by Craig Hanson (WRI Insights) At the 10th Annual Meeting of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), WRI launched two new online mapping applications designed to help the palm oil industry grow while avoiding deforestation. These free tools enable palm oil producers, buyers,
Malaysia
Back TO HOMEThe False Choice Between Palm Oil And Indonesian Forests
by Nigel Sizer (WRI Insights/The Jakarta Post) ...The world’s top scientists are also raising concerns. According to a recent study in Nature Climate Change, from 1990 to 2010, 90 percent of lands converted to oil palm plantations in Kalimantan were forested. There need not,
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
EU Commission Backs Controversial Sustainable Palm Oil Scheme
by Barbara Lewis (Reuters) The European Commission has approved a scheme that would certify as sustainable transport fuel made from palm oil, condemned by environmental groups as one of the most damaging sources of biodiesel. The Commission made public on Tuesday
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
In Indonesia and Malaysia, as Demand for Palm Oil Grows, So Do Environmental, Labor Concerns
by Jason Motlagh (The Washington Post/Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting) Long a preferred cooking ingredient in developing countries, palm oil is now in greater demand in Western markets because of its low price and long shelf life. Derived from the
November 29, 2012 Read Full Article
Ensyn: Biofuels’ Big, Fast Cracker, in Pictures
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Ensyn – moving rapidly towards scale as a transport fuel technology after decades in smaller, high-value markets. What does Ensyn’s signature RTP technology, that’s making such a splash, look like? ...Ensyn has become a signature part
November 19, 2012 Read Full Article
Mitsubishi Funding Algae Research in Kuala Lumpur
(Algae Industry Magazine) Mitsubishi Corp has signed a research collaboration agreement with the Sarawak Biodiversity Council, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to explore the state’s diverse algal biodiversity as a potential source of renewable energy. Over the next two years, it
November 08, 2012 Read Full Article
The Greening of Petronas: Oil Giant Signs with LanzaTech to Turn Waste CO2 into Sustainable Chemicals
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In Malaysia, LanzaTech and the Malaysian national oil company, Petronas, announced they will work together to accelerate the development and commercialization of technologies to produce sustainable chemicals from carbon dioxide (CO2) and natural gas. ...The good
October 16, 2012 Read Full Article
Raising Money for the New Biofuels: A Digest Special Report
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...We say that biofuels are “capital-intensive,” mainly to be polite. It’s like saying that Genghis Khan, Alexander the Great or Attila the Hun had “land interests”. ...Put it this way. How much capital would you need to
October 15, 2012 Read Full Article
Environmental Regulations Kindle the Southeast Asian Automotive Biofuels Market, Finds Frost & Sullivan
(Frost & Sullivan/Sacramento Bee) Removing subsidies for conventional fuels and providing incentives for biofuels will bolster market growth New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.chemicals.frost.com), Strategic Analysis of Southeast Asian Automotive Biofuels Market, finds that the market earned revenues of more than
September 20, 2012 Read Full Article
The Top 10 Advanced Biofuels and Biorefining Companies in Asia
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...While the economic growth in China has been drawing virtually all the headlines in recent years, the “Tiger” economies of Southeast and South Asia have been fast-growing for a long time, and with resources including
September 04, 2012 Read Full Article
Biodiesel Use in Competition, and in Getting to the Track
by Ron Kotrba (Biodiesel Magazine) What does a U.S.-based NASCAR hauler with solar panels have in common with a championship vehicle developed by a Japanese team attempting to break a world record in Kuala Lumpur? Both vehicles, the hauler and an
July 24, 2012 Read Full Article
Cooking Waste Converted into Biodiesel for Schoolbuses
by Kan Yean Thoong (The Star) TWENTY secondary schools and two universities in Selangor will be participating in the “Environment Assessment Savvy Youths (Easy) Inter-School Used Cooking Oil Collection” programme, which was launched recently. Fathopes Energy Sdn Bhd (FHE) managing
