by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) We’ve developed 2 proprietary biorefinery technologies producing low-cost cellulosic sugars from non-food based biomass. Our Green Power+ technology produces low-cost cellulosic sugars from the hemicelluloses. AVAP technology produces cellulosic sugars from cellulose and hemicelluloses. Our
Investing
Back TO HOMERoad-Map to Multi-Million Pound Sustainable Aviation Fuels Industry Launched
(Sustainable Aviation) Sustainable Aviation (SA), a coalition of the UK’s airlines, airports, manufacturers and air navigation service provider NATS, has launched its latest Road-Map, which considers the opportunities for sustainable aviation fuels. The Road-Map identifies the potential for a 24
December 03, 2014 Read Full Article
The Radical Re-Sourcing of Tires, Nylon, Parachutes and Balloons
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Global Bioenergies achieves one-step renewable butadiene via fermentation. Who’s in the global chase for a process to make one of the world’s Big 7 industrial chemicals via a renewable process — and how did Global
November 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Billionaire Vinod Khosla’s Big Dreams for Biofuels Fail to Catch Fire
by Steven Mufson (The Washington Post) Just over a year ago, billionaire venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was bubbling with optimism about one of his latest investments: KiOR, a biofuel outfit he said would turn wood chips into hydrocarbons that could
November 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Evolva Acquires Allylix in $59M All-Share Transaction: What’s the Impact for Industrial Biotech?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... But in the meantime, it appears to be an open-and-shut case that “new sugars” are the new sugar — and specifically that stevia might be the new sugar. Supporters of the idea that
November 25, 2014 Read Full Article
The 2014 RFS Rule Left Out in the Cold
by Brent Erickson (Biofuels Digest/Biotechnology Industry Organization) ...EPA should formally withdraw the proposed rule and issue a final rule as soon as possible, fully correcting their misinterpretation of waiver authority and methodology for setting the annual renewable fuel volumes. Setting
November 24, 2014 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Production, Activity Impressive Despite Uncertainty
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Policy uncertainty has adversely impacted the U.S. biodiesel industry, but media reports would have you believe the sector is teetering on collapse. The facts show otherwise. There have been numerous reports in the past several months
November 21, 2014 Read Full Article
Analyst: KiOR Columbus Plant May End up Sold as Scrap
by Jack Weatherly (Mississippi Business Journal) Finding a buyer for the idled KiOR biofuels plant at Columbus would be a tough sell, according to Pavel Molchanov, an equity analyst who had covered Pasadena, Texas-based KiOR Inc. until it filed
November 21, 2014 Read Full Article
Shell: Expects to Be Producing Advanced Biofuels at Scale, in US, by End of Decade
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Shell VP Matthew Tipper, at ABLCNext: “We will likely begin manufacture in the southeast United States. We plan to be operational by late this decade. “We believe our best bet is woody biomass and energy
November 21, 2014 Read Full Article
2 Airlines Are Already Using Biofuels, So Why Aren't We All Flying Green?
By Reuben Brewer (The Motley Fool) In July, Brazilian airline GOL became the first airline to use a new type of biofuel to power a commercial flight. The fuel in question was farnesene, which is made from sugar cane. And
November 20, 2014 Read Full Article
Pricey Ethanol Threatens Late-Year Corn Demand Pick-Up: Maguire
by Gavin Maguire (Reuters) The final quarter of the calendar year is typically the busiest for U.S. ethanol manufacturers as the large swell in local corn supplies help to lower the cost of their chief input and propel operating margins
November 19, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes with…Peter Brown, Founder, FFA Fuels and Euromarketingtools.com
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... We are focussed on installing more diverse renewable energy solutions from methane digesters to biodiesel processors. Working on the idea of an energy farm where several fuels are made from similar sources and sold into
November 18, 2014 Read Full Article
10 Must-See Hot Slides from ABLC Next 2014 – the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 10 hot companies, 10 hot slides explaining where they are, what they’re up to, and where they are going, and when and how and why. Here are new slides from the Advanced Biofuels Leadership Conference – ABLC
November 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Set up Biofuel Fund, Government Urged
by Kennedy Mupeseni (Times of Zambia) An energy expert has said Government should establish a low interest-rates biofuel fund to be accessed by Zambians for various operations in biofuel value chains. Biofuel Association of Zambia (BAZ) chairperson Thomson Sinkala said Government
November 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Gevo Finds a Way
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Like Rocky Balboa, no matter how many punches they take, Gevo just won’t fall over. In fact, the company’s prospects have brightened considerably in recent months — is the company “gonna fly now”? How and
November 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Can Biofuels Make A Comeback?
by Michael Kanellos (Forbes) ... But give biofuel execs credit: they learn from the past. Much of the activity centers around developing fuels and chemicals out of waste products and virtually everyone is adopting strategies to minimize the capital requirements
November 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Kander Halts Biodiesel Investment Scam
(Missouri Secretary of State) Secretary of State Jason Kander today issued a cease and desist order against Boyd A. Ware of Centralia, Mo., and his company, Central Missouri Energy, LLC. According to the order, Ware and Central Missouri Energy (CME)
November 11, 2014 Read Full Article
Khosla-Backed Biofuel Firm Kior Files Bankruptcy, Plans Sale
by Dawn McCarty and Justin Doom (Bloomberg/Renewable Energy World) Kior Inc., a maker of biofuels from crops such as switchgrass, wood chips and corn husks, filed for bankruptcy protection with a plan to sell its assets to affiliates of backer
November 11, 2014 Read Full Article
The Inside Story of Renewable Energy Group, as CEO Dan Oh Visits with The Digest
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In many ways, REG is the entire industrial biotech business in a nutshell. They’re fermentation (through REG Life Sciences), and thermocatalytic (through REG Geismar and their extensive biodiesel business). They use both sugars and
November 10, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuels Remain an Important and Growing Sector for Developing Countries, New UNCTAD Report Says
(United Nations Conference on Trade and Development) The report entitled: "The State of the Biofuels Market: Regulatory, Trade and Development Perspectives" offers a comprehensive snapshot of today's biofuels market and how it contributes to enhancing access to renewable energy sources
November 05, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes With…Ashok Mathur, Director Corporate Commercialization, Matheson
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Very interested in processes that use oxygen, hydrogen, CO2 and other industrial gases as process feed or to enhance productivity. ... Get same government incentives/subsidies as petroleum READ MORE
October 31, 2014 Read Full Article
Man in Fake Ethanol Project Pleads Guilty to Fraud
(The Spokesman-Review) A Spokane ethanol project promising rich financial returns to dozens of local investors turned out to be a fraud. The man behind the scheme, 55-year-old businessman Robert J. Braun, pleaded guilty this week to five counts of wire
October 31, 2014 Read Full Article
Dynamics of Venture Capital Funding in the Bio-based Chemicals Industry
(Lux Research, Inc.) Following a drop in investment caused by the financial crisis, venture capital (VC) investment in bio-based materials and chemicals (BBMC) came back with a boom. VC investment rose steadily and reached a peak of $1.3 billion in 2011.
