by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) The Digest had a well-received webinar on C5 and C6 sugars, featuring in-demand industry consultant David Dodds and Fluid Quip exec Jeffrey Robert — looking at transformative approaches to making sugars and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Four axioms start this presentation by David Dodds, on C5 and C6 sugar opportunities, at a breezy pace:

If you are making a molecule from another molecule, you are a chemist, doing chemistry.
Synthetic …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Canada, Sustainable Development Technology Canada awarded Comet Biorefining a CA$10.9 million grant for the construction of its first-of-a-kind advanced bio-based chemicals plant. Located in Sarnia, Ontario, the plant will …

by Isabel Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Europe, E4tech has just completed a new study, ‘From the Sugar Platform to biofuels and biochemicals’ for the European Commission (DG ENER), a comprehensive evidence base for policymakers and …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Butamax, KRL, Vivergo, sugarcane ethanol business not impacted by cuts; consolidation to Brazil; San Diego research center, Highland feedstock operation also up for sale.
In the UK, news broke from BP …

by Matthew Burns (WRAL)   A Virginia company plans to reopen an ethanol refinery in Hoke County, using tobacco as its primary feedstock, officials said Monday.  The former Clean Burn Fuels biorefinery in Raeford has been …

(University of Texas at Austin) Researchers at The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering have developed a new source of renewable energy, a biofuel, from genetically engineered yeast cells and ordinary table sugar. This yeast …

(BusinessWire/Proterro)  The United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued U.S. Patent No. 8,597,914 to Proterro, Inc., protecting Proterro’s unique, biosynthetic sugar-making process.
The only biofeedstock company that makes sugar instead of extracting it from crops …

(ICIS/PR NewsWire)  New Routes in Sustainable Chemistry Aim to Deliver Broader Supplies of Affordable Bioplastics
ICIS Innovation Awards — At today’s ICIS Innovation Awards in London, winners Renmatix and Virent announced a strategic collaboration to convert affordable cellulosic …

(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 …

by Dustin Mulvaney (EcoShift Consulting/Biofuels Digest)  … EcoShift Consulting (www.ecoshift.com) recently conducted a GHG intensity analysis of a seaweed-based ethanol product that performs significantly better than gasoline as well as ethanol made from other feedstocks. The …

by Elizabeth Dohms (Chippewa Herald)  A draft developer’s agreement between Stanley and a biomass company out of New York has been approved by the city council and is expected to bring more jobs to the …

by Tina Casey (CleanTechnica)  A company called Proterro has come up with a super low-cost way to squeeze sucrose out of algae, and if its new pilot-scale facility shakes out successfully, don’t be surprised to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In New York, in the wake of a $37 million Q1 loss in its sugar unit, Bunge CEO Soren Schroder, who took the reins of the company in June, announced …

(Waste Management World)  Researchers at Wake Forest University in North Carolina have developed a new sugar based catalyst that could cut the cost of producing biodiesel from poor quality waste oil and fats, such as …

(Proterro)  The biofeedstock company also validates low fabrication cost and completes preliminary design, layout, and cost estimate for demonstration-scale plant.
– Proterro, Inc., the only biofeedstock company that actually makes sucrose instead of extracting it from crops …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Long-term, there are numerous opportunities for developing the right kind of renewable feedstocks based on careful development of agricultural markets and gaining grower adoption. But anyone who has been through …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  After taking a leading role in the global first generation wave of ethanol production, here come the Brazilians — with some hot North American technologies in tow — to take …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Midori reports they have broken through on a 100-year quest for low-cost cellulosic sugars. And found a way to turn your cotton tees into sugars, too.
About a year ago, a …

(The Economist) Energy technology: Making large amounts of fuel from organic matter has proved to be more difficult and costly than expected
…As well as being available to countries without tar sands, shale fields or gushers, biofuels …

by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest)  What does the Gevo complex in Texas mean for jet fuel, for renewable clear plastic bottles…and for the Gevo investor?   In Texas, Gevo held a ribbon cutting ceremony for its …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Upstream, downstream, processing, policy, finance – opportunities and challenges abound in the bioeconomy – but which challenges are the most intractable and daunting of them all?   In today’s part 2, …

by Mike DeVito (PlanetForward)  Can biofuels play a significant part in the fuel market by 2030?
In partnership with National Geographic’s Great Energy Challenge, we ask some of the experts in the biofuels arena what it will take …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Here are the biggest pacts and advances, tests, investments and grants with the likes of Amyris, Total, Airbus, Solena Fuels, Turkish Airlines, United Airlines, AltAir Fuels, the US Navy, Emerald Biofuels, Natures BioReserve and Fulcrum Biofuels, Virent, …