July 20, 2012 Read Full Article
AEC Biofuel Teamwork Urged
(Bankok Post) Thailand is being urged to step up joint development and know-how exchanges with Malaysia and Indonesia on ethanol and biodiesel to stave off reliance on oil imports, according to energy veterans. "We should get more serious in joint development
July 20, 2012 Read Full Article
Biomass Refinery in the Offing
(EcoBusiness/The Borneo Post) Ministry of Energy, Green Technology and Water is planning to set up a biomass refinery at a major city in Sarawak. Without going into full details, its minister Datuk Seri Peter Chin said the refinery would be used to recycle
July 18, 2012 Read Full Article
Asian Researchers Develop Oil Palm Waste-to-Ethanol Process
by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine) Researchers in Southeast Asia have identified an approach to producing ethanol using an abundant waste feedstock that could potentially add a significant source of biofuel production from oil palm plantations. Oil palm empty fruit
July 03, 2012 Read Full Article
12 Tons of Palm Biomass Ships from Malaysia to Italy in Test to Extract Valuable Chemicals
(EurekAlert/Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology) Malaysian Industry-Government Group for High Technology and palm oil giants Felda, Sime Darby, in landmark collaboration on biomass waste Twelve tons of waste oil palm tree biomass is en route from Malaysia to a plant
June 04, 2012 Read Full Article
Malaysia, Indonesia Refute EPA Report on Palm Oil-Based Biofuels
(Bernama) Malaysia and Indonesia, the world’s largest producers of palm oil, are on a joint mission to correct and update a United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) report that could impact future exports of palm oil-based biofuels. Plantation Industries and Commodities
March 29, 2012 Read Full Article
Palm Oil Mills Target Zero Emission
By Meng Yew Choong (The Star) Palm oil milling is far from benign, but the industry is frantically conducting research to realise low-emission technologies. The zero-discharge plant is one such bold concept. THE extraction of palm oil involves a number of
March 22, 2012 Read Full Article
JOil Announces Elite Jatropha Varieties Returns Repeatable Yields of over 2 Tons of Seeds per Hectare in First Year of India Field Trials
(JOil) • Tamil Nadu sites achieve first-year flowering in three months and first harvest in five months • Field trials now being conducted in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Cambodia JOil (S) Pte. Ltd., a scientific bioenergy crop developer of a new
March 22, 2012 Read Full Article
Indonesia and Malaysia Launch Palm Oil Offensive against U.S. Ruling
(FreshFruitPortal.com) Indonesia and Malaysia have questioned a U.S. decision that their palm oil fails to meet regulatory greenhouse gas reduction standards, website Antaranews.com reported. They disagreed with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) ruling that biofuels from Indonesia and Malaysia cut only 17%
March 13, 2012 Read Full Article
The Palms Of Controversy
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia) Palms are said to be a symbol of peace and prosperity, but you can’t prove it by the past few weeks of heated debate over palm biofuel. Last week, we looked at the discrepancy between
March 13, 2012 Read Full Article
News Release: Inaugural Report Shows Impressive Uptake of RSPO Certified Sustainable Palm Oil in 2011
(Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil) Multi stakeholder initiative, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) reported unprecedented growth for Certified Sustainable Palm Oil (CSPO) in the year 2011 as accounted for in its inaugural qualitative review entitled “2011 RSPO CSPO
March 05, 2012 Read Full Article
Gov't To Test Jatropha Biodiesel Offered By Company From Malaysia
(Manila Bulletin) The government is subjecting to fuel standard testing the jatropha biodiesel of Malaysia-based Bionas which is offering to supply what it claims to possibly become the world’s first jatropha biodiesel. The Department of Energy (DoE) is expected to evaluate
March 05, 2012 Read Full Article
International Biodiesel Markets - Developments in Production and Trade
(Netzwerk Biotreibstoffe) The global biodiesel market has shown an exponential growth in production and trade across the past decade. Nowadays, more biodiesel than ever before is sourced from abroad and procurement areas – especially of large scale producers and traders
