Gumption and the Folk What Got It: A Digest 17th Birthday Essay

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) I have good news to share today, from Ensyn; also, from a company called Matereal that’s been bubbling below the surface for some time and is now emerged from stealth. Finally, from a worthy group called Change Chemistry that is co-organizing a meeting of interest this week with DOE leaders.

... Ensyn deserves the prize for most unjustly unheralded yet inspiring story. It’s a marvelous company with an track record of success, I’ve long admired them.

News arrived late last week of a $9M investment by Nexus in Castlerock Biofuels LLC, Ensyn’s joint venture for the development of production capacity in the U.S. The USD$9 million will be deployed primarily for the development of a 20 million gallon/year production facility in the Katahdin region of Maine, at the north tip of the Appalachian trail. The project will produce RFO renewable fuel oil from forest residuals for sale primarily to local institutional and industrial entities for sustainable, low-carbon heating purposes. The newly installed production capacity will also be used to commercialize other products, including renewable gasoline & diesel, green hydrogen, cellulosic ethanol & methanol, SAF, renewable chemicals and carbon sequestration.

Meanwhile, Matereal closed it’s $4.5 million seed funding round, led by the Collaborative Fund. The technology powering Matereal’s transformative agenda is the commercialization of its groundbreaking chemical platform, Polaris. This innovative non-isocyanate polyurethane (NIPU) is a monumental breakthrough, offering a sustainable and safe alternative to traditional polyurethane—a historically challenging plastic to decarbonize.

Focused initially on coatings in textiles, the Matereal offers a nearly million-fold reduction in toxicity compared to conventional alternatives, and the potential to avert the release of gigatons of CO2 at the scale that it could one day reach. Huzzah.

From Washington DC comes the in-person meet-up opportunity I earlier tipped. It’s the Scaling Sustainable Chemistry for Industry Transformation meeting, at Westin City Center Washington DC, this Thursday, August 1st. Register here for the event.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Industrial Efficiency and Decarbonization Office and Change Chemistry are the hosts. The goal: to discuss the research, investment, and collaborations needed for scaling sustainable chemistry solutions and specifically

One of the reasons that Ensyn made me a believer, guys like Robert Graham, Ian Barnett, Robert Pirraglia, who just don’t know how to give up on a good idea. Same goes for Phil Pienkos and Jacqueline Ros Amable at Matereal. And for Joel Ticknor at Change Chemistry. I am reminded what Margaret Mitchell once said, when asked about Gone with the Wind:

“What makes some people come through catastrophes and others, apparently just as able, strong, and brave, go under? It happens in every upheaval. Some people survive; others don’t. What qualities are in those who fight their way through triumphantly that are lacking in those that go under? I only know that survivors used to call that quality ‘gumption.’ So I wrote about people who had gumption and people who didn’t.”

Gumption, that’s the story of the bioeconomy too, amidst valleys of death, the valleys of dearth, the perils of scale, the heartlessness of markets, the teeter-totter of policy. What will be remembered, in the end, is the perseverance of the pioneers of the trail.

People tell you it must be sustainable or you cannot succeed. When you make it sustainable, they tell you, it is not enough, it must be world-scale. When you scale it, they tell you, it’s not enough, it has to be affordable. When you make it affordable, they tell you, it’s not enough, it must the cheaper than the cheapest oil that any can lift out of the ground while paying nothing for the consequences.

Some persevere, and find a way. It’s inspiring, it’s gumption. Today marks the 17th birthday of The Digest and I can tell you from the heart, what makes it worthwhile to cover this story through more ups and downs than you can find in the Rocky Mountains, is the pioneer spirit, alive and well, the Conestoga wagons are long gone, but the footprints are still showing on the trail. READ MORE