty Cellulosic Ethanol Project

(Green Car Congress) Commercially viable cellulosic ethanol plants has proven devilishly difficult to bring to fruition. The primary outlier from the list of efforts that have shut down over the past few years is POET/DSM’s Project Liberty (earlier post). In an editorial in the journal Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining, two POET team

July 22, 2019 Read Full Article

New Publication – Technical, Economic and Environmental Assessment of Biorefinery Concepts: Developing a Practical Approach for Characterisation

(IEA Bioenergy) The idea of biorefining in general is considered a promising concept for the processing of biomass into a spectrum of bio-based products and bioenergy. It is seen as one of the enabling technologies of the circular economy, closing loops of streams and aiming at the valorisation of multiple outputs.

July 22, 2019 Read Full Article

Velocys Scores Nearly £10 Million in Investment for Aviation Biofuel

by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In the UK, Velocys announced that it has raised £7 million in a private placing, selling shares at 3 pence each, complementing commitments received by the company from the Altalto Imminghamwaste-to-sustainable-fuels project’s strategic partners, British Airways and Shell, of £2.8 million in total. Net proceeds of

July 18, 2019 Read Full Article

City-Based Scientists Develop New Biodiesel Plant Tech — Biodiesel from Feedstock with Free Fatty Acid up to 10%

(Tribune News Service) Scientists at the Centre of Excellence for Farm Machinery (CoEFM) here have developed the technology of ‘Semi-continuous Biodiesel Plant’. This technology represents a simplified process to produce biodiesel from any feedstock having free fatty acid content up to 10%. It is a low-maintenance production technology, can be easily

July 17, 2019 Read Full Article

Carbon-Negative Fuels Come Clearer, Closer with Oberon’s Leap to Demo Scale

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From California comes news that Oberon Fuels has been officially awarded a grant for $2,876,139 from the California Energy Commission (CEC) for a first-of-its-kind, multi-phase project to produce the first renewable dimethyl ether (rDME), with what could arguably be the most carbon-negative transport fuel ever produced

July 16, 2019 Read Full Article

Southern Alberta Waste Refinery Turning Trash into ‘High-Grade, Low-Cost’ Biodiesel

by Heide Pearson (Global News) A new refinery set to open in southern Alberta is aiming to change the way household waste is recycled and reduce the carbon footprint at the same time. Cielo Waste Solutions is set to open its first refinery in Aldersyde, Alta., where it will turn Albertans’ landfill

July 12, 2019 Read Full Article

Relieving Two Headaches with One Process: Acetaminophen from Lignin

by Jill Sakai (Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center) With a new method to synthesize a popular pain-relieving medication from plants rather than fossil fuels, researchers at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a way to relieve two headaches at once. A team led by John Ralph, a professor of biochemistry

July 12, 2019 Read Full Article

Organic Waste to Energy: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Ag-Grid Energy

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ag-Grid Energy LLC has 5 projects underway currently where the emphasis is organic waste to renewable energy. Ag-Grid Energy has a vision to drive dairy farm sustainability by converting agricultural and organic waste to energy, enhance nutrient management practices thereby improving farm viability and financial stability.

July 12, 2019 Read Full Article

Solving the Puzzle Surrounding Algae for Biofuels

by Asanga Padmaperuma (U.S. Department of Energy Pacific Northwest National Laboratory) PNNL team develops new model for analyzing biocrude yield and economics Scientists have made significant strides in transforming algae to biocrude using a process called hydrothermal liquefaction, or HTL. Still, the long road from laboratories to fuel tanks harbors a few

July 10, 2019 Read Full Article

Heard on the Floor at the 2019 BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (T)he bioeconomy’s biggest and grandest show, the BIO World Congress, takes us on an accustomed journey through the present and future in a sector that has more twists and turns than the rides at Six Flags and the acceleration of a mission to Mars.