January 31, 2012 Read Full Article
EPA Issues Notice of Data Availability Concerning Renewable Fuels Produced from Palm Oil Under the RFS Program
(US Environmental Protection Agency) he U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is issuing a Notice of Data Availability (NODA) to release its lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) analysis of palm oil used as a feedstock to produce biodiesel and renewable diesel under the Renewable
January 27, 2012 Read Full Article
Building a World Market from Scratch
by Alvaro Cordero (Ethanol Producer Magazine/U.S. Grains Council) From a barely recognized feed alternative 10 years ago, distillers dried grains with solubles continues to gain recognition and markets. DDGS is now widely recognized internationally, where its use continues to evolve. Forty-four
January 26, 2012 Read Full Article
LanzaTech Raises $58M in Series C Round; Petronas Becomes Strategic Investor
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...In India, LanzaTech is working with Indian Oil and Jindal Power and Steel Limited on a facility to convert industrial waste gases into ethanol. It also has partnered with Concord Blue on a project to
January 23, 2012 Read Full Article
Japan's Toyo to Build 10,000 mt/year Ethanol Plant in Malaysia by Q2 2013
(Platts) Japanese Toyo Engineering Co is to build a 10,000 mt/year industrial-grade ethanol plant in Johor Baru, Malaysia by Q2 2013, the company said in a statement Wednesday. The plant, to be run by a joint venture comprising US firm Glycos
January 19, 2012 Read Full Article
Leadership Role for Malaysia in Aviation Biofuel
(Business Times) Selecting an optimal algae strain to produce jet fuel in Malaysia will be a top research priority in the first year of Aerospace Malaysia Innovation Centre's (AMIC) operation. With RM15 million having been approved in spending for the first
December 14, 2011 Read Full Article
As Government Talks Strike Out, Business Steps up to Bat
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia) This week, while the world’s biofuel producers were busy ramping up production towards the 54.1 billion gallon global capacity predicted by 2015, the people who regulate biofuels and make biofuel policy were mired in
December 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Implications of Biodiesel-Induced Land-Use Changes for CO2 Emissions: Case Studies in Tropical America, Africa, and Southeast Asia
by Achten, W. M. J., and L. V. Verchot (Ecology and Society) Biofuels are receiving growing negative attention. Direct and/or indirect land-use changes that result from their cultivation can cause emissions due to carbon losses in soils and biomass and could
December 07, 2011 Read Full Article
Asian Palm-Based Biofuel May Struggle in U.S.
by Niluksi Koswanage (Reuters) Indonesian palm-based biodiesel shipments seeking a foothold in the United States will face stiff competition from feedstocks such as corn oil and waste oils, which will become cheaper as more supplies hit the market, a top
December 06, 2011 Read Full Article
Biomass a New Strategic Industry for the Economy
(The Star) ...Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said in a speech during the launch of BioMalaysia 2011 and the 2011 Pacific Rim Summit on Industrial and Bio-Energy on Monday that the country could reap the benefits as the largest
November 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Study Shows High Emissions from Growing Biodiesel from Palm Oil
(Transport & Environment) Biofuels produced from palm oil grown in tropical peatlands are a significant source of greenhouse gases. This is the finding of a new study done for the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT) which, if taken on
November 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Smallholder Farmers Risk Being Forgotten in Sustainable Biofuels Race
by Maya Thatcher (Center for International Forestry Research) Smallholder farmers in developing countries risk being left behind in the push to produce sustainable biofuels, deterred by complex and expensive certification schemes, according to a recent CIFOR study. With limited scope to
November 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Maybank Launches US$500m Clean Energy Fund