October 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Tips for Biofuel Investment In Turbulent Times
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) As a biofuels plant, how do you make sound plant management and investment decisions in an environment of political turmoil? This was the theme of one of the panel discussions during the 2014 National Advanced Biofuels
October 30, 2014 Read Full Article
Mayor Finch Holds Groundbreaking at Tri-State Biodiesel, Creating 25 New Green Jobs at Eco-Technology Park
(Tri-State Biodiesel) ... The Tri-State Biodiesel project is part of a significant green investment into the Bridgeport Eco-Industrial Park that supports the creation of new “green collar” jobs. Tri-State Biodiesel expects to create an additional 25 jobs, targeted to residents
October 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Enerkem Announces New Project Partnership in China
(Enerkem/PR NewsWire) Enerkem Inc. (http://www.enerkem.com), a waste-to-biofuels and chemicals producer, today announced it has signed an agreement with Qingdao City Construction Investment Group Co. Ltd. to develop a project partnership to jointly build a municipal solid waste-to-biofuels facility in Qingdao. The
October 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Liquid CO2, or Liquid Gold? Maybe Both, as Aemetis Adds CO2 Liquefaction at Its Keyes, CA Plant
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... To Aemetis, a route to improved margins that will also help the environment. Here’s how. News arrives from Aemetis, via its latest SEC filings, that the company has “entered into an agreement with Denmark-based Union
October 28, 2014 Read Full Article
BlueFire Plays the China Card? Ex-Im Bank of China Issues $270M LOI for Mississippi Biofuels Project
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, BlueFire Renewables has received a Letter of Intent from The Export Import Bank of China (China EXIM) to provide up to $270 million in debt financing for its 19 million gallon bioenergy project
October 27, 2014 Read Full Article
DuPont, Ethanol Europe Renewables Ink Pact for Cellulosic Ethanol in Macedonia
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Macedonian government joins as signatory for MOU. 100 million liter cellulosic refinery could start construction in 2016. ... (N)ews arrives from Skopje, Macedonia that the Republic of Macedonia today joined a MOU to facilitate the development of
October 17, 2014 Read Full Article
GranBio Planing Second Brazil Site for Cellulosic Ethanol
by Vanessa Dezem and Gerson Freitas Jr. (Bloomberg) GranBio Investimentos SA, the Brazilian biotechnology company that opened the southern hemisphere’s first cellulosic ethanol plant last month, is close to announcing a partner for its second facility. The new plant will be comparable
October 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Tips for Biofuel Investment In Turbulent Times
by Joanna Schroeder (DomesticFuel.com) ... Insights were given by Mike Jerke, CEO, Guardian Energy Management LLC; Brian Kletscher, CEO/General Manager, Highwater Ethanol; and Randall Doyal, CEO/General Manager, AL-Corn Clean Fuel who all run currently operating ethanol production facilities. While each
October 16, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes With…John Reilly, Managing Director, WestPark Capital
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... We finance alternative energy companies especially in biofuels and chemicals. ... In the next twelve months would like to finance $100 million into alternative energy companies with breakthrough proven technology. ... You must go to a different level
October 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuel Leaders Says EPA Has Treated Industry Unfairly
by David Shaffer (Star Tribune) In Minneapolis, industry officials say federal government erred in setting low targets for biofuels delivered at the pump. Leaders of the nation’s biofuels industry on Monday accused the Obama administration of undermining the commercial success
October 14, 2014 Read Full Article
ExxonMobil to Invest $1 Million in Iowa State University Biofuels Research
by Donnelle Eller (Des Moines Register) Oil and gas giant ExxonMobil Corp. is investing $1 million over two years to establish an advanced biofuels research program at Iowa State University, the partners said today. The ExxonMobil biofuels initiative will will initially
October 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Baker Commodities Acquires New Leaf Biofuel
(Feedstuffs.com) Baker Commodities, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has acquired a controlling interest in San Diego, CA-based New Leaf Biofuel. Baker Commodities, Inc., a leader in the rendering and recycling industry since 1937, has been a long-time supporter
October 10, 2014 Read Full Article
Earth to Cellulosic Ethanol: Glad You’re Here, Buddy, What Took so Long? Parts 1 and 2
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Cellulosic ethanol arrives at scale — “The five years away forever” put to rest — but are there troubling waters still ahead? For whom, and why? Part I of II There’s a gigantic disconnect between two sections
October 10, 2014 Read Full Article
DuPont’s $500 Million Ethanol Bet Panned by Peltz to Pay Off
by Patrick Winters and Jack Kaskey (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) DuPont Co. (DD:US) said a $500 million bet on producing ethanol from corn crop waste, singled out by activist investor Nelson Peltz as lavish, will pay off as companies such as Procter
October 09, 2014 Read Full Article
Clariant’s Demonstration Cellulosic Ethanol Plant in Germany: The Complete Facility, in Pictures
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Producing enzymes and yeasts on site, as part of the complete biomass-to-fuels manufacturing process. ... In recent years — the region around Straubing turned to biotech to access the high returns in high tech for its
September 29, 2014 Read Full Article
GranBio Starts Cellulosic Ethanol Production at 21 Million Gallon Plant in Alagoas, Brazil
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) World’s largest-known cellulosic ethanol project to date comes online in Brazil in record time. In Brazil, GranBio has initiated production at the first commercial-scale plant for second-generation ethanol in the Southern Hemisphere. The Bioflex 1, unit
September 25, 2014 Read Full Article
Green Growth: A U.S. Program for Controlling Climate Change and Expanding Job Opportunities