July 10, 2019 Read Full Article

The Energy Transition and Oil Companies’ Hard Choices

by Rob West and Bassam Fattouh (The Oxford Institute for Energy Studies) In this Energy Insight, we explore the challenges of the energy transition for international oil companies (IOCs). We argue that energy demand forecasts are inconsistent with meeting Paris Agreement targets using currently available and economic technologies and that, barring

July 9, 2019 Read Full Article

Vertimass Completes First Technology License To Alliance BioEnergy Plus Inc.

(Vertimass/Oil&Gas 360) Vertimass’ ethanol to renewable chemicals and jet fuel offers ethanol producers new product capabilities — Vertimass completed its first technology license agreement with Alliance BioEnergy Plus, Inc. in West Palm Beach, Florida, to produce renewable jet fuel along with Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene, and Xylenes (BTEX). Vertimass’ technology allows sustainable production of

July 5, 2019 Read Full Article

ABLC Wolves Devour 6 Technologies: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to The Wolfpack

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … (W)e have the satisfying slides that will satiate your hunger for thoughts from renowned due diligence experts on the latest and hottest technologies. You won’t want to miss these slides, esp. if you missed ABLC’s Wolfpack this April. Paul Bryan from Sandia National Labs, James Iademarco from Strategic

July 5, 2019 Read Full Article

Researchers Build Catalyst to Generate Electrical Energy From Ethanol

(University of Arkansas) Jingyi Chen, associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the University of Arkansas, worked with scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory to develop a highly efficient catalyst for generating electrical energy from ethanol. Ethanol is an easy-to-store liquid fuel that can be produced from

July 3, 2019 Read Full Article

These Nano-Bugs Eat CO2 and Make Eco-Friendly Fuel

by Trent Knoss (University of Colorado Boulder) CU Boulder researchers have developed nanobio-hybrid organisms capable of using airborne carbon dioxide and nitrogen to produce a variety of plastics and fuels, a promising first step toward low-cost carbon sequestration and eco-friendly manufacturing for chemicals. By using light-activated quantum dots to fire particular

July 3, 2019 Read Full Article

Greenbelt Resources and New Age Renewable Energy Team Up for Joint Project Sales Collaboration

(Greenbelt Resources/Globe Newswire) The dairy processing industry may have just gotten a boost to its bottom line from a collaboration between two small but accomplished innovators in cleantech. Greenbelt Resources Corporation (OTC: GRCO) (Greenbelt), the developer of an award winning sustainable ECOsystem model that transforms food, beverage and agricultural industry wastes into revenue

July 3, 2019 Read Full Article

Streamlining the Biofuel Production Process

(European Commission) The production of biofuels like ethanol from non-food biomass is a lucrative prospect for the agricultural sector. However, due to the complexity and expense of the large-scale industrial process currently needed to produce such biofuels, they remain out of reach for many small-scale farmers. To change this, the EU-funded

July 2, 2019 Read Full Article

Making Every Carbon Count: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Praj

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Praj had a humble beginning as a supplier of ethanol plants, and today is a global company with a bouquet of sustainable solutions for bioenergy, high purity water, critical process equipment, breweries and industrial wastewater treatment. Dr. Pramod Kumbhar, Chief Technology Officer at Praj Industries offers

July 2, 2019 Read Full Article

Oh My! Dan’s Back: AgCertain Industries Acquires KemX Global

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) For some time, many have been uncertain as to what direction former REG CEO Dan Oh would take in developing a new entry into the fast-growing bioeconomy, but now we can be certain, or rather, AgCertain. News has filtered out of Iowa that Oh’s new company,

July 2, 2019 Read Full Article

SoCalGas Partners Develop RNG and Hydrogen Conversion Technology

by Betsy Lillian (NGT News) … Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), in collaboration with a number of partners, held a public exhibition of projects to help California achieve greenhouse-gas (GHG) emission reductions. The California utility held the event at the San Diego State University Center for Energy Sustainability in Brawley, Calif.