(AZOCleanTech)  A collaboration between Rochester Institute of Technology’s Thomas H. Gosnell School of Life Sciences and Sweetwater Energy Inc. will give students experience with the Rochester-based company that has a sweet and sustainable niche.
Sweetwater Energy …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … In an exclusive Digest interview, Shell’s VP for Alternative Energy, Matthew Tipper, reveals the company’s thinking about RFS2, their increasing re-focus on North America and the EU.   Plus, Shell’s ambition …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  World’s #1 chemical company to produce renewable Butanediol using Genomatica’s process.  The Digest has a one-on-one with Genomatica CEO Christophe Schilling to explore the deal in-depth.
In Germany, BASF announced that …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In Norway, Norwegian Finance Minister Sigbjørn Johnsen officially inaugurated the Borregaard biorefinery demonstration plant in Sarpsborg, which will produce green chemicals and sugars based on biomass from wood and agricultural …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  With a fresh investment from Brazil’s GranBio, American Process Inc. is poised to develop its first commercial-scale cellulosic biorefineries in both the U.S. and Brazil. API CEO Theodora …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Produces Drop-In Jet Fuel from 100% Renewable Plant Sugars
In Wisconsin, Virent announced the delivery of 100 gallons of its bio-based jet fuel to the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) for …

by Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Advanced Biofuels Corp. has bought a legacy 7 MMgy ethanol plant in Moses Lake, Wash., with plans to retrofit existing systems and install new pretreatment process equipment, converting …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Pilot-scale biorefineries for drop-in military diesel, jet fuel the focus of the DOE’s latest grant round.
In Washington, the US Department of Energy announced up to $17.7 million in grants to …

by Pavel Molchanov (Raymond James and Associates/Biofuels Digest)  …There is no question that there have been growing pains along the way, more than we would have hoped, but the industry continues along its trajectory towards scale. We …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The end-goal? High-value oils. Low-cost sugars become shock troops in the war for sustainability.
In New York, we’ve learned that Sweetwater Energy will announce a project today to provide Naturally Scientific …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  … Sweetwater Energy announed that BioGasol completed delivery of its first commercial biomass pretreatment system.
The cellulosic sugar producer will use the unit, a Carbofrac 10, in its demonstration facility to produce …

by Emily Pickrell (FuelFix)  On Jan. 1, Congress made algae-based fuel production eligible for a $1.01-per-gallon cellulosic biofuel production federal tax credit.
Cellulosic biofuels typically are made from woody, non-food material such as grasses or wood …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Despite the sluggish economic recovery and questions over policy stability — biofuels ventures have been busy raising lots of capital.   In the past 6 months, $434 million.   Who got what, …

(Sustainable Plant)  Renewable chemicals company Amyris, Inc. has joined the Bonsucro sugarcane sustainability standard. Amyris is the first advanced biofuels and chemicals company of its kind to join Bonsucro, paving the way for certification of …

by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest)  GEVO, SZYM, AMRS — (investor) take off delayed by fog.  How soon will the potential of three of the hottest companies in the field be realized?  What are the key …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  A 32-page report by Lux Research picks winners and losers in 2012 among alternative fuel developers. The state of the market report, which is provided only to clients, also …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  B20, B5, B100, E10, E22, E15, M50, E85, Bu12.5, HEFA 50.  Is your head swimming with acronyms and blend ratios?  Who exactly is making drop-in fuels, and what does that …

by Jim Lane (BioBased Digest)  … When last we checked in with Verdezyne at length, the company had a transformative cellulosic biofuels fermentation technology and a real foothold en route to bioadipic acid as well …

by Steve Raabe (Denver Post)  A Colorado ethanol producer is set to employ a landmark technology that could help resolve the food vs. fuel controversy swirling around corn-based ethanol.
Front Range Energy in Windsor successfully has …

by Mona-Maria Brinker & Roger Coombs (Waste Management World)  Rising prices, continued conflict in producing regions and the spectre of peak oil have highlighted uncertainties about the future of fossil transport fuels in Europe. Mona-Maria Brinker …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In synthetic biology these days, there are the Big Wave surfers too — companies like Amyris, Solazyme, Gevo, Genomatica, Verdezyne, Rivertop Renewables, Myriant, Segetis, BioAmber, Cobalt, Green Biologics, Butamax, LanzaTech, …