by Robert Pollin, Heidi Garrett-Peltier, James Heintz, and Bracken Hendricks (Center for American Progress) ... This report quantifies the level of investment required for the United States to align emissions reductions with international goals in an economically beneficial and
September 18, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Rules for Becoming an Investment Winner in Industrial Biotech
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) It’s hard to make a valuable molecule out of low-value biomass. And even harder to make money out of it. What are the rules of the road, as understood by those who have dared, and
September 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuels in Brazil
by Antonio Maria Bonomi, Paulo Barbosa and Susan van Dyk (IEA Bioenergy Task 39 Newsletter #37) Brazil was the leader in biofuels production and exports until the USA became the world’s largest biofuel producer in 2006 and the leading exporter of biofuels
September 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Divest/Invest: Global Charities Challenged to Help 'Save Civilization'
by Deirdre Fulton (Common Dreams) Could world's wealthy philanthropic foundations spur a 'tipping point' on climate action? A group of 160 leading environmentalists is calling on the world's philanthropists and foundations to use their money to "create a tipping point on
September 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Meetings to Examine Biofuel Production
(GSA Business) The S.C. Clean Energy Business Alliance will host two meetings this week as part of a $150,000 federal grant program aimed at linking economic development officials in Colleton and Clarendon counties with industrial biofuel companies. The first meeting will be held Wednesday
September 16, 2014 Read Full Article
Shift to Low-Carbon Systems to Save Future Financial, Environmental Costs: Report
(RIA Novosti) Shifting to a low-carbon economy over the next 15 years could save worldwide financial and environmental costs, a report from the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate said on Tuesday. "The next 15 years will be critical, as
September 16, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes With…John M. May, Managing Director, Stern Brothers & Co, Industry Financier
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Innovative finance? We think that’s John May’s middle name; it’s certainly his trademark. Stern Bothers rolled up a tremendous clientele in the Advanced Bioeconomy — primarily on its innovative bond financing approach to first commercial
September 16, 2014 Read Full Article
The Next Government’s Blueprint for Green Energy
(Renewable Energy Association) REA sets out comprehensive manifesto for renewable heat, power and transport The next government will be responsible for the UK succeeding – or failing – in meeting its 2020 renewable energy targets. It could also be the government that
September 15, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes With…David Dodds, President, Dodds & Associates, Tech Diligence Guru
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you’ve been to ABLC, you’ve likely seen a hugely-popular session where we turn the tables — instead of having CEOs present their companies and technologies, we have technical diligence experts look at companies and
September 15, 2014 Read Full Article
Richard Branson Failed to Deliver on $3bn Climate Change Pledge
by Suzanne Goldenberg (The Guardian) New book by Naomi Klein claims that Virgin founder gave less than a tenth of cash promised to develop low carbon fuel Richard Branson has failed to deliver on his much-vaunted pledge to spend $3bn (£1.8bn) over
September 14, 2014 Read Full Article
More Trouble Brewing at KiOR
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Key figure and company director Paul O’Connor resigns. Allegations relating to possible inside trading, suppression of 3rd party technology report laid by the Board against O’Connor. O’Connor makes allegations concerning “KiOR’s management team and KiOR’s technology”. In
September 09, 2014 Read Full Article
The President's Biggest Enemy
by Brent Erickson (The Hill/Biotechnology Industry Organization) President Obama’s bold vision to transition the nation to a cleaner energy future is about to be derailed by one of his most potent adversaries: himself. To the great consternation of many of the
September 09, 2014 Read Full Article
4 Minutes With…Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) If you’ve known her as the globe-trotting CEO of LanzaTech — managing an enterprise based in Chicago, with lab operations (and historic ties to) in New Zealand, and progressing towards scale-up in China — well, there’s
September 08, 2014 Read Full Article
Virent to Expand Demo Plant Capabilities to Scale Plant-Based Paraxylene
(Virent) Virent announced today that The Coca-Cola Company is making an additional investment in the company’s development and commercialization of its bio-based paraxylene, BioFormPX™. This investment will enable Virent to scale up separation and purification of BioFormPX™ material at their
September 08, 2014 Read Full Article
POET-DSM’s Project LIBERTY Opens, as Fantasy Becomes Real
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) POET-DSM’s 20 million gallon cellulosic ethanol plant opens with hoopla, and heartfelt messages about the spirit of innovation, and a time for technology change and policy firmness. “Once, we all lived off the land, sun, wind
September 08, 2014 Read Full Article
U.S. Navy Eyes Biofuels to Fuel Fleet of the Future
by Matt DiLallo (Motley Fool) ... America's military actually consumes as much energy as the entire population of Nigeria, and there are 140 million people living in Nigeria. Suffice it to say, the military uses a lot of oil, which is
August 26, 2014 Read Full Article
In Defense of the Bio-Skeptic
by Todd Taylor (Fredrikson & Byron/Biofuels Digest) ... Every serious player in this industry understands its challenges, as evidenced by all the panels, presentations and articles on the challenges we face. A quick and unscientific Google search revealed 3,400,000 hits for “challenges
August 25, 2014 Read Full Article
Gevo Boosts Revs in Q2, but Losses Widen; Aims for Break-Even at Luverne by Year End
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... The increase in revenue during 2014 is primarily a result of the production and sale of ethanol and distiller’s grains of $5.5 million following the transition of the Luverne plant to the side-by-side ethanol-butanol
August 21, 2014 Read Full Article
Answers for Your Questions about the Bioeconomy, Biofuels, Renewable Chemicals and Bioproducts
