Coskata, Sapphire Energy and Virent head the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” rankings

Cellulosic ethanol pioneer Coskata took the #1 spot in the “50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy” rankings for 2008-09, published today by Biofuels Digest. Algae-to-energy start-up Sapphire Energy took the #2 position, while biomass-to-”drop in hydrocarbon” early-stage company Virent Energy took the #3 position. The list recognizes innovation and achievement in bioenergy development.

POET, Range Fuels, Solazyme, Amyris Technologies, Mascoma, DuPont Danisco and UOP completed the top ten.

Among the top 50, 17 are active in cellulosic ethanol development, nine are developing algae-to-energy systems, and nine are producing other advanced biofuels or waste-to-energy technologies. The companies range from start-ups, funded by venture capital and corporate investors, to new divisions of established companies such as DuPont, Genencor, and Honeywell.

Rankings were established by a Biofuels Digest panel, and reflected the importance of research or production progress recorded by each company in 2008. Votes were weighted by industry and region to ensure a fair and broad representation of companies and technologies.

“Innovation in renewable energy is gaining speed,” said Jim Lane, editor and publisher of Biofuels Digest. “A slew of advanced bioenergy systems are coming to market from some of the brightest biologists, chemists, agronomists and engineers in the world. These companies are the hottest of the hot.”

The complete list is here.

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