by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Bruce Dannenberg, CEO of Phytonix shared this illuminating slide guide at ABLC Connect highlighting how Phytonix utilizes cyanobacteria engineered via synthetic biology to produce 1-butanol and potentially other higher alcohols. And there’s a sister company,
nutraceuticals
Back TO HOMERenewable Chemicals and Materials: The Digest’s 2020 Multi-Slide Guide to Praj’s Bioeconomy Perspective
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Praj Industries recently added renewable chemicals and materials to their portfolio of products going beyond biofuels and their Executive Chairman Dr. Pramod Chaudhari shared this illuminating presentation at ABLC Digital on the India story, the
July 23, 2020 Read Full Article
Reliance to Replace Auto Fuels with Electricity, Hydrogen; Targets Carbon-Zero co by 2035
(India Times/Economic Times) The oil-telecom-to-retail conglomerate, which has pivoted away from energy to the new economy in recent years, will use technology to convert carbon dioxide into valuable chemicals and other material building blocks. -- Reliance Industries, operator of the world's
July 17, 2020 Read Full Article
The Algae Summit, Groups to Know, Slides to See, and the Megatrends
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... We’ve managed to get a hold of three presentations that really were the bomb at ABS 2019. Jonathan Male, director of the Bioenergy Technologies Office and one of the original Pyromaniax himself, gave this one
September 20, 2019 Read Full Article
Euglena Sets Sights as an Olympic Hopeful for Algae-Based Aviation Jet Fuel
by Helena Tavares Kennedy (Biofuels Digest) Midorimushi – other than being a cool sounding Ninja name, it’s scientific name is Euglena. No, it’s not the latest superhero in a manga comic. It’s a kind of algae. In a magical sort of hybrid
August 05, 2019 Read Full Article
No Compromise: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Amyris
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Amyris has a proprietary process of engineering organisms (yeast) using renewably-sourced carbon from plants (sugarcane) to make sustainable, custom molecules. They use their technology to create products that support biopharmaceutical drug discovery and production, from cosmetic emollients
March 29, 2019 Read Full Article
Biogas Business: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Biogas Conversion
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Terry Mazanec, a member of Lee Enterprises Consulting offers this illuminating overview of biogas, what it’s good for, scale, bio-methane, what to do with it, key players, and more. Lee Enterprises Consultingis the world’s largest bioeconomy consulting
February 20, 2019 Read Full Article
Beyond the Cow: ICYMI, BYND IPO PDQ, and Perfect Day AKA Muufri JDA w/ ADM, FYI
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... In New York and California this week, the nutrition side of industrial biotechnology — and specifically, the “beyond the cow moovement is, ahem, mooving faster with news that Beyond Meat has filed for its IPO and Perfect
November 20, 2018 Read Full Article
The 2018 Algae Biomass Summit: Tracing the Evolution of the Algae Industry and Its New Trajectories Forward
by Jenna Bloxom* (Advanced Biofuels USA) The kickoff of the 2018 Algae Biomass Summit in The Woodlands, TX, was awash with the same professional ambition, intellectual zeal, and indomitable sense of hope which likewise distinguished the opening ceremony of this
November 17, 2018 Read Full Article
ASU Teams Find New Ways to Harness CO2 to Reduce Biofuel Costs
(Arizona State University/Biomass Magazine) The U.S. Department of Energy has announced 36 projects that together have been awarded $80 million to support early-stage bioenergy research and development. Two Arizona State University research teams are among the grantees, with the grants to
November 12, 2018 Read Full Article
Jet Biofuel Mass Production to Begin in Japan
by Akane Okutsu (Nikkei Asia Review) Biotech company euglena teams with ANA to fuel green commercial flights -- Japan's biotechnology company euglena is to start mass production of bio jet fuel and biodiesel out of algae and waste oil, with the aim of being the
November 05, 2018 Read Full Article
Unorthodox Antioxidant Focus Drives Stover Ventures towards Cellulosic Dream
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A remarkable and usually under the radar company known as Stover Ventures is said to be nearing its once-unlikely goal of raising capital — mostly so far from Iowa farmers — to construct a biorefinery near Osage, Iowa