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... With great sessions at conferences, delegates are usually keen to get a hold of the powerpoint decks. But how do you get a hold of the great Q&A that follows the presentations — or the
August 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Why Business Leaders Support a Price on Carbon
(The World Bank) The companies we turn to every day for electricity, transportation, consumer goods, and even electronics face risks from climate change. Most need reliable water for production processes and products. Extreme weather and temperatures can hurt their productivity
August 11, 2014 Read Full Article
Fulcrum BioEnergy and Cathay Pacific Announce Strategic Investment
(Fulcrum BioEnergy/PRNewswire) -- Cathay Pacific Airways announced today that it is the first airline investor in Fulcrum BioEnergy, Inc. ("Fulcrum"), a US-based sustainable biofuel developer, as part of the airline's biofuel strategy and to help it achieve a target of
August 07, 2014 Read Full Article
US Biodiesel Supply Kings
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) Biodiesel Magazine speaks with three leaders in the U.S. biodiesel distribution space about the growth and opportunities in biodiesel distribution, and the challenges that lie ahead. The marked increase in U.S. biodiesel production over the past
August 05, 2014 Read Full Article
UOP’s Ecofining Tech Linked to Massive Renewable Diesel Project in Ohio
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Will the old Buckeye Ethanol site in South Point, Ohio be transformed into an ultra-modern base for renewable diesel and jet fuel blendstocks? That’s the vision for a new project origination team that is talking about
August 05, 2014 Read Full Article
Algae’s Secret Investor Trims the Sails: Reliance Re-Ups Algenol, Algae.Tec, Drops Aurora Algae
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Though neither Reliance, Algenol nor Aurora Algae have agreed to go on the record and comment on the state of relations, we can now report that the Digest has learned that, according to sources, Reliance
August 04, 2014 Read Full Article
Mascoma Confirms Strategy Shift, Outlines Plans for Technology
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) ... Larry Klein and the Sierra Club sued Frontier and the DOE after the DOE issued a finding of “no significant impact” and granted a Frontier funding application which pledged about $100 million, or about
July 22, 2014 Read Full Article
LowCVP News: UK Auto Sector Renaissance Driven by Low Carbon Policy Focus - New
(Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership) A major new report published today (15 July 2014) at the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership’s Annual Conference shows the UK automotive sector has been revitalised by consistently applied policy centred on cutting carbon. Carried out for LowCVP
July 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Sinopec, Sapphire Energy Project Unveiled in China; Wins US-China EcoPartnerships Nod
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Digest has heard from China that Sapphire Energy’s and Sinopec’s algae-derived renewable crude oil project has been selected for the U.S.-China EcoPartnerships program, and that the announcement is being made overnight US time in
July 10, 2014 Read Full Article
Ottawa Biofuel Launches Crowdfunding Campaign to Expand Production
by Meghan Sapp (Biofuels Digest) In Canada, Ottawa Biofuel has launched a $50,000 crowdfunding campaign through IndieGoGo to fund expansion. Specifcally, the company is looking to make the transportation, storage, and processing cleaner and more efficient and improve on-site safety, including
July 03, 2014 Read Full Article
The Greensome Foursome: POET, Novozymes, Abengoa, NexSteppe on the Industry Outlook for 2014
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As several major cellulosic biofuels ventures head for scale in 2014, we look at the companies, the major barriers (as they see them) for further capacity-building, sources for future investment, and a focus on feedstock. In
July 02, 2014 Read Full Article
Research on China Biodiesel Industry to Go Beyond 2.5 Million Tons, 2014-2017 by Researchmoz.us
(Virtual Strategy Magazine/PR Web) Biodiesel refers to a renewable diesel fuel made from oil crops, animal fats, and food waste oil that can substitute petroleum diesel and has environmental protection, safety, renewability, and other advantages. During 2006-2013, global biodiesel output
July 01, 2014 Read Full Article
Are We There Yet? The Positioning and Repositioning of the Algae Industry
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Today, we look at algae’s promise in 2008 and progress now. Has the industry repositioned? ... Then, it was Aurora Biofuels — now it’s Aurora Algae. Them, it was Solix Biofuels, now it is Solix Biosystems. Then,
June 30, 2014 Read Full Article
SkyNRG Nordic, Powered by Statoil Aviation, Announces Bioport Karlstad
(SkyNRG) SkyNRG Nordic, the recently established cooperation between SkyNRG and Statoil Aviation, announces Karlstad as its first BioPort in Sweden. Starting today (June 26, 2014), with the launch of BioPort Karlstad, SkyNRG Nordic will make the first volumes of sustainable jet
June 27, 2014 Read Full Article
Celtic Renewables Raises $2M, Partners with Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Celtic Renewables raises $2M, partners with Bio Base Europe Pilot Plant Celtic Renewables, the Edinburgh-based biofuel company, has signed an agreement with Europe’s foremost biotechnology pilot facility to undergo next stage testing of its process to
June 26, 2014 Read Full Article
Branson: “We’re Killing the World”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Branson at BIO. Branson on bio. And some of Branson’s bio. Sir Richard Branson joined BIO CEO Jim Greenwood on stage at the BIO International Convention for a talk on enterprises, the entrepreneurial spirit, a spirit
June 26, 2014 Read Full Article
Time Has Come Today
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) The synergies between co-located ethanol and biodiesel production have been discussed for a decade. The existing infrastructure to share process essentials, an in-house feedstock in distillers corn oil (DCO), and use of ethanol rather than methanol for
June 17, 2014 Read Full Article
Oil Industry Kills California Assembly Bill to Support Biofuel Expansion
by Peter Waldman (Bloomberg BusinessWeek) The oil industry did some intellectual gymnastics last week over California’s low-carbon fuel standard, a 2007 mandate that gasoline refiners reduce the carbon intensity of their transportation fuels 10 percent by 2020. After arguing for