by Premalatha Jayaraman (The Sun Daily) Malayan Banking Bhd has launched a US$500 million (RM1.57 billion) private equity fund to invest in the wind, solar, geothermal, small hydro, biomass, biofuel and energy efficiency sectors in the region. Maybank Investment Bank Bhd
November 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Mission to Extract Biodiesel from Palm Oil Waste in Malaysia
by Isaac Leung (PACEToday.com) Mission NewEnergy will construct a major waste material processing facility in Malaysia which will recover palm oil from waste material in the palm oil refining process. The Spent Bleaching Earth Extraction Plant will be located in Sandakan,
November 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Farming for Energy Starts to Gain Ground
by Sonya Kolesnikov-Jessop (New York Times) Pahang State in central Malaysia is about to becomehome to the world’s largest commercial farm project producing microalgae for biofuel. The farm will start to take shape in the first quarter of next year, on a
October 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Algae Industry Magazine Interview: Syed Isa Syed Alwi
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) When Syed Alwi speaks about the algae industry, you get the feeling that he really has his finger on what’s going on globally. He gets around, and is a bit of a kingpin in
October 17, 2011 Read Full Article
Jatropha as Alternative Fuel a Bust
by John Lourenze Poquiz (Mayaya Business Insight) The government is set to abandon its program of promoting jatropha as an alternative fuel source, an official said. Energy Secretary Jose Rena Almendras said the Philippine National Oil Co. Alternative Fuels Corp. (PNOC-AFC),
October 05, 2011 Read Full Article
INKUD, Lestari Pasifik to Build 616 Bio-Ethanol Plants
(Jakarta Post) PT INKUD Exchange signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on Monday with Malaysian biotechnology firm Lestari Pasifik Berhad to establish a joint venture aiming to set up 616 bio-refinery factories to process oil palm waste into bio-ethanol
September 22, 2011 Read Full Article
Joint Nature Conservation Committee Publishes "Indirect Land Use Change from Biofuel Production: Implications for Biodiversity"
by Monika Bertzky, Valerie Kapos & Jörn P.W. Scharlemann (Joint Nature Conservation Committee) Inference from production statistics and modelling studies suggest that iLUC has occurred, is likely to increase with increasing demand for biofuels and needs to be considered when assessing the
August 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Chevron Seeks to Expand Caltex Network via Enhanced Retailer Program, All Systems Go for B5 Biodiesel Launch
by Paul Tan (Paul Tan's Automotive News) Chevron Malaysia Limited, the operator of retail brand Caltex, is seeking to expand Caltex’s footprint in Malaysia, and the company plans to draw in retailers via its revitalised Retailer Owned, Retailer Operated program,
August 17, 2011 Read Full Article
China to Finance Biofuel Projects in Malaysia; but see: Lestari: No Intention to Solicit Funds from the Public
by Liz Lee (The Star) Lestari, Arter Group to build 616 plants Lestari Pasifik Bhd, in an unprecedented joint venture with Russian company Arter Group, is expecting to receive project financing from the Chinese government to build bio-refinery plants in Malaysia and
August 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Malaysia Plans Green Palm Oil Certification Scheme- Paper
by Niluksi Koswanage (Reuters Africa) Malaysia, the word's No.2 palm oil producer, will come up with a certification scheme to ensure the tropical oil is grown without clearing forests and destroying wildlife, a newspaper reported on Monday. The Business Times quoted
August 03, 2011 Read Full Article
Malaysia: Producing Biofuel from Algae
(Algae Industry Magazine) Marilyn Tenn in the Borneo Post talks about biotechnologists and researchers from Swinburne University of Technology, in Sarawak, Malaysia pooling their expertise to meet the challenge of developing viable alternative fuels. The university has been involved in research
July 30, 2011 Read Full Article
Portland Says NOPE to Bio Fuels Energy Plant
(YouandFilms.com) ...Nope (http://nope.org.uk/) has been campaigning against the biofuel electric plant for more than 2 years. The plant has been approved by the local government but no building works have started. If the plan gets built we will see vast
July 28, 2011 Read Full Article
Shell to Focus on Natural Gas and Biofuel