July 2, 2019 Read Full Article

Airline Hopes that Rabbit Poo May Provide Sustainable Fuel

by Kara Godfrey (The Sun/Fox News) A Japanese plane carrier could soon power their aircraft with the help of rabbit poo. All Nippon Airways (ANA), partnered with LanzaTech, are hoping to introduce the greener fuel choice by 2021. The new fuel would use recycled emissions, such as from steel plants, which are then converted

July 1, 2019 Read Full Article

Avantium Awarded Funding for VEHICLE

(Avantium) Avantium N.V. announces that it has been awarded €1.3 million for its Dawn and Mekong Technologies from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The total subsidy granted to the Industry Consortium “VEHICLE” consisting of 8 European companies, is EUR €5.9 million. The

July 1, 2019 Read Full Article

How Low Can You Go with Carbon?: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Aemetis

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Aemetis is an international renewable fuels and biochemicals company using patented industrial biotechnology for the construction and operation of advanced biorefineries. They own and operate a 60+ million gallon ethanol plant in California, a 50 million gallon capacity Biodiesel and Glycerin refinery in India, they are building

July 1, 2019 Read Full Article

European Research Project Claims Breakthrough in Production of Renewable Jet Fuels from Sunlight

(GreenAir Online) A project funded by the EU and Switzerland claims to have made a breakthrough in producing renewable jet kerosene from sunlight, water and CO2. The SUN-to-LIQUID project follows on from an earlier project, SOLAR-JET, that developed the technology to achieve the first-ever production of solar jet fuel in a

June 28, 2019 Read Full Article

Magnificent Methanogens: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Trelys

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Trelys’ technology is based on the bioconversion of hydrogen and carbon dioxide using methanogenic archaea. While Trelys is currently focusing on feed amino acids, this technology provides an avenue to a wide variety of products and we got a sneak peek into some of those. David

June 28, 2019 Read Full Article

Letter from Route 12 and the Pacific Northwest: From Waste Streams, a Bioeconomy Rising

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington state, there’s a new mill near the city of Dayton that is the first to use waste straw to make pulp for paper products, and biopolymers; and, a new project near Granger turning dairy waste into pipeline-quality renewable natural gas; also, a proposed

June 27, 2019 Read Full Article

Partnership for Production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel

(NTBInfo/Avinor) Avinor has entered into an agreement with Quantafuel to buy sustainable aviation fuel based on Norwegian biomass. The fuel will be produced in a pilot plant partly funded by ENOVA*. “Sustainable aviation fuel is essential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from aviation. The establishment of a pilot plant is an important

June 25, 2019 Read Full Article

Renewable Polymer Plant: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Avantium

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Avantium, a renewable chemicals company, develops and commercializes biobased plastics, chemicals, and fuels. The company offers polyethylene furanoate (PEF), a biobased and recyclable polymer that is used in various applications, such as packaging of soft drinks, water, alcoholic beverages, fruit juices, and food and non-food products.

June 25, 2019 Read Full Article

Turning the Switch on Biofuels

by Anne M Stark (Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory/Phys.Org) Plant cell walls contain a renewable, nearly limitless supply of sugar that can be used in the production of chemicals and biofuels. However, retrieving these sugars isn’t all that easy. … Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) scientists and collaborators at the Joint BioEnergy Institute have identified

June 20, 2019 Read Full Article

Efficiently Producing Fatty Acids and Biofuels from Glucose

(The Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST)/Phys.Org) Researchers have presented a new strategy for efficiently producing fatty acids and biofuels that can transform glucose and oleaginous microorganisms into microbial diesel fuel, with one-step direct fermentative production. The newly developed strain, created by Distinguished Professor Sang Yup Lee and his

June 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Modified Enzyme Can Increase Second-Generation Ethanol Production

by Elton Alisson (FAPESP/Phys.Org) A group of researchers at the University of Campinas (UNICAMP), working in partnership with colleagues at the Brazilian Biorenewables National Laboratory (LNBR) in Campinas, São Paulo State, Brazil, have discovered that Trichoderma harzianum, a fungus found in the Amazon, produces an enzyme with the potential to play a key