June 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Union Becomes the World’s First Seminary to Divest from Fossil Fuels
by Serene Jones (Union Theological Seminary/Time Magazine) New York's Union Theological Seminary--home to famed theologians Paul Tillich, Reinhold Niebuhr, and Dietrich Bonhoeffer, as well as a $108.4 million endowment--will be the first seminary in the world to divest from fossil
June 12, 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
An Open Letter to Tom Steyer
Dear Mr. Steyer: According to a Washington Post article on June 9th 2014, you will be divested of all your investments in fossil fuel enterprises by the end of this month. As the article discussed, that meant you continued to make
June 10, 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
“But I Won’t Cry for Yesterday”: The Re-Making of the US Ethanol Industry
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The migration from first-gen to next-gen biofuels is becoming less ‘Invisible’ — and the new landscape is not, by anyone’s estimation, an ‘Ordinary World’. If Aemetis’ latest earnings hadn’t rocked your world quite enough, here
May 22, 2014 Read Full Article
The Bio-Fuel Sector Is Attracting Some Big Names
by Reuben Brewer (The Motley Fool) Solazyme (NASDAQ: SZYM ) and FutureFuel (NYSE: FF ) are two relatively small companies largely focused on the emerging bio-fuel market. However, they aren't the only players in the space. And some of the other companies, like DuPont (NYSE: DD ) , operate on a
May 22, 2014 Read Full Article
Hot Intel! Rockin’ Slides from the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Pennsylvania, the 11th World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, produced by BIO, opened today with a flurry of announcements and presentations. Here are hot slides ... and links to presentations. READ MORE
May 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Collaborative Growth Platform
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Guardian Energy intends to keep local ownership a viable part of the ethanol industry, building on the success of the Renewable Products Marketing Group, another collaborative effort of a group of ethanol companies. ... Some Guardian
May 13, 2014 Read Full Article
Will Obama Help George W. Bush Achieve His 10-Year Goal for Gasoline Consumption?
by Maxx Chatsko (The Motley Fool) ... President Bush believed America could reduce gasoline consumption from 142 billion gallons in 2007 to just 114 billion gallons in 2017. The biggest reduction would come from a projected annual production of 35 billion gallons
May 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Brazil: Biofuels Digest’s 10 Top Trends For 2014
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest's) ... 1. Feedstock diversification. If you thought it was all cane, cane, cane, think again. There’s a lot of movement on sorghum, and castor beans — and even some on corn. Sorghum. The biggest news of late
May 08, 2014 Read Full Article
The O-Zone: Understanding Oxygen's Role In Making Biobased Companies Rock
by Jim Lane (Seeking Alpha) -Companies are shifting from biofuels to renewable chemicals. -Understanding the role of oxygen in their technology is key to sorting potential winners and losers. -Effective use of oxygen is powering top picks in the sector
May 07, 2014 Read Full Article
A Tale of Two Solazymes: SZYM Reports for Q1 and the Analysts Offer Cheers, Jeers
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, depnding on which analyst you follow. With price targets ranging from $4 to $18 — and warnings from one end over delays at
May 07, 2014 Read Full Article
Biofuels and the Debt Offensive: Parts 1, 2 and 3
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Interested in transforming liquid fuels – and wondering “where are the gallons”? The secret lies in re-structuring the financing of alternative fuels. Today, in part I of three: the Situation. A Digest reader this week sent
May 07, 2014 Read Full Article
The American Ethanol Industry Needs to Innovate to Avoid Disaster
by Maxx Chatsko (Motley Fool) The United States is the world's leading ethanol producer, accounting for nearly 62% of world production. It holds down the top spot by sporting 211 ethanol production facilities with a combined nameplate capacity of 14.6
May 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Fossil Fuel-Free Index Will Help Investors Manage Climate Risks
by Mike Scott (Forbes) A new index has been launched that will make it easier for investors to steer their investments away from fossil fuel companies, which contribute to climate change and pollution. The new index series, launched by FTSE Group, BlackRock and the Natural
May 05, 2014 Read Full Article
Unlocking Profitable Biofuels Opportunities with Process Simulation: White Paper
by Jennifer Dyment and Ron Beck (Aspen Technology Inc.) As the demand for lower carbon emission fuels increases, resourceful design of biofuel processes—such as biodiesel, bioethanol, syngas, and biogas derived from biomass feedstocks such as corn, sugarcane, algae, and cellulosic
May 05, 2014 Read Full Article
Obama, Malaysia, Verdezyne, and Business as Unusual in the Bioeconomy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) How a small, development-stage industrial biotech company, making chemicals you never heard of, landed $48M in new investment and a $100M valuation from investors like BP. And how they got so hot that figures like President
April 29, 2014 Read Full Article
Panelists Predict EPA Will Revise Proposed RFS Targets Higher in Final Rule
by Jordan Godwin (Platts) The proposed blending targets in the 2014 Renewable Fuel Standard will likely be revised higher, advocates for multiple industries said Monday. Proponents of the ethanol, biodiesel, advanced biofuels, petrochemicals and biotechnology industries, who were speaking during the Advanced
April 24, 2014 Read Full Article
Clean Energy Victory Bond Push In Congress Would Generate $150 Billion In Financing, 1 Million Jobs
(PR NewsWire) Updating WWII "War Bond" Model to Spark Job Creation, Energy Security, Clean Energy, and Increased Energy Efficiency Clean energy boosters on Capitol Hill are borrowing a page from World War II "war bonds" by introducing today a new bill
April 16, 2014 Read Full Article
A Rivertop Runs Through It: Rivertop Renewables lands $26M as Cargill, First Green Partners climb aboard
