Today, we start with Lucifer, as in the devil (who is supposed to be in the details). He plays a role in these details, for sure, because there is this substance called luciferin, which you find in certain species of fungi, though not your everyday ‘shrooms. It causes them to glow, and if you find […]
In Germany, Technical University of Munich researchers developed an alternative to traditional insecticides that endanger bees, other beneficial insects, waterways, and soil. The new biodegradable agent keeps pests at bay without poisoning them by using cembratrienol, which is found in tobacco plant leaves. The molecule helps the plant protect itself from pests and acts as […]
Tobacco’s been re-thought, re-engineered and re-invented as a platform for sustainable, low-carbon fuels, and green chemicals – who’s doing what, where and how? From time to time, it’s been said in flowery moments of commercial rapture that such-and-such technology or such-and-such company or is a “pillar of our American democracy”. In the case of the […]
In France, DEINOVE, a biotech company developing processes for producing biofuels and bio-based chemicals by using Deinococcus bacteria as host strains, and Tyton BioEnergy Systems, an agricultural biotech company with unique tobacco technology used to produce green chemicals and agricultural products, announced they have entered into a technological and commercial partnership. The main goal of […]
In South Africa, Project Solaris in South Africa, has earned the Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials (RSB) certification for the production of the energy rich tobacco crop “Solaris” in the Limpopo region of South Africa. Solaris is a nicotine-free and GMO-free crop variety that yields significant amounts of sustainable oil that can be used as feedstock […]
In Virginia, Smithfield Foods’ Hog Production Division, Murphy-Brown, LLC, and Tyton BioEnergy Systems announced today a research partnership to develop new applications for Tyton’s dedicated, non-smoking tobacco crop and the resulting soil amendment, filtration, and feed products within Smithfield’s hog production processes. The two companies are establishing field trials with non-smoking tobacco using hog manure […]
In Norway, researchers from Bioforsk, the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, will genetically modify tobacco plants to produce enzymes that can break down biomass from forest raw materials. This may lead to a more effective, economic and sustainable production of biofuels. In the first phase of the project researchers from Bioforsk, NFLI (Norwegian […]
In Virginia, Tyton BioEnergy Systems is manipulating the DNA of standard tobacco to boost its sugar and oil content, allowing the plant to be used as feedstock for both ethanol as well as biodiesel. The company is collaborating with local farmers on test plots to monitor the various production and harvesting methods that will lead […]
In South Africa, Boeing and South African Airlines announced that South African farmers will soon harvest their first crop of energy-rich tobacco plants, an important step towards using the plants to make sustainable aviation biofuel. Boeing and SAA, along with partners SkyNRG and Sunchem SA, also officially launched Project Solaris, their collaborative effort to develop […]
In South Africa, Boeing, South African Airlines and SkyNRG announced they are collaborating to make sustainable aviation biofuel from a new type of tobacco plant. This initiative broadens cooperation between Boeing and SAA to develop renewable jet fuel in ways that support South Africa’s goals for public health as well as economic and rural development. […]
