{"id":151827,"date":"2022-03-23T12:24:45","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T16:24:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/?p=151827"},"modified":"2022-03-23T12:24:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-23T16:24:45","slug":"honey-without-the-bee-greener-circuit-boards-plant-based-asphalt-and-more-the-digests-top-8-innovations-for-the-week-of-march-24th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/honey-without-the-bee-greener-circuit-boards-plant-based-asphalt-and-more-the-digests-top-8-innovations-for-the-week-of-march-24th\/","title":{"rendered":"Honey without the bee, greener circuit boards, plant-based asphalt, and more: The Digest\u2019s Top 8 Innovations for the week of March 24th"},"content":{"rendered":"

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We\u2019ve reported on beef without the cows, pork without the pig, dairy without the cow and now we have honey without the bee from California start-up MeliBio which raised $7.5 million to scale and commercialize its precision fermentation and plant science and tech to manufacture honey.<\/p>\n

In today\u2019s Digest, we also have Texas-based Dell exploring dissolvable circuit boards in laptops, plant-based asphalt in Norway, lab-grown cultivated schnitzel in Germany, rice-based resin for furniture in Japan, and other around the world biobased innovations.<\/p>\n

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#1 Bee-free honey maker generates buzz with $7.5 million fundraise<\/h4>\n

In San Francisco, bee-free honey startup MeliBio has raised $7.5 million to scale and commercialize its technology.<\/p>\n

The company uses precision fermentation and plant science to manufacture honey. \u201cWe know that science can produce delicious and nutritious honey, which is molecularly identical to traditional honey, at no cost to our precious bees,\u201d says honey industry executive and MeliBio cofounder, Darko Mandich. \u201cAt MeliBio, we are here to introduce certainty in the supply chain and help companies simplify their honey sourcing, while making their honey-based formulations sustainable and delicious. Together with our clients, we can make the future of honey better, for both humans and for bees.\u201d<\/p>\n

A recent blind taste test found that MeliBio\u2019s honey was indistinguishable from traditional honey, a $10-billion business that has negative environmental impacts such as biodiversity loss and is vulnerable to climate change.<\/p>\n

The funding was led by Astanor Ventures and includes both existing and new investors.<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#2 Dell explores dissolvable circuit boards in laptops<\/h4>\n

In Texas, Dell Technologies has launched a prototype laptop featuring biobased components as it looks to increase product content and packaging from recycled or renewable materials as one lever for cutting emissions in half by 2030.<\/p>\n

The prototype is part of Concept Luna, a \u201cparallel innovation workstream\u201d with Intel aimed at accelerating circular design in electronics. While not intended for commercial sale, the Concept Luna prototype features a printed circuit board made with flax fiber in the base and water-soluble polymer as the glue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s noteworthy here is that the flax fiber replaces traditional plastic laminates,\u201d Dell says in a blog. \u201cAnd even better, the water-soluble polymer can dissolve \u2013 meaning recyclers can more easily separate metals and components from the boards.\u201d\u00a0 The Luna unveil follows Dell\u2019s launch in May 2021 of Precision 3560 and Latitude 5320 laptops in India that use bioplastic from tree waste.<\/p>\n

Dell also aims to use 100% renewable energy by 2040 and cut supply chain emissions per unit of revenue by 60%.<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#3 Plant-based asphalt startup tells carbon to hit the road<\/h4>\n

In Norway, a startup has developed a road repair process that uses recycled asphalt and a proprietary plant-based adhesive that sequesters carbon, offering a greener alternative for the particularly polluting road construction market.<\/p>\n

The company\u2014appropriately named Carbon Crusher\u2014starts by grinding up existing asphalt from stretches of road in need of repair. This reduces the emissions normally emitted in making and shipping new asphalt. The ground asphalt is then mashed together with lignin, a byproduct of paper industry. The lignin replaces bitumen\u2014a sticky petroleum-based product traditionally used as asphalt binder. Currently, lignin is burned for energy in Norway, releasing carbon dioxide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re making roads that are part of the solution to the climate crisis, not part of the problem,\u201d cofounder Haakon Brunell tells Fast Company. \u201cAnd it also happens to be a cheaper, more durable way of rehabilitating roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carbon Crusher says maintenance and construction of roads emit around 400 million tons of carbon dioxide annually. \u201cToday we take out around a ton of C02 from the atmosphere for every 60 feet of road,\u201d says Brunell. \u201cWe want to increase that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The company is currently looking to expand business outside of Norway, and is focusing more on repair and new construction. \u201cThe world doesn\u2019t necessarily need new roads,\u201d Brunell adds. \u201cIt needs better roads.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#4 Rabbis okay cheeseburgers from cultivated meat<\/h4>\n

In Israel, a group of rabbis has said cheeseburgers made from lab-grown meat is kosher, having determined that the nascent technology does not constitute real meat.<\/p>\n

Kosher rules ordinarily prohibits the pairing of any meat and dairy product. World Israel News reports that it was determined that products based on cows\u2019 pre-embryonic cells and grown on a plant-based medium should receive kosher pareve status, meaning they contain neither meat nor dairy.<\/p>\n

The approval was signed by Rabbi David Stav, head of the moderate Orthodox Tzohar rabbinic organization, and Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, dean at the Petach Tikva hesder yeshiva.\u00a0 Tzohar kashruth division chief Rabbi Oren Duvdevani and Rabbi Ze\u2019ev Whitman of Tnuva, one of Israel\u2019s largest dairy corporations, also signed the decision.<\/p>\n