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Rivertop to accelerate commercialization of novel, sustainable chemicals for consumer products and industrial applications. How does an early-stager get to the next level? Try a hot anchor product, innovative technology, and the right connections. In Montana,
April 14, 2014 Read Full Article
Finland Rises up from Its Economic Crisis with Bioeconomy
by Aino Siirala* (Advanced Biofuels USA) Finland is a forerunner in bioeconomy and biotechnology, states Asko Ojaniemi, the executive director of Benet Oy. The bioeconomy seminar held recently in Helsinki, Finland and organized by Benet Oy, covered extensively the future
April 11, 2014 Read Full Article
Value of Biofuels Goes Beyond Those With Direct Investment
(25 x '25) Feedstock, Equipment, Conservation, Farm and Energy Groups Tell EPA Not to Compromise Full Potential of Biofuels Concerns over the future of biofuels in a future national energy strategy were aired before some pretty influential parties this week, as
April 11, 2014 Read Full Article
Biobased Investment Triples, to $391M for Q1; Biofuels Digest’s 5-Minute Guide to the Investment Landscape
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Florida, Biofuels Digest reports that 9 biobased ventures raised $391 million in new capital in Q1 2014, while 8 biobased ventures raised $128.6 million in Q4 2013. This compares to $363.8M million in Q2,
April 03, 2014 Read Full Article
Norwegian Airport Operator Avinor to Invest up to $16.5 Million to Support National Aviation Biofuel Production
(GreenAirOnline) Norway’s state-owned airport operator and air navigation services provider Avinor has pledged to contribute up to 100 million Norwegian kroner ($16.5 million) over a ten-year period to help develop an aviation biofuel sector in the country. Announcing the move
April 02, 2014 Read Full Article
X-Crobes: Kuraray Invests in Amyris, What’s Next for Synth-Bio and Performance Molecules?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In California, Amyris and Kuraray announced the expansion and extension of their ongoing collaboration in high performance polymers using Biofene, Amyris’s brand of renewable farnesene. Amyris and Kuraray launched the collaboration in 2011 with an initial
April 02, 2014 Read Full Article
Gevolution 2014: Gevo’s Forward Progress, and Some Side-by-Side
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As Gevo reports its 4Q results and adds back some ethanol production, we look at the short-term gains and the long-term implications. Why ethanol, why now — what’s the latest news mean from this signature
March 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Solazyme Launches Drilling Fluid Product, Encapso, and Embarks on $150M Debt/Equity Raise
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Solazyme announced its entry into the oil and gas drilling fluids additive market. Building upon its proprietary platform of high performance, sustainable Tailored oils, Solazyme has introduced Encapso, the world’s first encapsulated biodegradable
March 27, 2014 Read Full Article
Landmark Agreement With Shareholders: ExxonMobil Agrees to Report on Climate Change & Carbon Asset Risk
(Arjuna Capital/PR NewsWire) In response to a shareholder resolution, ExxonMobil (XOM) – the largest U.S. energy company, for the first time ever has agreed to publish a Carbon Asset Risk report on the Company website describing how it assesses the
March 21, 2014 Read Full Article
As KiOR Stumbles, Aemetis Soars: What Made the Difference?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Both companies produce advanced biofuels for the American domestic market. Both utilize advanced technologies deployed at commercial-scale in the past 24 months. Both are publicly-traded stocks. Both were founded in 2006-07, after the Energy Policy
March 20, 2014 Read Full Article
AIM Interview: Scripps’ Dr. Mark Hildebrand
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) A new report issued by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) ranked 28 Algae Technology Area projects. Dr. Mark Hildebrand and his team at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego
March 19, 2014 Read Full Article
How RINs Really Work, and Why Big Oil Hates Them
by Ron Lamberty (Ethanol Producer Magazine/American Coalition for Ethanol) The ability for independent fuel marketers to sell renewable fuels at lower prices while improving profit margins by selling RINs, has given independent fuel marketers something they have never had before:
March 18, 2014 Read Full Article
KiOR Announces $347M Loss for 2013: “We Have Substantial Doubts about Our Ability to Continue as a Going Concern.”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Delayed 2013 results includes going concern statement. Future Khosla financing contingent on milestones. Default looms as soon as April. Financing after August unclear. In Texas, KiOR announced a $347.5M net loss for 2013, and issued a
March 18, 2014 Read Full Article
China New Energy Jumps on New Biorefinery Contract
(IFA Magazine) The share price of AIM-listed China New Energy (CNE) rose by a tenth on Monday after the bioenergy engineering and technology firm received a contract to build another biorefinery for Ubon Bio Ethanol in Thailand. The new project, expected
March 11, 2014 Read Full Article
BRICS and Mortar: The Fast-Growing BRIC Economies Take Aim at Aviation Biofuels
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Brazil, Russia, India and China — and throw in South Africa for a complete BRICSA set. The vaunted new economic engines for the 21st century — and, lately, home to a beehive of activity around drop-in,
March 11, 2014 Read Full Article
PeaceEnergy Launches Crowd-Sourced Fundraising to Fuel Motorbikes with Ethanol in Vietnam
(PeaceEnergy) Mobile Payment Technology for E-85 Fuel KIOSK Vietnam 40 million motorbikes Vietnam's mandate is to reduce Green House Gases for a cleaner Planet. PeaceENERGYs Mobile Payment Fuel KIOSK will use E-85 & E-100 for 40 million motorbikes. PeaceENERGY's Technology can implement
March 07, 2014 Read Full Article
Petrixo to Invest $800 Million in Fujairah Bio-Fuel Refinery
(Arab News) Dubai-based Petrixo Oil & Gas has decided to invest $800 million in bio-fuel refinery in Fujairah. The company, which has been investing in the green fuels for several years, has plans to be a leader in bio-fuel production
March 06, 2014 Read Full Article
Zimbabwe: Another Ethanol Plant for Zimbabwe
by George Maponga (AllAfrica.com) Zimbabwe Bio-Energy has announced plans to set up the country's third ethanol plant at Nuanetsi Ranch in Mwenezi, where the firm wants thousands of locals to start sugarcane plantations using water from Tokwe-Mukosi Dam. Tokwe-Mukosi will