Biorenewable chemicals are chemicals derived from bio-based feedstocks, which are renewable since they can be seasonally cultivated and exploited, as corn, sugar cane, wheat and cellulose. In most cases, prior to conversion to chemicals, the …

by Jim Lane (BioInvest Digest)  The technologies out there are five in number. They are all in commercial deployment now, though some are at the capacity-construction stage. Some of them vary the feedstock, some vary …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  One of biofuels’ most-celebrated technologies falters; the struggle to raise capital claims a high-profile victim.
…The company had been known for its awesomely promising technology, leisurely pace towards commercialization compared to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Though building capacity globally, Solazyme’s operations in Brazil are getting traction fast – and raised $235M last week.   How much oil could be produced in Brazil via sugar-munching microalgae? …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Front Range becomes third ethanol plant in 3 weeks to head for cost reductions, RIN opportunities with advanced feedstocks, technology.
…In New York, Sweetwater Energy announced a 15-year commercial agreement with …

(Renmatix/Sacramento Bee)  Building on success in hardwood, Philadelphia-based Renmatix adds on-site capability to convert multiple local and international feedstocks to cellulosic sugar
Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of cellulosic sugars for biobased chemical and fuel markets, welcomed …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  $4/gallon capex, low opex, $15 million upfront. Existing offtakers. Cellulosic RINs. Expandable. Product diversification. Operating next year.   What’s not to like?
…There’s a side door opening into cellulosic ethanol. Costs you …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A long war of opinion has been waged for years between advanced biofuels’ detractors and supporters.  Mirage or reality? Completion of 6 key projects 2012 decided much of the debate. …

(BusinessWire) Patented Technology Enables Conversion of Biomass Sugars to Fuels and Chemicals
Verdezyne, Inc., a privately-held industrial biotechnology company focused on producing renewable chemicals, announced the sale of its proprietary xylose isomerase technology, enabling the metabolism of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Why is making affordable renewable sugars potentially big business? Which intrepid investors have targeted biofuels’ biggest bottleneck?
News has been circulating that Proterro raised $3.5 million for a demonstration-scale of their …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Policy, finance, technology, feedstocks, markets, prices, opposition.  Here’s what’s on your mind, as the critical 2013 deployment year for biofuels looms.
So here are 15 burning questions as suggested by various …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  It’s been years of struggle to get cellulosic feedstock supply chains downfield.  Now, companies like Woodland Biofuels, Sweetwater Energy, Ceres, Delta BioRenewables and Commonwealth Agro-Energy are moving the chains.
…This week …

by Jim Lane (Biobased Digest)  California’s cellulosic gearhead gurus head from the San Joaquin Valley to Sao Paulo, in search of big, aggregated loads of sugarcane bagasse.
In California, Edeniq announced that it has begun engineering …

(Leaf Energy)  The patent application titled “Methods for Converting Lignocellulosic Material to Useful Products” (“Glycerol Bio-refinery process”) describes the process developed at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) by Zhanging Zhang, Ian O’Hara and William …

(US Department of Energy/National Renewable Energy Laboratory)  Breakthrough could help optimize capture of sugars for biofuels
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) combined different …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) … BioGasol ApS, the renewable energy company announced today that it has raised $19.2M — €5 million in new equity financing — and received a confirmation of €10 million grant …

(Hyrax Energy)  A licensing agreement for a novel renewable chemical and biofuel production method between Hyrax Energy and the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation promises to accelerate commercial development of the technology and lead to high-quality …

(Bioenergy Deployment Consortium/MarketWire)  BDC held its 2012 Fall Symposium in Alpena, MI on September 18 & 19, capping the event with a tour of the new cellulosic ethanol plant owned by American Process Inc. (API), …

by Bernadette Tansey (Xconomy)  The South San Francisco company LS9 recently produced five tons of industrial chemicals from plant sugars at a Florida demonstration facility, a step toward proving that its genetically engineered microbes can manufacture carbon …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Are they biofuels? We think so – even if they are post-biomass. They do what organisms have done for eons to make biomass in the first place: convert lifeless CO2, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Every great biofuels technology has its own companion feedstock strategy – with unique advantages and technical challenges.  Who’s got what it takes to be a great Sherpa, providing that feedstock …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Every biofuels contender has its own route to the top – with unique advantages and technical challenges.  Who is nearing the Summit, what’s their Hillary Step, who’s got Sherpas, who’s …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A new drop-in, low-cost, high-octane fuel molecule? How does that work, and why, and when?  How does it change the energy independence equation?   Today, the Digest visits Incitor to find …