Approval of cultivated pork, however, remains unlikely, according to World Israel News. \u201cPork is so identified as the sign of traif, as a betrayal of Jewish commitment to kashrut, that giving a hashgacha [rabbinic approval] even on fake pork is like coming to synagogue wearing a swastika tie,\u201d Torah scholar Rabbi Yitzchak Breitowitz previously the news outlet. \u201cIt is a public identification with that which is deemed repulsive in the eyes of the Torah.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#5 Hindu festival of color gets greener<\/h4>\n

In India, this year\u2019s Holi celebrations were as colorful as ever, but at the same time greener, thanks to Phool.co. The Kampur-based startup is converting floral waste into the vibrant gulaal powders festival-goers toss about during the festival to celebrate the arrival of spring.<\/p>\n

\u201cGenerally, gulaal is made using asbestos even glass all those chemical compounds,\u201d Ankit Agarwal, Founder & CEO, Phool.co, tells ET Now. \u201cSo, what we have done at Phool is make organic certified gulaal from temple waste. We collect around 3.5 tons of flowers every single day in Varanasi and around 11 tons of flowers in Kanpur and those flowers are collected and these are converted into natural gulaal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Founded in 2017, Phool.co counts Bollywood star Alia Bhatt among its investors. \u201cLast year someone gifted her our gulaal and Alia Bhatt being Alia Bhatt wanted some product that was certified, chemical safety and that is when how she came across Phool,\u201d Agarwal says. \u201cWe really like her passion and love for animals and that is what resonated with.\u201d<\/p>\n

Phool.co also converts the temple waste into incense sticks, an animal leather alternative it calls Fleather, and a packaging material dubbed Florafoam. The discarded flowers would otherwise end up polluting the Ganges river.<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#6 German startup targeting cultivated schnitzel by 2025<\/h4>\n

In Germany, cultivated meat startup Alife Foods hopes to launch a lab-grown version of schnitzel by 2025.<\/p>\n

Alife is currently doing \u201csensory evaluations\u201d for its animal-free schnitzel, which contains cultivated beef, wheat protein, wheat flour, vegetable oil and methylcellulose and was developed in collaboration with Fuchs Group and US-based LabFarmFoods. Notably, Alife is using plant-based cell culture medium to avoid ethical concerns and the high cost of animal-based growth serums.<\/p>\n

Alife hopes to offer a finished prototype to investors in 2022, according to vegconomist.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe believe that eating meat is a celebratory part of our many different cultures but the way we are growing meat is inherently unsustainable,\u201d the company says on its website. \u201cWe think that it\u2019s in our human nature to proactively shape our world with technology. We believe in a future in which we can indulge in the pleasure of eating meat without the suffering of animals and the disastrous effects on the environment.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#7 Genomatica and Asahi Kasei partner on biobased nylon 6,6<\/h4>\n

In San Diego, Genomatica has announced a partnership with Japan\u2019s Asahi Kasei, which aims to use Genomatica\u2019s GENO HMD process to manufacture biobased hexamethylenediamine for production of nylon 6,6 for automotive and electronics industries.<\/p>\n

The pact comes shortly after Genomatica announced in January that, together with German chemical company Covestro, it had produced \u201csignificant\u201d volumes of HMDA using renewable feedstocks.<\/p>\n

Asahi Kasei intends to apply the GENO HMD process technology to make more sustainable materials for products such as high-temperature automotive parts, electronics, and yarns for airbags.<\/p>\n

Under the terms of its agreement with Genomatica, Asahi Kasei will have preferential access to early volumes of renewably-sourced HMDA for nylon application testing. Asahi Kasei anticipates eventually licensing the process technology to help it become carbon neutral by 2050.<\/p>\n

\u201cSustainability is a core piece of Asahi Kasei\u2019s strategy and Genomatica\u2019s strong history of commercial success has made them an essential partner in this mission,\u201d says Dr. Shigeki Takayama, CTO and representative director on the Board of Directors of Asahi Kasei. \u201cWe anticipate a strong start and look forward to moving to commercial scale together.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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#8 Rice-based resin used to make furniture in Japan<\/h4>\n

In Japan, furniture company Meuble has partnered with two chemical companies to develop a resin material from non-edible rice that would otherwise be thrown away.<\/p>\n

Dubbed RICEWAVE, the material was conceived when Meuble, Biomass Resin Holdings, and Mitsui & Co Plastics Ltd. set out to create a renewable alternative to polyethylene.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have been thinking about product development from a new perspective, and have been studying and prototyping products using biomass materials for more than five years,\u201d Michiaki Sakata, CEO of Meuble, tells Design Boom. \u201cWhile studying various materials, including overseas biomass materials, I encountered rice resin and resonated with the fact that it is made in Japan and that it utilizes waste rice that people cannot eat and must throw away.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meuble is currently replacing some of the PE it uses with RICEWAVE, and is working with its chemical partners to replace shift the ratio further in favor of RICEWAVE. It also notes that there is ample land to expand use of the material. \u201cAbandoned cultivated land in Japan is vast, exceeding the size of two Tokyo metropolitan areas,\u201d the company says. \u201cWe have started making rice for rice resin in this abandoned land, which will lead to agricultural support and aim to revitalize the region.\u201d<\/p>\n

More on the story, here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve reported on beef without the cows, pork without the pig, dairy without the cow and now we have honey without the bee from California start-up MeliBio which raised $7.5 million to scale and commercialize its precision fermentation and plant science and tech to manufacture honey. In today\u2019s Digest, we also have Texas-based Dell exploring […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":151828,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-151827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-4"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=151827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/151827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/151828"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=151827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biofuelsdigest.com\/bdigest\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=151827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}