March 05, 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
State May Issue $50M in Bonds for Biofuel Effort
by Tom Callis (Stephens Media Hawaii/West Hawaii Today) Hawaii could issue up to $50 million in special purpose revenue bonds to support a company’s plans to turn agricultural waste into biofuel and animal feed. Since 2011, the Pacific Basin Agricultural
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
Solazyme and the Year of Living Dangerously
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... So — widening losses, falling annual revenue. So, why the excitement amongst most of the analysts? 2013 Highlights Scale-up: Completed construction at 20,000 MT Archer-Daniels-Midland Company facility in Clinton, IA; downstream companion facility operated by American Natural
March 04, 2014 Read Full Article
A Biofuels Inflection Point
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Huge stock rallies in first-gen and next-gen biofuels last week — and tension over Ukraine with the potential for oil price spikes. Is this a turning point in the war over energy diversification? ... As Douglas
March 03, 2014 Read Full Article
CEO Todd Becker Has Faith in the Future of Ethanol Producer Green Plains
by John Lppert and Mario Parker (The Washington Post/Bloomberg) ... Political challenges are piling up, too. Big Oil lists minimum ethanol requirements as its top policy concern for 2014 and wants to eliminate them. Government officials are already backtracking. A week
March 03, 2014 Read Full Article
Amyris: Out of the Doghouse, But Can the Stock Rally Continue?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In April, International Flavors & Fragrances and Amyris announced a collaboration to develop and commercialize a specific set of renewable fragrance ingredients. Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, IFF and Amyris will jointly develop
February 28, 2014 Read Full Article
Square Pump, Round Fuel
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Flash-forward to today: the American Petroleum Institute rallies the Panzers to repel the landing of renewable fuels — bringing alternative choices for consumers at affordable prices, via a counter-assault on the Renewable Fuel Standard. And some
February 24, 2014 Read Full Article
Long-Term Growth in Today’s 53.2 BGY Biofuel Market Will Be Led by Novel Fuels and Novel Feedstocks
by Andrew Soare (Lux Research, Inc.) The 53.2 billion gallon biofuel industry has enjoyed capacity growth of 19.6% annually since 2005, but growth will slow to just 3.2% annually through 2017. Ethanol represents 65.9% of global biofuel capacity in 2013
February 20, 2014 Read Full Article
Open Letter to 60 Minutes and CBS
(Khosla Ventures) To: 60 Minutes and CBS Attn: Lesley Stahl, Jeff Fager, David Rhodes, Leslie Moonves On January 5, 2014, CBS’ 60 Minutes aired a segment titled, “The Cleantech Crash” that grossly misrepresented the state of the sustainable energy industry. At
February 12, 2014 Read Full Article
Green Banks, Green Bonds, Green Principles: 3 New Paths for Renewable Project Financing
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Developers: is affordable project finance tough to find? Lenders: want to support green projects, but find that traditional deal structures defeat your best intentions? Help is on the way, via green bond principles and green
February 11, 2014 Read Full Article
Bring Out Your Dead! As Renewable Equities Soar, Integrated Oilcos Sputter
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What’s going on – aren’t biofuels supposed to be dead, and fracking changing everything forever in oil & gas? Yet, tough times for growth at the public oil companies, while bellwether renewable fuel equities are
February 07, 2014 Read Full Article
The Digest's Bioeconomy Achievement Awards for 2013-14
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Beta Renewables, Abengoa, Enerkem, Proterro among the winners for Project of the Year — as residues and waste are keys to the big wins. For Fuel of the Year, Renewable Chemical of the Year, Product
January 03, 2014 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
Ethanol Plant Being Prepped to Open
by Leah Small (Progress-Index) A plan by Vireol Bio-Industries PLC to open the ethanol plant instead of shipping it overseas was unofficially announced at a meeting of city industrialists, sparsely attended by the public. Larry Wilson, plant manager, made the
December 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Senate Hearing Addresses 2014 RFS Proposal
by Erin Voegele (Ethanol Producer Magazine) The U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works held a hearing Dec. 11 on the U.S. EPA’s proposed rule to set 2014 volume requirements under the renewable fuel standard (RFS). The hearing, titled
December 12, 2013 Read Full Article
EU Biofuels Investment Development: Impact of an Uncertain Policy Environment
(Agra CEAS Consulting) This Special Study shows that meaningful investments in biofuels in the EU ceased well prior to 2012. The data thus show that the Renewable Energy Directive itself was empirically not a stimulus for biofuels investments, which is how it is
December 11, 2013 Read Full Article
Nightmare Scenario: Renewable Fuels’ Defenders Pull out the Stops to Persuade EPA to Continue the War on Imported Oil
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Today, the EPA has scheduled a day of testimony on its proposed 2014 Renewable Fuel volume targets — and a proposed 40 percent slash in the advanced biofuels category to 2.2 billion (ethanol equivalent) gallons,
December 05, 2013 Read Full Article
Whatever Happened to Aviation Biofuels? New Report from Australia Rates the Prospects.
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Qantas, Shell, AISAF, SkyNRG, Solena and others collaborate on on an illuminating supply chain analysis of sustainable aviation fuels. Which one is technically ready, but feedstock-starved? Which one has affordable feedstock but the technology
December 04, 2013 Read Full Article
Petrobras, Embrapa Developing Sugarcane Ethanol Production Tech
(The Daily Fusion) Petrobras, a Brazilian multinational energy corporation, and Embrapa, a state-owned company affiliated with the Brazilian Ministry of Agriculture, are developing a new technology for sugarcane ethanol production. The project will generate knowledge for the expansion of sugar
December 04, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuels Manufacturer to Create 65 Jobs in Sampson County, N.C.
