Advanced BioFuels USA

by Jim Lane (Biofuels Digest)  According to BIO, the global economic value today of the biobased economy – including industrial biotechnology, renewable chemicals and polymers, biofuels, enzymes and biobased materials – is $355.28 billion. And looking at the new USDA Indicators report and other sources, BIO estimates that the United States generates 58 percent of the global value of biobased manufacturing, or more than $205 billion. And that economic activity supports employment for 1.66 million U.S. workers.

The driver? Rampant scientific innovation, which we are going to be highlighting in a four-part series which kicks off a new Digest weekly feature — Top 10 Innovations.

The pace of invention and change is just too strong, we’ve realized, to highlight annual or even quarterly or monthly rankings and summaries of significant product and service advances. For now, we’re going to be tracking these on a weekly basis to keep pace with the changes.

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Case in point? The USDA BioPreferred Program, which facilitates the development and expansion of markets for biobased products, the number of renewable chemicals and biobased products that are USDA-certified has rapidly increased from 1,800 in 2014 to 2,900 in 2016.

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#1 Faster, higher density yeast for C5 sugars resulting from new understanding of metabolic design

In Massachusetts, researchers at Tufts University have created a genetically modified yeast that can more efficiently consume a novel nutrient, xylose, enabling the yeast to grow faster and to higher cell densities, according to a study published in Nature Communications.

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#2 Bayer, Ginkgo dub their JV JoynBio, focus in on nitrogen for grain crops

In Germany and Massachusetts, Bayer and Ginkgo Bioworks announced the official name of its joint venture, Joyn Bio. Bayer and Ginkgo founded Joyn Bio in September 2017 to bring advanced techniques in synthetic biology to agriculture to support the industry’s sustainability efforts, starting with reducing the environmental impact of nitrogen fertilizer.

Joyn Bio’s first effort in this arena is focused on improving microbes’ ability to provide cereal crops their nitrogen requirements, offering major benefits for sustainable agriculture by reducing the need for additional chemical fertilizers.

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#3 Wefarm raises $5M for farmer-to-farmer digital network

In the United Kingdom and California, Wefarm secured $5 million in seed funding, led by Silicon Valley-based True Ventures. Wefarm enables the world’s small-scale farmers – many of whom live in remote areas without access to the internet – to connect with one another to solve problems, share ideas, and spread innovation.

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Wefarm operates in Kenya and Uganda with plans to expand into Eastern and Sub-Saharan Africa. It has a 90 percent user retention rate and over 30 percent of farmers contribute their knowledge every month.

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#4 Kraft Heinz Company launches Springboard open innovation accelerator

In Illinois, the Kraft Heinz Company launched Springboard, a platform dedicated to nurturing, scaling and accelerating the growth of disruptive US brands within the food and beverage space.

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#5 3D printed cabin tiles have plants built into them

In California, two college professors-turned-entrepreneurs have developed a proof-of-concept cabin with 3D printed, biobased tile facades.

The cabins’ tiles include recycled chardonnay grape skins from Sonoma, cement, sawdust, and coffee grounds. Each 3D-printed hexagonal tile is also a planter housing a succulent. The interior is decorated with bioplastic tiles made from corn.

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#6 All-biobased plastic refrigerator prototype

In Sweden, Electrolux developed a refrigerator prototype where all the visible plastic parts are made of bioplastics from renewable sources.  …  The bioplastic refrigerator is still in development and there is currently no timeframe set for when the product will be officially launched on the market.

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#7 Graphene can control hair frizz, and dye hair, say researchers

In Illinois, researchers at Northwestern have used graphene to dye hair and control frizz. Conventional hair dyes are alkaline solutions that open hair cuticles so color-changing compounds can penetrate the hair. The graphene dyes, however, create a coating on hair’s surface.

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#8 DuPont expands microbiome, probiotic R&D, partnerships

In Denmark, the DuPont Nutrition & Health Microbiome Venture’s second strategic research and development partnership debuted with the Center of Food and Fermentation Technologies in Tallinn, Estonia. It will focus on developing cultivation and bioprocess capabilities for next-generation probiotics.

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#9 Genomatica’s Brontide butylene glycol for personal care applications heads for the EU

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#10 Calyxt’s new high-fiber wheat gets OK from USDA

Calyxt’s high-fiber wheat product was designated a non-regulated article by the USDA. Once this product goes to market, a single serving of Calyxt’s high fiber flour may provide the recommended daily requirement of fiber. Additionally, this product is now part of a total of seven Calyxt products that have been deemed non-regulated by the USDA, including powdery mildew resistant wheat, high oleic soybean, high oleic / low linolenic soybean, improved quality alfalfa, cold storable potato and reduced browning potato. READ MORE