by Christopher Edmunds (The Selma Times-Journal) Dallas County gained 246 new jobs in 2013, according to a recent report released by the governor’s office. In addition to the new jobs, the 2013 New & Expanding Industries Report showed that seven companies invested
bioproducts
Back TO HOMEOBN West Coast Partners- California Bioproduct Innovation and Commercialization
by Milsa Vijayadharan* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Developments of OBN west coast partners was the focus of the latest presentation by OBIC Bioproducts Network. The presentation is a part of the bioproducts commercialization webinar series. The webinar was conducted on May
June 13, 2014 Read Full Article
Japanese Cars Soda Drinks Show Future for Abengoa Biofuel
by Rodrigo Orihuela (Bloomberg) Abengoa SA (ABG/P), the Spanish renewable energy company investing in biofuels, is in talks with Japanese car manufacturers and soft-drink makers to help them develop products ranging from bottles to chemicals. “All types of companies -- automotive,
June 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuel-Obsessed U.S. Seen Blowing 'Historic Opportunity' in Nascent Green Chemical Market
by Amanda Peterka (E&E reporter/Greenwire) The United States may be losing a major opportunity to be a global leader in the growing market for green chemicals because of its overwhelming policy tilt toward biofuels, industry experts say. There are big profit
June 03, 2014 Read Full Article
All-Renewable Plastic Bottles Creep Closer: Gevo Shipping Renewable PX to Toray
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Major step towards stable commercial supply chain for 100% renewable plastic bottling; big step forward for Gevo’s Silsbee operations in paraxylene, jet fuel and iso-octane. From Colorado, news has arrived that Gevo is now selling paraxyleme
June 02, 2014 Read Full Article
Proposals for a Reform of the Renewable Energy Directive to a Renewable Energy and Materials Directive (REMD)
by Michael Carus, Lara Dammer, Andreas Hermann and Roland Essel (nova-Institute) nova-paper #4 “Proposals for a Reform of the Renewable Energy Directive to a Renewable Energy and Materials Directive (REMD)” presents a reform proposal that aims at creating a level
June 02, 2014 Read Full Article
Fargo Conference Highlights Future for Biotechnology
(Forum News Service/SC Times) Opportunities to provide bio-based industrial products exist, but they probably will need to provide price, utility and environmental benefits, especially if they want to compete at a premium to petrochemical substitutes, according to a recent industry
May 29, 2014 Read Full Article
Making Money from Lignin: Roadmap Shows How to Improve Lignocellulosic Biofuel Biorefining
by Brett Israel (Georgia Institute of Technology) When making cellulosic ethanol from plants, one problem is what to do with a woody agricultural waste product called lignin. The old adage in the pulp industry has been that one can make
May 27, 2014 Read Full Article
Lignin Valorization: Improving Lignin Processing in the Biorefinery
by Arthur J. Ragauskas, Gregg T. Beckham, Mary J. Biddy, Richard Chandra, Fang Chen, Mark F. Davis, Brian H. Davison, Richard A. Dixon, Paul Gilna, Martin Keller, Paul Langan, Amit K. Naskar, Jack N. Saddler, Timothy J. Tschaplinski, Gerald A. Tuskan,
May 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Unilever Protects Wildlife Habitat through RSB Certification
(National Wildlife Federation) Last week, Unilever announced that any product certified by the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) will be considered to be “sustainably sourced” according to their corporate standards. This step helps to simplify the assessment of sustainability of Unilever’s supply chain and reduces the
May 15, 2014 Read Full Article
$2M Supports Soybean Research
(Lab Canada) A University of Guelph scientist using genetics to improve Ontario’s most valuable crop has received nearly $2 million in government and industry support. Prof. Istvan Rajcan, Department of Plant Agriculture, was recently awarded a Collaborative Research and Development Grant
May 15, 2014 Read Full Article
Opportunities and Synergies of the 2014 Bioproducts World Showcase and Conference (BWSC)
by Milsa Vijayadharan* (Advanced Biofuels USA) OBIC hosted a webinar on Bioproducts World Showcase & Conference on April 25th 2014. OBIC at Ohio State University integrates academia and industry and creates bioproduct clusters. OBIC’s mission is to accelerate commercialization of
May 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference Rumblings of Discontent
by Joanne Ivancic (Advanced Biofuels USA) In the meetings, hallways and conference sessions at Biofuels Digest’s Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference near Washington, DC, the following issues, rumblings, lessons and congratulations abounded. Criticism of the Obama administration and its lack of enthusiastic
April 21, 2014 Read Full Article
Purdue Researchers Launch Innovative Biomass Renewable Energy Company
by Phillip Fiorini and Cynthia Sequin (Purdue University) Purdue University researchers are launching a company focusing on an innovative process that could revolutionize how lignocellulosic biomass is used to make biofuels and other bio-based products and chemicals. Spero Energy Inc., which is based
March 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Minnesota Bills to Incentivize Biofuel, Biochemicals, Biomass Thermal