June 19, 2019 Read Full Article

If Rice Is Nice, Rice Trash Is Cash: Gevo, Praj Working to Convert Rice Straw to Products

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … Specifically, in the past month, Gevo also executed an agreement with Praj to develop jet fuel and isooctane from rice straw and other feedstocks. Gruber noted that “we believe this second-generation technology combination has great potential to address India’s rice straw burning problem and related

June 19, 2019 Read Full Article

Amazing Algaculture: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to MicroBio Engineering

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) MicroBio Engineering works on facility designs, algae equipment, R&D, engineering consulting, techno-economic analyses, LCAs and wastewater treatment. Their focus on algaculture, specifically microalgae cultivation, is what the focus of this presentation is on. John Benemann, CEO and Tryg Lundquist, CTO, both of MicroBio Engineering, gave this

June 18, 2019 Read Full Article

New Microorganism for Algae Biomass to Produce Alternative Fuels

(Bioenergy Insight) Professor Gyoo Yeol Jung and his research team utilised algae that grow three times faster than starch crops and succeeded in producing biofuel and biochemicals. … (T)he joint research team of the Pohang University of Science and Technology (Postech) and Seoul National University developed a new microorganism, which they

June 18, 2019 Read Full Article

4 Key Bioenergy Technologies: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to SoCalGas

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) he Southern California Gas Company is the primary provider of natural gas to the region of Southern California and has a vision to become the cleanest natural gas utility in North America. As California works to achieve its climate change goals, SoCalGas is working on low

June 17, 2019 Read Full Article

ANA and LanzaTech Sign Offtake Agreement for Sustainable Aviation Fuel

by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) In the land of the rising sun, things are looking a whole lot brighter for All Nippon Airways (ANA), Japan’s largest airline, and for LanzaTech and their sustainable aviation fuel. ANA and LanzaTech signed an offtake agreement for sustainable aviation fuel – a big step

June 17, 2019 Read Full Article

Potential to Decarbonize Long Distance Transport: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Drop-in Biofuels

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) IEA Bioenergy Task 39, with the help of the National Renewable Energy Lab and University of British Columbia, has been working facilitating the commercialization of conventional and advanced liquid biofuels from biomass drop-in biofuels for quite some time. They are looking at various technologies for drop-in

June 14, 2019 Read Full Article

Study Identifies Most Promising Feedstocks for Pyrolysis-Based Biorefinery

(CORDIS/Phy.Org) A study into the composition and processability of different biomass feedstocks has found sunflower seed husks and poplar wood slabs to be the most suitable for producing bio-based products via fast pyrolysis conversion. The study was conducted by Capax Biobased Development and BTG Biomass Technology Group as part of the

June 13, 2019 Read Full Article

Biomanufacturing 2.0 Cell-Free: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Invizyne Technologies

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Invizyne Technologies is making chemicals the cell-free way using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering. By inputting sugar and using engineered microbes, they can result in useful compounds and commodity chemicals, biofuels, fuel additives, fragrances, and pharmaceuticals. James Bowie from UCLA/Invizyne Technologies offered this illuminating presentation on

June 13, 2019 Read Full Article

Demise of the Diva: The New Organisms Are Workhorses Not Show Ponies, but They Do the Most Amazing Tricks.

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … What we would like to train our focus on is two-fold, the advances in systems biology — elsewhere, you’ve heard it described as synthetic biology, but it’s really all a part of systems biology, which is to say that we are focusing on the biology

June 13, 2019 Read Full Article

Scientists Develop a Chemocatalytic Approach for One-Pot Reaction of Cellulosic Ethanol

(Chinese Academy of Sciences/Phys.Org) Scientists at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics (DICP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have developed a chemocatalytic approach to convert cellulose into ethanol in a one-pot process by using a multifunctional Mo/Pt/WOx catalyst. This approach opens up an alternative avenue for biofuel production. The findings