August 23, 2018 Read Full Article
Boyle Selected for DOE Early Career Research Program
(Colorado School of Mines) Nanette Boyle, assistant professor of chemical and biological engineering at Colorado School of Mines, has been awarded funding through the U.S. Department of Energy’s Early Career Research Program. Boyle will receive $750,000 over five years to develop predictive metabolic
July 17, 2018 Read Full Article
Algae for the Advanced Bioeconomy: The Digest’s 2018 Multi-Slide Guide to Cellana
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Cellana uses the most productive plants on earth—marine microalgae—to photosynthetically produce its ReNew line of Omega-3 EPA and DHA oils, animal feed, and biofuel feedstocks. Cellana’s patented ALDUO system, a series of photobioreactors coupled with open
July 17, 2018 Read Full Article
In for a Penny, In for a Pound: The Advanced Bioeconomy and All the Pivots
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Algae.Tec has (once again) shifted its business focus, and what was once a developer of algae bioreactors to make cost-competitive fuels is now in the business of “heirloom cannabis varietals”. So, um, High Times at Algae.Tec. ... It’s
December 29, 2017 Read Full Article
Bioeconomy Curves and Slides, Snakes and Ladders
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Over the years we’ve all seen a lot of curveballs in the advanced bioeconomy. You see companies like Valero, which lobby the United States Congress with unbridled intensity to get rid of the Renewable Fuel Standard,
December 27, 2017 Read Full Article
Algae.Tec Moves away from Biofuel as Managing Director Steps Down
by Rachel Williamson (Stockhead.com) Algae.Tec’s boss Peter Hatfull has exited the business as it transitions from biofuel into a “plant-based health and wellbeing company”. Mr Hatfull has been replaced by chairman Malcolm James. ... Algae.tec started as an algae-based biofuel researcher with lofty aims
November 29, 2017 Read Full Article
From Coal-Fired CO2: The Digest’s Multi-Slide Guide to Capturing Flue Gas via Microalgae
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) A recent DOE project with MicroBio Engineering had the primary objective of a detailed techno-economic and life cycle assessment for a coal-fired power plant with two microalgae CO2 utilization and mitigation options. First, biogas production
June 30, 2017 Read Full Article
Algae DHA: A Fix for Odor, Taste and Cost Is on the Way for the Gross Dose.
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Omega-3s are a great thing, but here’s the bottom line: the current applications stink. Not as in, they-don’t-work. We mean, literally. ... Into this market and into the problem arrive from Saskatoon, the Mounties: Algarithm Ingredients has spun-out from POS
June 29, 2017 Read Full Article
Algae — Life after Biofuels: Mining Algae's 1001 Uses
(Algae Industry Magazine) Monica Jain of Fish 2.0 writes in National Geographic about how the algae brand is about to undergo an image makeover, and may soon seem flat-out glamorous — once again. Algae got a lot of excited press
June 14, 2017 Read Full Article
Phyco2 Refocuses Algae R&D on Agriculture, Nutrition
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In California, Phyco2 said that is shifting its focus to meet the growing market demand for algae production. Six primary high-value markets with strong growth both in the United States and globally have been identified as
June 12, 2017 Read Full Article
Hard Lessons From the Great Algae Biofuel Bubble
by Eric Wesoff (GreenTechMedia) Entrepreneurs can have tunnel vision. VC herd mentality doesn’t produce results. Physics and thermodynamics are fairly important in energy applications. -- ... Today, the few surviving algae companies have had no choice but to adopt new
April 21, 2017 Read Full Article
Here Comes BioChina: Amyris, Others Bypass the 4 Myths of Business in the Middle Kingdom
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) From California arrives the very interesting news that Amyris has entered into an agreement with Blue California whereby its affiliates will provide access to its fermentation manufacturing in China and provide the necessary capital to
April 19, 2017 Read Full Article
Mixotrophic Algae: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to BioProcess Algae
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) BPA designs, builds, and operates commercial scale Grower Harvester bioreactors that enable efficient conversion of light and CO2 into high value microbial feedstock. BioProcess Algae LLC is based in Omaha, Neb. and is currently running