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Legislation pending in the Minnesota Legislature aims to create incentives for renewable chemicals, advanced biofuels, and biomass thermal energy. In the Minnesota House of Representatives, H.F. 2456 aims to create a capital equipment loan program
March 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Benjamins for Biofuels in the 2015 Obama Budget: The Digest’s 7-Minute Guide
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Vitally interested in President Obama’s proposed 2015 budget and the 411 on grants, incentives, tax credits, loan guarantees and R&D support — but haven’t got the time to read all 1653 glorious pages? Try the
March 06, 2014 Read Full Article
White House Proposes Cuts to 2015 USDA Budget
by Christopher Doering (Des Moines Register) The White House proposed Tuesday nearly $24 billion in discretionary spending for the U.S. Agriculture Department in its fiscal year 2015 budget proposal, a decline of close to $2.5 billion from the prior year. ... The
March 05, 2014 Read Full Article
Governor Cuomo Announces Funding for Eastman Business Park Bioscience Manufacturing Center in Rochester
(Andrew M. Cuomo, Governor of New York) Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that the State will commit $3 million to the Eastman Business Park (EBP) Bioscience Manufacturing Center in Rochester which will begin construction later this year. The construction
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
Seeing beyond Ethanol
by Al Costa (Biofuels Digest/Alkol) ... So, the idea I’m spreading here is that we should produce ethanol from many sources? No, that is only PART of the idea. And a small one, in fact. The larger part of the idea
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
Obama Signs Farm Bill, Announces Made in Rural America Initiative
by Erin Voegele (Biomass Magazine) ... Regarding the new Made in Rural American initiative, Obama said the program will help more rural business expand, and hire, and sell more products that are made in the U.S.A. to the rest of the
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
Renewable Carbon Fiber Funding Opportunity Announcement: DE-FOA-0000996
The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced the Renewable Carbon Fiber Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), which seeks to develop a cost-competitive pathway to produce high-performance carbon fiber for vehicle lightweighting from renewable non-food biomass. For more
March 03, 2014 Read Full Article
2014 Farm Bill Provides New and Expanded Funding for Section 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program
by Chris Groobey and Taite McDonald (Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati) ... Since the changes surrounding the Section 9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program of Title IX (9003 Biorefinery Assistance Program or the program) are the most substantive and have been the most difficult for industry
February 24, 2014 Read Full Article
Some Good News for a Change: Why The Farm Bill Is a Big Win for Biofuels and Biorefineries
by Brent Erickson (Biotechnology Industry Organization/Biofuels Digest) ... The true good news is that the Senate conferees prevailed in getting $881 million in mandatory funding over the next ten years to renewable energy and biofuels initiatives and extending incentives for the
February 20, 2014 Read Full Article
Special EU Biofuels Report: The Top 10 Stories of the Year, and More
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 been an EU technology in
December 27, 2013 Read Full Article
Special Asia Biofuels Report: The Top 10 Stories of the Year, and More
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Asia looks at petroleum reserves and exploration and concludes: our future is in biomass. As we wrote in 2012: “There’s only one complete region for biofuels where abundant feedstock, lack of oil & gas production, rising energy
December 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Amyris Continues Successful Commercialization
(Amyris/MarketWatch) Amyris increased to 400 the number of São Paulo city buses running on a blend of Diesel de Cana(TM) In 2014, Amyris plans to produce its fragrance oil molecule from its own manufacturing facility in Brazil, following recent successful scale
December 17, 2013 Read Full Article
Braskem Signs Joint Development Agreement With Genomatica for Bio-Based Butadiene
(GlobeNewsWire) Braskem and Genomatica announced an agreement for the joint development of commercial process technology to make bio-based butadiene from renewable feedstocks. Braskem is the world's leading producer of biopolymers and the world's third largest producer of butadiene. Under the agreement, Braskem anticipates providing
December 11, 2013 Read Full Article
LanzaTech, Earth Energy, PGF Biofuels, Elevance Make Bioeconomy Waves with Announces
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... (I)t has been an incredibly strong week for innovation, with key announcements that advance the narrative at LanzaTech, Elevance, Earth Energy renewables (e.g. “the technology that once pwoered Terrabon, and PGF Biofuels (the first
December 06, 2013 Read Full Article
ICIS Innovation Award Winners, Renmatix and Virent, Announce Collaboration On Bio-based Packaging
(ICIS/PR NewsWire) New Routes in Sustainable Chemistry Aim to Deliver Broader Supplies of Affordable Bioplastics ICIS Innovation Awards -- At today's ICIS Innovation Awards in London, winners Renmatix and Virent announced a strategic collaboration to convert affordable cellulosic sugars to renewable chemicals and
December 06, 2013 Read Full Article
