Think that falling natural gas prices mean bad news for bio-based technologies? Don’t bet on it. There’s opportunity in there. On the chance that you were engaged in interstellar travel, or cryogenically frozen, over the past two years – US natural gas prices and global oil prices have completely decoupled, for the first time in […]
In Delaware, Butamax and Fagen have joined together in a collaboration to retrofit ethanol plants with Butamax’s biobutanol technology. The two companies hope that Fagen’s experience in having constructed over 85 ethanol plants and Butamax’s biobutanol technology will lead to a rapid scale-up of biobutanol production.
In Colorado, Gevo has announced yet another patent, USPTO Patent # 8,158,404 for the elimination of another key enzyme pathway in its isobutanol-producing yeast. This is one of three related patents covering technology which block unwanted enzymatic pathways that hijack carbohydrates in yeast. In the same press release, Gevo announced another infringement case against Butamax […]
In Washington State, Boeing and All Nippon Airways reported that a 787 Dreamliner flew for the first time powered in part by sustainable biofuels. This was a delivery flight between Boeing’s Delivery Center in Everett, Washington and Tokyo Haneda Airport is also the first ever transpacific biofuel flight, using biofuel made mainly from used cooking […]
In Canada, Porter Airlines successfully conducted the first biofuel-powered revenue flight in Canada. In the successful conclusion to a test program that was launched in 2010, the airline flew one of its Bombardier Q400 turboprops from its base at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport to Ottawa using a 50/50 blend of biofuel and Jet A1 […]
In England, the National Farmers Union reports that the Red Tractor farm assurance scheme for crops and sugar beet has entered the final approval stages. Ruth Digby, NFU crops adviser states, “The scheme was first submitted more than 18 months ago but a number of delays were encountered during the approval process. However, we are […]
In the Philippines, BusinessWorld Online reports Greenergy is taking a 50% stake in Isabela Alcogas for P25 million payment to Isabela, which has to more than 15,000 hectares of land to support a planned cogeneration ethanol and power plant. Antonio L. Tiu, Greenergy CEO told BusinessWorld Online, “We’re putting in fresh capital into the company. […]
In Finland, VTT President and CEO Erkki Km Leppävuori states, “Finland should create a national bioeconomy strategy as soon as possible!” Speaking in Helsinki at the VTT Bioeconomy Forum Finland event, Leppävuori opened the discussion stating, “I believe that Finland, thanks to its competences and raw materials, can become a future leader in bioeconomy, and […]
In Georgia, Michael Adams with the University of Georgia, is the senior author of a study published in mBio, reporting how he and his colleagues have made a temperature controlled microbe. They inserted a lactate dehyrogenase gene into a strategic spot, right next to a cold shock promoter that “turns on” the genes around it […]
In Washington, Minnesota Senator Klobuchar has written a letter to Air Force Secretary Michael Donley to investigate the possibility of using alcohol sourced bio-jet fuel in all USAF aviation assets. Northland’s NewsCenter quotes the Senator as stating, “We’d like to see them have renewable fuels as part of their mix, so that we are less […]