(Renmatix)  U.S. Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) visits facility to discuss job creation and growth of biobased markets
Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of cellulosic sugars for biobased chemical and fuel markets, marked the opening of a new …

by Dan Conable (Cato Analytics LLC/Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Despite weather challenges and the learning curve for farmers unfamiliar with this energy sorghum, one of the first commercial-scale plantings of the crop in the northeastern U.S. has …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Once described as a “moon shot”, Beta Renewables’ commercial-scale cellulosic ethanol project hovers just over the lunar surface, weeks from completion.   It’s transformative cost structure may well reignite the …

by Michael Sheffield (Memphis Business Journal)  Infinite Enzymes LLC has received a $450,000 Small Business Innovation Research Phase II grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture to advance its enzyme development technology.
This is the second Small Business …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  The new trend in biofuels is not a biofuel at all – it’s an (usually unpronounceable) intermediate that can be refined into an array of fuels, chemicals, flavors, fragrances, and …

by Susanne Retka Schill   (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  In one of those interesting ironies of renewable fuels, Chemtex’s North Carolina proposed cellulosic ethanol project puts a sector of the hog industry rooting for the success of advanced …

(Renmatix)  Companies embark on program to explore viability of MSW as inputs for PlantroseTM process
Waste Management, Inc.
, the leading provider of comprehensive waste management services, and Renmatix, the leading manufacturer of biobased sugar intermediates for …

by Susanne Retka Schill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  The Swiss specialty chemicals company Clariant is now operating its demonstration-scale cellulosic ethanol plant in Straubing, Germany. With an annual capacity of up to 1,000 tons (330,000 MMgy), the demonstration …

Sugar as the New Crude Oil, Fueling a Growing Chemicals Industry
Where are the Key Developments Taking Place in Bio-based Chemicals? Hear from these Outstanding Speakers:

Shefali Algoo, ACS Green Chemistry Institute
Joe Fox, Ashland Performance Materials
Pulakesh Mukherjee, BASF Venture Capital
George …

by Lindsay Riddell (San Francisco Business Times)  Solazyme Inc. broke ground on its Brazil manufacturing plant adjacent to partner Bunge’s sugarcane mill.
The companies are targeting the end of 2013 to begin production on renewable oils made …

(The Commercial Appeal)  BioDimensions Delta BioRenewables (BDBR) will install a sweet sorghum processing facility at AgriCenter International after an investment from Epec Biofuels Holdings.
…“We consider industrial sugar to be ‘Nature’s Crude Oil’ and are making …

This conference is organized as part of the BIOFUELS-2G demonstration project funded by the European Union and the LIFE+ Programme.
The Bio4SuD conference aims to:

highlight promising R&D activities in the fields of biofuels production
present demonstration projects …

The call for abstracts is currently open for presentations in the International Conference on Biofuels for Sustainable Development of Southern Europe (Bio4SuD), which will take place in Thessaloniki, Greece on 19-20th of November 2012.
The Bio4Sud …

(Chemtex International/Ethanol Producer Magazine) Chemtex International announced today (June 13, 2012) that it has been selected by the USDA to participate in the Biomass Crop Assistance Program. The $3,996,000 award will support establishing and growing over 4,000 acres …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  One of biofuels’ hottest companies transitions from research phase to operating phase with opening of demo plant in Okeechobee – what’s next, and where?
…The opening of that fermenter column is …

(Amyris/Yahoo!Finance) Amyris’s Sugarcane-Derived Jet Fuel Ready to be Used in Azul’s EMBRAER 195 Powered by GE’s CF34 Engines
Azul Airlines joined Amyris, Inc., Embraer, and GE  in announcing today that Amyris’s innovative renewable jet fuel sourced from Brazilian sugarcane has successfully passed all required testing and …

(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 …

by Ken Wells (Bloomberg BusinessWeek)  …In the last decade, the industry says, it has put $71 billion into zero- and low-emission and renewable energy technologies. The U.S. government, by contrast, has spent about $43 billion on similar …