(The Star) ...“Biofuels are the only low-carbon transport fuel that can be scaled up fast enough to tackle carbon emissions from transport in the next 20 years,” Royal Dutch Shell Plc CEO Peter Voser said at the opening of the “Future
July 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Mitsubishi Energy Collaborates with SBC to Explore Biofuel Alternatives
(Borneo Post) Mitsubishi Corp Energy Business Group (Mitsubishi Energy), which is involved in the oil and gas industry in Bintulu, will collaborate with the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) to explore the algal biodiversity in Sarawak for biofuels as a source
July 01, 2011 Read Full Article
The Island of Misfit Materials
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...Over at Blue Marble, think spent waste grains from the alcoholic beverage distillation process, and spent coffee grounds. Generally, these are materials that pile up in landfills. By contrast, at Blue Marble’s first commercial facility, using
June 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Environmentally Friendly Biodiesel Now on Sale
(The Star) Biodiesel is now available in the market. Beginning this month until October, the supply of the new fuel will be available in stages starting at Putrajaya followed by Malacca, Negri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur and Selangor respectively. Plantation Industries and
June 09, 2011 Read Full Article
Malaysia and Indonesia Bolster Defence of Palm Oil Industry to West
(The Guardian/Eco-Business) Malaysia and Indonesia, which together account for about 90% of the world’s palm oil production, have launched a joint PR offensive to defend the industry’s environmental record. ...(M)inisters from the two countries agreed to finalise plans for a European Palm Oil Council
May 27, 2011 Read Full Article
Biodiesel 2011: The Real Opportunity
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) An interview with James Garton, president of Mission Biofuels USA subsidiary. We look at the jatropha 1.0 catastrophe, actual biodiesel capacity in the US, palm biodiesel, the RFS, and more. ...The company broke into the US
May 12, 2011 Read Full Article
Europe May Introduce Land Use Sustainabilty Criteria
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia) This was one of the best weeks yet in the Asian biofuels industry. China decided to promote 2G biofuels production and reduce its CO2 emissions by up to 45 percent by 2020. India moved to
May 05, 2011 Read Full Article
The Need for Biofuels
(The Star Malaysia) Experts predict the majority of the world’s oil fields will reach maximum petroleum extraction capacity in 2020, a state otherwise known as “peak oil”. After this point, a reduction in pressure causes the rate of production to
April 29, 2011 Read Full Article
Malaysian Scientist Jagjit Kaurah’s “Floating Bed Method” May Hold a Solution to the World’s Food and Fuel Crises
by Joelle Brink (Biofuels Digest Asia) ...Malaysian scientist Jagjit Kaurah works at the Universiti Putra Malaysia research station in Port Dickson, and he was walking on the beach one day when it occurred to him that the ocean provides for
April 29, 2011 Read Full Article
EU Not Supporting NGOs Against Palm Oil
by Rupa Damodaran (Business Times) The European Union is not using environmental non-government organisations as a "fifth column" to help it achieve its Renewable Energy Directive (RED) which places palm oil for biofuel at a disadvantage, says Trade Commissioner Karel
March 25, 2011 Read Full Article
Firm Eyes Sarawak for RM555mil Move to Help Natives Plant Jatropha on NCR Land
by Stephen Then (The Star Sarawak) A leading biofuel company with global links wants to turn Sarawak into a producer of green jet fuel, diesel and petrol and is willing to invest RM555mil in the state for the purpose. Bio Oil
March 21, 2011 Read Full Article
Mission NewEnergy Limited Announces Asia’s First Fully Integrated Sustainability & Carbon Certified Palm Biodiesel Supply Chain
(Daily Markets/PRNewswire) Multi-Media Enterprises is reporting that Mission NewEnergy Limited has announced the establishment of Asia’s first fully integrated Sustainability & Carbon Certified palm biodiesel supply chain. The announcement was made in Australia in the following news release: Mission NewEnergy Limited
March 15, 2011 Read Full Article
Neste Oil Celebrates the Grand Opening of Its ISCC-Certified Renewable Diesel Plant in Singapore