February 09, 2017 Read Full Article
Amyris Partners with Queensland to Create the Leading Industrial Biotechnology Hub in Southeast Asia
(Amyris/Globe Newswire) Government and Local Sugarcane Industry Partners with Amyris to Produce Sustainable Ingredients for the Personal Care and Nutraceutical Markets -- Amyris, Inc. (Nasdaq:AMRS), the industrial bioscience company, and the Government of Queensland, Australia today announced a partnership to
December 12, 2016 Read Full Article
What To Do With Algae
by Terry Mazanec (Lee Enterprises Consulting/Biofuels Digest) ... So the process removes and processes about 25 tonnes of earth to obtain each gram of Pt, valued at about $35. It is a very lucrative business. Biomass is much like the platinum mine. It
October 20, 2016 Read Full Article
Bossie, the Climate Warrior: New Approaches May Unlock Dairy Methane’s Value
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) One of the newer arrivals in Florida’s small bio-based industry is Culture Biosystems, which produces attractive economics for its advanced algae cultivation platform which enables large-scale production of algae to be used in producing biofuels,
October 19, 2016 Read Full Article
Amyris: The New Colossus Aims to Unlock Its Golden Door
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... Let’s look at the 7 factors that have the company poised for a revenue transformation in the second half. 1. Gingko. Entered into an Initial Strategic Partnership Agreement with Ginkgo Bioworks to accelerate commercialization of bio-based
August 15, 2016 Read Full Article
Feedstock for the Advanced Bioeconomy: The Digest’s 2016 Multi-Slide Guide to Cellana
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Cellana uses the most productive plants on earth - marine microalgae - to photosynthetically produce its ReNew line of Omega-3 EPA and DHA oils, animal feed/food, and biofuel feedstocks. Cellana's patented ALDUO system enables economic,
July 01, 2016 Read Full Article
Turn and Face the Strange: The New Algae Makes a Bowiesque Pivot into New Markets
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... But the RE in algae these days has been, more or less, REposition. Possibly REthink. Certainly not much REfinance, or REcommit to the original targets. The algae business models of 2009 burst up in a
July 01, 2016 Read Full Article
Evolva, Wageningen and Algae.Tec Advance on High-Margin Bio-Opportunities
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Sweeteners, acrylic, and nutraceuticals led the news at the end of this week, with key announcements out of Evolva, Wageningen and Algae.Tec. ... All the announces are developmental in nature — patents, R&D, product supply for future
May 27, 2016 Read Full Article
Based on the Mother of All Plants: The Digest’s 2016 8-Slide Guide to TerraVia
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The goal: Transforming Solazyme into a food, nutrition, and specialty ingredient innovation platform harnessing the power of algae: The mother of all plants and earth’s original superfood. The new company identity? TerraVia. Let’s take a
March 18, 2016 Read Full Article
No Pain, No Gain: A Tale of Three Companies, Pacific Ethanol, BioAmber and TerraVia at a crossroads
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... a fascinating look at the evolution in the fuels, renewable chemicals, specialty products and nutrition that make up the advanced bioeconomy. ... The most spectacular news of the week belonged to TerraVia, which landed a
March 18, 2016 Read Full Article
“Call Me TerraVia”: Solazyme Transforms, Shakes up and Refinances
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Solazyme undergoes Focus Reassignment Surgery and re-emerges as TerraVia. Industrials to spin off, nutrition the focus now. The what, the why, and the “why now?” In California, Solazyme said that it is now focusing exclusively on
March 14, 2016 Read Full Article
UK CAER Algal Research Hitting the Ground in China
(University of Kentucky) Algae research at the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER) is going global. The Algae and Biofuels Laboratory at CAER is partnering with Lianhenghui Investment Company to construct a five-acre algae production facility in
February 15, 2016 Read Full Article
Biofuels Move From Lab to Frying Pan
by Amy Harder (Wall Street Journal/Governors' Biofuels Coalition) Solazyme Inc., a company founded 12 years ago to make car and truck fuel from algae, is vigorously pushing a new product. But this time, it is fuel for the body: cooking oil, based