(PRNewswire) — At a time when regulatory agencies are increasing pressure for the disposal of wastewater containing soluble sugars, ThermoEnergy Corporation’s CASTion® Sugar Recovery System is a proven, cost-effective technology to capture and recover sugar in …

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  The biorefining industry is hungry for a low-cost, high-quality and readily available supply of sugar feedstock from nonfood biomass sources. A number of pure-play sugar technology developers and manufacturers like …

by Robert Kozak (Advanced Biofuels USA)  Problem Definition:  The production of biofuels in the US is at a substantial roadblock. Due to the high cost of transporting large quantities of low density, low value biomass …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Virent, Virdia debut super-performing drop-in aviation biofuels made from drop-in cellulosic pine tree sugars; “passed under conditions where conventional jet fuels would fail,” says Air Force.
In Wisconsin, Virent and Virdia …

(PRNewsWire/Yahoo!)  Partnership will advance research in automotive renewable diesel solutions for current and next-generation TDI® Clean Diesel applications
Volkswagen of America today announced partnerships with Solazyme and Amyris, two of the world’s leaders in renewable fuels, …

by David Biello (CNET.com/Scientific American)  The U.S. government aims to improve energy production from renewables to oil, but what does that mean in practice? Energy Secretary Steven Chu explains.
…”We’re not going to be able to …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …In California, Virdia, formerly HCL CleanTech, a leading developer of cellulosic sugars, today announced major company milestones, including a new brand and CEO, its latest funding round, and a $75 …

Steven E.F. Brown (San Francisco Business Times)  The Joint BioEnergy Institute of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory    has spun out its first business, a chemical manufacturing company named Lygos.
Emeryville’s JBEI is led by Jay Keasling, who is one of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  While confusion reigneth on Shell’s plans for cellulosic ethanol, the company quietly builds a drop-in biofuels pilot plant in Texas, based on Virent’s bioforming technology.
…After a stunning move to establish …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The changes at Codexis and delayed IPO at Ceres are indications that life in the public markets remains a rough one for early-stage industrial biotech companies. The changes at Codexis …

(SucreSource/PRNewsWire)  First Cellulose-to-Sugar Plant Sale and Partnership
SucreSource, a wholly owned subsidiary of BlueFire Renewables, Inc., has signed agreements with GS Caltex, a Korean petroleum company, to build a cellulose to sugar plant in Korea.
“This agreement …

by Kevin Bullis (MIT Technology Review)  Humbled by production challenges, the company plans to scale back production goals, it told investors Thursday.
Its originally planned to make an anti-malaria drug, as well as renewable diesel and …

by Kevin Bullis (MIT Technology Review)  Virent says supplementing biomass with fossil fuel could increase yields and lower costs.
Virent, a biofuels company based in Madison, Wisconsin, has developed a potentially inexpensive way to make gasoline …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …First commercial projects from newly-minted public companies Solazyme, Gevo and KiOR. Two trash-to-biofuels projects from INEOS Bio and Enerkem, located in Florida and Alberta. Europe’s largest biosuccinic acid project, scheduled …

by Aaron Deslatte (Orlando Sentinel)  …Since 2006, Republican lawmakers and governors have created and disbanded an energy commission; funded and de-funded solar initiatives; and created tax incentives for renewable energy producers that expired before the …

(2012 BioPlastek/Atlantic Biomass Conversions)  Because of their polymeric structures, C-5 and C-6 sugars produced from plant and woody biomass are a potential feedstock for the production of bioplastics. Second generation non-food sources of biomass avoid …

(Renmatix)  BASF is participating with $30 million through BASF Biorenewable Beteiligungs GmbH & Co. KG in the American technology firm Renmatix Inc. The BASF subsidiary led a $50 million financing round, joined by new and …

by Rachel Z. Arndt (FastCompany)   …(W)e speak with Mary Tilton, VP of plant operations at Virent, which is using chemistry to turn plants into fuel.
“We are replacing crude oil. We’re using catalytic chemistry to …

by Derek Mead (GreenTechMedia)  Biofuel up-and-comers Codexis and Mascoma both have big news that means cellulosic ethanol production is right around the corner.
…With traditional sugar feedstocks — and in the U.S., that means corn — …