USDA Announces Notice of Funding Availability for Value-Added Producer Grants
(US Department of Agriculture) Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced the availability of nearly $10.5 million in U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) grants to help agricultural producers enter into value-added activities designed to give them a competitive business edge. "U.S. agriculture
December 05, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofore Concept Car to Premiere at the Geneva International Motor Show Next Spring
(UPM) The Biofore concept car, a joint production by UPM and Helsinki Metropolia University of Applied Sciences, is to premiere at the 84th Geneva International Motor Show, 6-16 March, 2014. The unique concept car is designed to be a futuristic,
November 27, 2013 Read Full Article
UK Firm to Add 200 Jobs at Eastman Business Park
by Tom Tobin (Democrat & Chronicle) Naturally Scientific Technologies Ltd., a business described as an anchor in the Eastman Business Park's efforts to compete in the bioenergy field, will locate at the park to pursue a partnership with Rochester's Sweetwater Energy. The tenancy,
November 20, 2013 Read Full Article
Unlocking the Universe of Biobased (and Not So Biobased) Materials
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In Massachusetts, applied mathematicians Markos Katsoulakis and Luc Rey-Bellet of the University of Massachusetts Amherst will share a three-year, $2.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy, with others, to develop new methods to improve mathematical
November 20, 2013 Read Full Article
Birth of a Feedstock: SGB, Yulex Set to Double Guayule Rubber Yield via Accelerated Breeding Platform
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... That’s pronounced “Y-U-Lee” for those outside its heartland in the American Southwest and northern Mexico. Guayule is a distant relative of the sunflower and the zinnia, originating from the genetic hotbed of Mexico and is now
November 12, 2013 Read Full Article
Cassava for Ethanol Promotion Encouraged in Thailand
(Biofuels International) In Thailand, the ministries of Commerce and Energy are reportedly set to cooperate to develop a strategy to promote the production of ethanol from cassava. ... In addition to this, the minister has also been asked to lead policy in
October 31, 2013 Read Full Article
Elevance Planning Another Biofeedstocks Plant
by Frank Esposito (Plastics News) Less than a year after opening its plant in Indonesia, Elevance Renewable Sciences Inc. has announced plans to open another bioplastics feedstock plant in Natchez, Miss., by 2016. Current customer interest in the firm's Inherent-brand biofeedstocks –
October 29, 2013 Read Full Article
Wood Completely Broken Down into Its Component Parts
(Fraunhofer) 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 material. A pilot plant
October 28, 2013 Read Full Article
Industrial Biobased Ventures Raise $364M in Q3 2013; 5-Minute Guide to the Bioinvesting Landscape
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Biobased investing continues surging, both direct and via strategics. The Digest has the data and the scoop in our 5-Minute Guide. In Florida, Biofuels Digest reports that 9 biobased ventures raised $363.8 million in new capital
October 23, 2013 Read Full Article
Communicating Sustainability in the Bio-Based Chemical Industry
by Kathryn Sheridan (Sustainability Consult/American Chemical Society) In recent years, the bio-based chemical industry has experienced steady growth and interest in the ‘bioeconomy’, an economy based on the consumption and production of materials from renewable sources. Companies and consumers alike
October 17, 2013 Read Full Article
Genomatica, Solazyme, Myriant, LanzaTech and Elevance Take Top Slots in The 30 Hottest Companies in Biobased Chemicals for 2013-14
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The rankings, which recognize innovation and achievement in biobased chemicals and materials development, are based 50 percent on votes from an invited panel of distinguished international selectors, and 50 percent on votes from subscribers of
October 11, 2013 Read Full Article
Solazyme Enters Textile Lubricants Market with Industry Leader Goulston Technologies
(Solazyme) Announces agreement to commercialize world’s first sustainable, microalgae-derived, high-performance textile lubricants Solazyme, Inc.(NASDAQ: SZYM), a renewable oil and bioproducts company, today announced its entry into the textile lubricants market through a commercial supply agreement with Goulston Technologies Inc., a leading
October 10, 2013 Read Full Article
Land Availability Should Determine Biomass Use
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) According to a paper published by the nova-Institute on agricultural feedstock use in industrial applications, efficiency and sustainability assessed on a case-by-case basis should be the sole criteria in judging the choice of feedstock used. The paper reviewed
August 14, 2013 Read Full Article
China’s Vision for Renewable Energy: The Status of Bioenergy and Bioproduct Research and Commercialization
Elizabeth R. Nesbitt, Paul Thiers, Johnway Gao, Sharon Shoemaker, Manuel Garcia-Perez, Julie Carrier, Joy Doran-Peterson, John Morgan, Guangyi Wang, Pierre Christian Wensel, Shulin Chen (Journal of International Commerce and Economics) The Chinese government is vigorously promoting commercialization of renewable energy and bioproducts, given environmental issues plus food, energy, and national security concerns,