(Neste Oil) Neste Oil with Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defence Mr. Teo Chee Hean, Finnish Minister for Ownership Steering Mr. Jyri Häkämies, and some 200 guests celebrate the grand opening of its renewable diesel plant in
March 11, 2011 Read Full Article
Universiti Teknologi Petronas Opens Centre of Biofuel and Biochemical Research
(Bernama) Mitsubishi Corporation's Chief Executive in Malaysia Junichi Iseda and Rector of UTP Datuk Dr Zainal Abidin Hj Kasim launch a new Centre of Biofuel and Biochemical Research at UTP. READ MORE
March 03, 2011 Read Full Article
New Figures: Palm Oil Destroys Malaysia’s Peatswamp Forests Faster than Ever
(Wetlands International) An increasing part of Malaysia’s palm oil is produced at the account of huge areas of tropical peatswamp forests. Especially in the Malaysian state of Sarawak, expansion of oil palm plantations may lead to the complete loss of
February 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Malaysia's Sime Darby, Japan's Mitsui Engineering Sign Biofuel Deal
(Japan Today) Malaysia’s Sime Darby Plantation is collaborating with Mitsui Engineering and Shipbuilding Co to construct and operate a bioethanol demonstration plant in Malaysia’s Selangor State. The plant will convert oil empty palm fruit branches, available year-round and in abundant
January 04, 2011 Read Full Article
Free Trade in Asian Palm Biofuels takes Baby Steps Forward, but Maybe It Shouldn’t Have
by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest Asia) ...On the one hand, the EU position to allow import of uncertified Malaysian palm biodiesel, but withhold EU subsidies, is not clear or comprehensive enough. On the Asian side, it involves only Malaysia, one
October 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Malaysian Palm Oil Products Not Affected by EU RED
(The Star) The European Union Renewable Energy Directive (EU RED) and its sustainability criteria will not affect Malaysia’s palm oil exports to the EU market for consumer products like food, cosmetics and detergents, according to ambassador and head of the EU
October 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Malaysia Mulls Ways to Boost Biofuel
(Jakarta Globe/Agence France-Presse) Malaysia will consider cutting a diesel subsidy next year in a bid to make its biofuel industry more attractive after production of the alternative fuel virtually ground to a halt. ...Plantations and Commodities Minister Bernard Dompok said the
October 07, 2010 Read Full Article
Deal Reached on Malaysian Ensyn Biofuel Plant
by Bert Hill (Ottawa Citizen) Construction will start this year on a biofuel plant in Malaysia that uses the technology of Ensyn Technologies, an Ottawa company. A Malaysian government agency has announced that the plant will turn palm oil biomass into biofuel
September 28, 2010 Read Full Article
Big Oil and Biofuels Clash over UK’s 2020 Biofuels Target
by Joelle Dent (Biofuels Digest Asia) There’s blast furnace heat but little light so far in the debate on the UK biofuels target for 2020. Some advisors have urged that the current target of 10 percent be halved or entirely
September 21, 2010 Read Full Article
Korean Biofuel Banggi Venture
(Daily Express) Two South Korean companies will set up a multi-million dollar project to produce biofuel using cassava, starting with a plantation in Banggi Island, off Kudat , middle of this year. Jusin Group, a South Korean company, and counterpart Gaiax
April 14, 2010 Read Full Article
Sarawak, Malaysia, Now a Biodiesel Producer
by Samuel Aubrey (CheckBiotech) Sarawak is now producing biodiesel following the completion its first biodiesel plant operated by Senari Biofuels Sdn Bhd on a ten-acre site at Assar Senari Industrial Complex. ...Senari Biofuel, a wholly-owned Sarawak company started the RM80-million
February 01, 2010 Read Full Article
South East Asia the OPEC of Biofuel
(Biofuels International) ...Thailand’s energy minister says the Association of Southeast Asian Nations is a biofuels hub with the potential to become the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) of biofuels. Wannarat Channukul says Indonesia and Malaysia are the top two
November 30, 2009 Read Full Article
Industrial Biotechnology in China Amidst Changing Market Conditions
by Elizabeth Nesbitt (Journal of International Commerce and Economics) The increasing use of industrial biotechnology by the Chinese liquid biofuels and chemical industries is expected to help offset energy security and environmental concerns generated by China’s robust economic growth. The expanding use of bioprocesses