(Blue Fire Renewables)  …To meet increasing demand for cellulosic sugars (“The New Oil”) BlueFire formed SucreSource, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary that will manufacture cellulosic sugars from biomass for Biofuel, Bioplastic and Specialty Chemical markets. …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …“The government rushed into investments, with no diligence,” says Codexis chief Alan Shaw. “They are just not industrialists, in my opinion.”
Two major announcements this week drive the point home in …

(Codexis)  Codexis, Inc. (Nasdaq: CDXS) today introduced the CodeXyme™ Cellulase enzyme product line to convert biomass to sugar, enabling cost effective production of sustainable products.
“The launch of the CodeXyme™ Cellulase product line introduces Codexis as a player in the …

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  …Co-founded in 2002 by Randy Cortright, Virent’s current chief technology officer, and James Dumesic, professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Virent deepened its relationship with Shell and refocused its business …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  In California, more than 350 delegates gathered at Advanced Biofuesl Markets to set industry priorities for the next six months,seal partnerships,  and exchange outlooks on 2012. It didn’t take long …

(GreenTechMedia/PR NewsWire)  Today, at the Advanced Biofuels Markets Conference in San Francisco, Arnold Klann, Chief Executive Officer and President of BlueFire Renewables (OTC BB: BFRE.OB), a company focused on shifting the paradigm for energy sources by converting …

(M&G)  Gruppo Mossi and Ghisolfi (“M&G”), through its wholly-owned subsidiary Chemtex, is pleased to announce that it has founded BETA RENEWABLES, a joint venture with TPG Capital and TPG Biotech (collectively “TPG”), established to exclusively …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …But underneath all the excitement, one feels just a little bit of desperation – oh, perhaps not just from these companies but their competitors. Everyone knows at some macro level …

Andrew Held (Virent)  Andrew Held, Director of Virent Feedstock Development, explained that Virent creates gasoline, jet fuel, diesel and chemicals from biomass feedstocks. Virent, founded in 2002 and based in Madison, WI , has a …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  What this country really needs is a good, five-cent sugar. Got one? Riches await.
One of the most interesting developments in recent months has been the emergence, out of stealth, of …

by Phil West (The Commercial Appeal)  Legislature to consider incentives to land Israeli company’s 800 jobs, $1B operation
Gov. Haley Barbour wants state legislators to approve $100 million worth of financial incentives to help an Israeli …

by Holly Jessen (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Not content to let Brazil hog all the glory, three development-stage companies eye sugar-based ethanol feedstocks
…If successful, California Ethanol & Power LLC will be the first ethanol production company …

8th Sugar World & Ethanol Feedstocks to be held in Bangkok on 26-27 September 2011 will discuss the impact, challenges, and opportunities in key sugar markets across the globe. The summit focus will go beyond …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Survivor, biofuels style? NABC trims its project roster to two (or maybe three), as it nixes two projects and puts two on the “maybe” watch. Here’s what happened, why, and …

(Genencor)  Genencor today (June 22, 2011) announced a product advancement, Accellerase® TRIO. This new product will enable biofuel producers to more cost-effectively manufacture cellulosic ethanol from a wide range of renewable nonfood feedstocks such as …

(Iowa State University)  Laura Jarboe pointed to a collection of test tubes in her Iowa State University laboratory.
Some of the tubes looked like they were holding very weak coffee. That meant microorganisms – in this …

(US Department of Energy)  The U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, Biomass Program will be conducting detailed biennial peer review meetings of its activities throughout the first half …

(Virent)  Biofuels Pioneer Converts Corn Stover and Loblolly Pine Into BioFormate™ Gasoline with Molecular Composition Similar to Gasoline Derived from Fossil Fuels
Virent announced it has successfully produced biogasoline from corn stover and pine harvest forest residuals, as …

by Bryan Sims (Biorefining Magazine)  A team of researchers at State University of New York (SUNY) College of Environmental Science and Forestry are experimenting with different strains of microorganisms to efficiently ferment sugars, extracted from …