June 13, 2019 Read Full Article

Researchers Create Microorganism for Algae Biomass to Produce Biofuel and Biochemical

(AZO CleanTech) … (T)he collaborative research team of POSTECH and Seoul National University created a new microorganism, which they christened as Vibrio sp. dhg. In their research, they effectively showed that Vibrio sp. dhg can be a capable microbial platform for the biorefinery of brown macro-algae which can substitute starch-crop biomass. Their

June 13, 2019 Read Full Article

It’s a Yeast Feast, Enzyme Showtime: The Majors Break through with New Cost-Busting Solutions for Ethanol Production

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Three big product announcements just in… DSM (e) breaks through on yield, efficiency with new yeast, enzyme offerings for corn fiber conversion. Novozymes launches breakthrough techs “Fortiva” and “Innova Force”. Dupont extends with corn oil extraction tech. In Indiana, DSM leads the news out of the Fuel

June 11, 2019 Read Full Article

Cactus Biofuel: Mexico’s ‘Green Gold

(CNN) Since 2015, Michoacan-based clean energy company Nopalimex has used prickly pear cactus to make biofuel for vehicles: Mexico’s “Green Gold.” WATCH VIDEO

June 10, 2019 Read Full Article

Exploitation Alternatives of Olive Mill Wastewater: Production of Value-Added Compounds Useful for Industry and Agriculture

by Pablo M. Ahmed; Pablo M. Fernández; Lucía I. C. de Figueroa; Hipólito F. Pajot (Biofuel Research Journal) Countries producing olive oil generate a considerable amount of olive mill wastewater (OMWW), one of the most harmful agro-industrial effluents with a powerful polluting capacity. In fact, owing to its high pollution load, this

June 10, 2019 Read Full Article

Solving Feedstock Challenges Today

(Department of Energy) The INL (Idaho National Laboratory) Bioenergy Program’s mission is to support DOE in achieving their vision by developing processes and technologies through applied science and engineering that remove the barriers associated with accessing a sustainable, efficient feedstock supply. INL is the nation’s leading laboratory for bioenergy feedstock research.

June 3, 2019 Read Full Article

EU-India Conference on Advanced Biofuels

(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe) The 2nd EU-India Conference on Advanced Biofuels was organised by the Directorate General for Energy of the European Commission and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India under the framework of the India-EU CECP. The conference aimed at facilitating contacts between industry and technology developers from both

June 3, 2019 Read Full Article

Researchers Produce Renewable Engine Fuel from Wet Biowaste

by Edwin L. Aguirre (University of Massachusetts Lowell) A team of researchers from UMass Lowell, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and China Agricultural University in Beijing has developed a new, sustainable way of converting wet biological waste into diesel-compatible fuel, using heat and water. The process, called hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), converts

May 31, 2019 Read Full Article

Thermochemical Pulp Biorefinery Opens in Ontario

by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) FPInnovations and Resolute Forest Products Inc. announced May 27 the commissioning of a new pilot biorefinery that converts wood biomass into lignin and sugars. On the same day, the Canadian government awarded C$2 million to the project. The TMP-Bio pilot plant, located in Thunder Bay, Ontario,

May 29, 2019 Read Full Article

Rethinking Tomorrow and New Product Launches: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Novozymes

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Digest’s new “Stocks Worth Tracking” Multi-Slide Guide Series highlights hot companies that are making strides in the bioeconomy. Today’s “Stock Worth Tracking” is Novozymes. Novozymes has had 17 years of innovation driven growth with a focus on enyzmes and microbes. They have had over 100

May 29, 2019 Read Full Article

Food, Water, Energy: An Eternal Golden Braid of Value and Sustainability

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Jonathan Trent, late of the OMEGA algae projects, has authored a column on the topic of “putting existing technologies into ecosystems, to increase food productivity and profitability, while conserving water and energy and decreasing environmental impact.” He calls this UpCycle Systems, or UCS to those who