December 23, 2015 Read Full Article
BioTork Announces Groundbreaking Alternative to Fish Oil
(BioTork) – BioTork, LLC, a Florida-based biotechnology company has created a sustainable, GMO-free, vegan omega-3 oil produced from algae. This omega-3 oil will be launched in the nutraceutical, feed and food industries worldwide as a direct replacement to fish oil. Until
December 14, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae: 2015, the Year in Review
by Matt Carr (Algae Biomass Organization/Biofuels Digest) ... Low oil prices, company mergers or evolving business strategies may be easily spun by the skeptics as reasons to fret, but in the case of our industry they are almost all illustrations of
November 23, 2015 Read Full Article
8 Ways around the Big, Bad Oxygen Problem in the Advanced Bioeconomy Parts 1 and 2
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) In the terrestrial world, oxygen is colorless, odorless, and try to get through an hour without some. In the Bioeconomy Cinematic Universe, oxygen is harder than steel, heavier than a black hole, and higher than
October 14, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae Fuels, the Earth Room Problem, and Osmotic Shock Around the Clock
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What is the Earth Room Problem and how is osmotic shock helping us to solve it? You may have wondered to yourself — at some point between 2009’s Summer of Algae and now, in 2015’s Summer of Where
August 27, 2015 Read Full Article
8 Ways to Win with $30 Oil: “Energy at the Extremes”
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) What works, what struggles, what changes when oil prices head into the tank? Who will feed China’s manufacturing monster? -- At Clariant’s “Defining the Future VII” conference in San Francisco, the delegates were leaning forward, straining
August 26, 2015 Read Full Article
What’s up with Algae Now?
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ... 31 Algae players, what do they make now, and how are they making out? ... Here’s our company by company guide to 31 of the players on the scene — project developers and technology suppliers. ... AlgaEnergy AlgaEnergy is
July 10, 2015 Read Full Article
Energy Department Awards $18 Million to Develop Valuable Bioproducts and Biofuels from Algae
(US Department of Energy) The Energy Department today announced six projects that will receive up to $18 million in funding to reduce the modeled price of algae-based biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2019. This
July 10, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae.Tec to Expand Georgia Algae Production Facility
by Isabel Lane (Biofuels Digest) In Georgia, following successful algae growth trials, Algae.Tec has commenced the expansion of its development and manufacturing facilities in Cumming, Georgia and the building of an initial small scale plant for the production of algae
March 30, 2015 Read Full Article
The Great Algae Robbery
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) An arbitration ruling details how Roquette seemingly attempted one of the most brazen intellectual property heists in the history of biotechnology, and almost got away with it. Today, the story of a JV gone wrong,
February 27, 2015 Read Full Article
Algae Offers Green Way to Boost Nutritional Value of Pet and People Foods
by Steve Dale (My Pet World/Chicago Tribune) Current and future trends in food for pets and people were among topics addressed at the 30th Alltech Annual International Symposium May 18-21 in Lexington, Ky. The theme of the conference was "What If?"
July 09, 2014 Read Full Article
A.I.M. Interview: Dr. Isaac Berzin
by David Schwartz (Algae Industry Magazine) It was in 2001 when Dr. Isaac Berzin, a PhD Chemical Engineer at MIT’s Center for Space Research, started to question the work of the Department of Energy’s Aquatic Species Program, the first major
March 15, 2013 Read Full Article
Great Big Things from Tiny Lil’ Algae: 10 Algae Trends for 2013
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) 22 projects around the world show the multi-faceted promise of algae. Concrete, polyurethane, bioplastics, cosmetics and, oh, fuels — so many big things to make from algae, it’s become a big deal. ...While fuels remain the
February 21, 2013 Read Full Article
Biobased Products and Algae
by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) ...For all the excitement about fuels — biobased products may be even a hotter trend for the renewables sector’s hottest feedstock. One of the big trends this week? The biobased product side of algae – all