(Dyadic)  Dyadic International, Inc. (“Dyadic”) (OTC Pink: DYAI), a global biotechnology company focused on the discovery, development, manufacture and sale of enzyme and protein products for the bioenergy, industrial enzyme and biopharmaceutical industries, announced today …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  A new generation of technologists aim high in value, low in cost, as the race for sugars to process into biofuels amps up a notch or three
“You know, we hear …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Game changer, breakthrough, revolution, quantum leap. A lot of technologies arrive on the Digest’s doorstep wrapped in one of those descriptors, or another. Sometimes wrapped in all of them.
But what …

by Mihai Sandru  (UK.IBTimes  Green Economy) Princeton-based startup Proterro has announced the development of a technology that can produce sugar, the main source for ethanol, by using engineered cyanobacteria, photosynthetic organisms that can produce sucrose …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …For hot technology companies such as Amyris, Solazyme, LS9, Cobalt and Virent, it all comes down to low-cost sugars.
Which brings us to the case of that other sugar source: your …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …The hottest companies in bioenergy all know it – the name of the game is low-cost sugars, or affordable syngas that competes with natural gas. For those who don’t make …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) …Amongst the various projects that received support under the 2009 Recovery Act were an algal R&D consortium called the NAABB, and a drop-in biofuels R&D consortium called the NABC, of …

by Harish Damodaran  (The Hindu Business Line)  Will crude oil at above $ 100-a-barrel prompt more cane diversion to ethanol, causing further spike in world sugar prices?
Unlikely, says Mr Narendra Murkumbi, Managing Director of Shree …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …(C)an the company make oil fast enough to meet the demand and capture all the opportunities? …“Our proprietary technology transforms a range of low-cost plant-based sugars into high-value oils. Our …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Fast-rising sugar prices, which have made the Brazilian ethanol business a whole lot less appealing (why not simply distribute sugar at 32 cents a pound, instead of processing into ethanol …

by Michael Kanellos (GreenTechMedia)   Enzymes will take off once the cellulosic economy gets moving, says Alan Shaw.
…Codexis meanwhile, has seen its stock go to $10.56, or $2.50 below the IPO price.
CEO Alan Shaw, however, …

by Ryan McBride (Xconomy Boston)  …Agrivida also gained attention in July when it showed that its engineered crops could greatly boost the efficiency of the process of extracting sugars from the crops for biofuel production.
Michael …

(Amyris, Inc.)  Amyris, Inc., announced that it has completed multiple runs of its fermentation process using Amyris engineered yeast to produce Biofene™, Amyris renewable farnesene, in 100,000 and 200,000 liter capacity fermentors. These runs were …

by Kris Bevill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  KL Energy Corp. is preparing to validate its modified process technology to turn sugarcane bagasse into ethanol.
As the bitter winter turns to spring in the tiny town of Upton, …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest) Solazyme announced that it has begun a collaboration with Qantas, to pursue the potential for commercial production of Solazyme’s microbial derived aviation fuel, Solajet, in Australia. This represents the first …

by Nathalie Weinstein (Daily Journal of Commerce Oregon)  Research into sugar-based biofuels requires sugar not sold at a grocery store.
Corvallis start-up Trillium FiberFuels for the last five years has been developing cellulosic ethanol technology that uses xylose, …

by Eduard Gismatullin  (Bloomberg)   Royal Dutch Shell Plc, Europe’s largest oil company, and Codexis Inc. will roll out technology this year to make biofuels from wheat straw and sugar-cane bagasse, the cellulose-rich waste from cane processing.
Shell and Codexis …

by Vinod Khosla  (GreenTechMedia)  Imagination is in shortest supply when it comes to agronomic econometrics that extrapolate the past instead of inventing a new future.
Part II:  Feedstock. Feedstock cost, environmental impact and even its politics …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …Codexis yesterday announced a stunning 29% increase in revenue, …What’s driving the numbers in Redwood City?  ”We achieved our technical milestones with Shell, we made our first shipments of two …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  Ed Dineen is taking over the reigns at LS9 from Bill Haywood, who led the company from 2008, and from a #25 ranking to #4 in this year’s 50 Hottest Companies …

by Kris Bevill (Ethanol Producer Magazine)  Growing biofuels mandates will require 220 “world-scale” cellulosic biofuels plants to be operational in the U.S. by 2020, according to Phil New, CEO of BP Biofuels. The head of …

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  …High-tech companies such as Amyris, Solazyme, LS9, KL Energy, and many others have been moving aggressively to establish partnerships that will allow them to access Brazil’s low-cost, at-scale sugars.
Are the …

By Susanne Retka Schill  (Ethanol Producer Magazine)   …Venture-capital backed Proterro has developed a technology using a microorganism grown in a unique bioreactor that secretes fermentable sugars using sunlight, CO2, water and a few commonly available …