(Thrive in North Carolina/North Carolina Governor's Office) Biochemtex will be locating its new cellulosic biofuels production operations in North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory and North Carolina Commerce Secretary Sharon Decker announced today that Biochemtex will be locating its new cellulosic biofuels
December 04, 2013 Read Full Article
Ethanol Firm to Build $500 Million Dam
(New Zimbabwe/The Source) THE country’s sole ethanol producer Green Fuel on Wednesday said it plans to start construction of the $300 million Kondo Dam in 2015 after completing financial due diligence. Green Fuel general manager Graeme Smith told The Source that
December 04, 2013 Read Full Article
Brazil Sugar-Mill Shutdowns Seen Enduring After Fuel Subsidy Cut
by Isis Almeida (Bloomberg) Sugar and ethanol mills in Brazil probably will keep shutting even after the government raised prices for gasoline, because it won’t be enough to lift demand for the competing biofuel. About 20 mills are likely to shut in the next two
December 03, 2013 Read Full Article
The Password Is….Bagasse: Raizen, Iogen Get Going on Cellulosic Ethanol at Industrial Scale
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In Brazil, Raizen has started construction on a 10 million gallon per year cellulosic ethanol plant using Iogen Energy technology. The $100 million project, located adjacent to Raízen’s Costa Pinto sugar cane mill in Piracicaba,
December 03, 2013 Read Full Article
Company Hopes to Tap into Sugar Cane, Sorghum for Fuel-Grade Ethanol
by James Palen (The Daily Transcript/San Diego Source) ... Brawley-based California Ethanol + Power is bringing the matter closer to home. The company has yet to build its first facility, but by possibly the first quarter of 2014, it looks to break ground on
November 27, 2013 Read Full Article
Why Have Expectations for Sweet Sorghum Soured?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) As Ceres points towards minimal plantings of its sweet sorghum hybrids in its key market of Brazil for next year, investors ask two questions. Will sweet sorghum realize its vast potential, and when? Just when many
November 26, 2013 Read Full Article
Big Oil Reaps $23 Billion Windfall - In One Day
(Americans United for Change) What a difference a day makes for Big Oil. The oil industry scored a big victory on Friday, November 15 as the U.S. EPA released a draft rule that – if allowed to stand – rolls
November 25, 2013 Read Full Article
Finland Corporate Cleantech Venture Day: Panel Discussions, Pitches and Speed Dating
by Aino Siirala* (Advanced Biofuels USA) It is natural that a cleantech company requires capital and time to reach markets. A speaker at the 20th November 2013 Corporate Cleantech Venture Day in Lahti, Finland, compared cleantech start ups to IT
November 25, 2013 Read Full Article
The Hunt for Biofuels Looks Beyond Ethanol
by Mara Lemos Stein (The Wall Street Journal) A push is on to get more energy from nonedible plants ...Amid growing pressure to make less ethanol from edible crops, some have pinned their hopes on nonfood plant materials. Such fuels are
November 22, 2013 Read Full Article
Financing Bioenergy, and Making Better Investment Decisions – via Renewable Proved Reserves
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In November 2011, the Digest ran a story on a remarkable proposition — advanced by Richard Hamilton, CEO of Ceres — that biofuels companies – on the “level playing field” theory advanced by opponents of
November 22, 2013 Read Full Article
Illinois Ethanol Plant to Build Co-Located Biodiesel Plant
by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Adkins Energy LLC, a 48 MMgy ethanol plant located in Lena, Ill., is poised to begin construction on a 2 MMgy co-located biodiesel plant, which will utilize the distillers corn oil separated at the
November 21, 2013 Read Full Article
Ceres Announces Fiscal Year 2013 Financial Results
(Ceres) - Plantings have commenced for the 2013-14 growing season in Brazil. - Number of mills evaluating Ceres' sorghum hybrids has increased over previous season. - Lower expenses forecast for fiscal year 2014. Energy crop company Ceres, Inc. (Nasdaq: CERE) today announced financial results for
November 21, 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
Obama Messes with the RFS
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Washington, the EPA released its 2014 proposed standards and volumes for renewable fuels. The volumes, as widely expected, include substantial reductions from the statutory standards in the original Energy Independence & Security Act. The announced proposed volumes
November 18, 2013 Read Full Article
Biofuels, True North, Natural Gas, and Primus Green Energy
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Primus Green Energy recently completed a landmark technology demonstration — and heads off to scale with a catalytic technology for making $2.00 gasoline. But, in shifting to natural gas as a feedstock for the first
November 15, 2013 Read Full Article
Peyton Pace: As a Soap Opera Bubbles over KiOR’s Speed-to-Profits, Revenues and Production Triple
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Slow pace, low yields have depressed KiOR’s share prices, but tripled production and revenue has recently delighted the markets. What’s up with the cellulosic biofuels leader? Good news, bad news? ... You have one of the first
November 13, 2013 Read Full Article
The Four Horsemen of the Financials: Gevo, Solazyme, Amyris Report for Q3
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In years gone by, it was not too hard to write up a summary of Gevo, Solazyme and Amyris — all aimed at fuels, all in the development stage, all used synthetic biology in closed
November 07, 2013 Read Full Article
10 Time Machines for Making Biofuels and Chemicals
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...The new technologies that come along have to provide pressure, temperature and feedstock at their own cost. So it’s the cost of those three elements, competing against the cost of locating, drilling and pumping. In
November 05, 2013 Read Full Article
Being Solid and Liquid: The Screwy, Upside-Down World of Renewable Fuels Financing
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...“Cowcookies”, the lost Marx Brothers script Scene, an office on Wall Street. Enter a lender, Harold P. Cheesebreath — and his prospective borrower, Al Cohol. Cohol: (confidently) See here, it’s a no-brainer. Mandated fuel, pilot-proven technology, no food