Author Archive: Jim Lane

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Britain, Brexit and the Bioeconomy: It’s going to be about Scoxit, too

Britain, Brexit and the Bioeconomy: It’s going to be about Scoxit, too

December 12, 2019 |

If the exit polls and early results hold up, the Conservative Party will have won a landslide victory in the 2019 UK General Election, Brexit is on and it will happen in the next 60 days. The size of the win of the Scottish National Party, exit polls have them at a highwater-mark of around […]

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Corpse to compost, Jose Cuervo’s agave to straws, Ford’s coffee waste parts, Reebok biokicks, cellulose optical fibers, catalysts algorithms, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of December 12th

Corpse to compost, Jose Cuervo’s agave to straws, Ford’s coffee waste parts, Reebok biokicks, cellulose optical fibers, catalysts algorithms, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of December 12th

December 11, 2019 |

From Jose Cuervo’s new project to convert agave byproduct into biodegradable straws to death (corpse to compost), this week’s Top 10 Innovations are a hoot to boot. Car maker Ford is using McDonald’s coffee waste in car parts, and a New Zealand airline is using edible coffee cups made from biscotti to reduce in-light service […]

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Hello Hygiene – Biobased Superabsorbant Polymers are Here!: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Ecovia Biopolymers

Hello Hygiene – Biobased Superabsorbant Polymers are Here!: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Ecovia Biopolymers

December 11, 2019 |

Ecovia focuses on fermentation, purification, and derivatization with target markets in personal care and hygiene for their polymers. They are addressing the 98% of SAPs or superabsorbent polymers that are non-biodegradable, like those found in baby diapers, with the creation of their 100% biobased and biodegradable SAPs. Drew Hertig, Chief Business Officer at Ecovia, shared […]

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A Plastics Dichotomy – Durables versus Single Use

A Plastics Dichotomy – Durables versus Single Use

December 10, 2019 |

By Ronald Cascone, Principal, Nexant, Inc. Special to The Digest Love-hate Most people love plastics.  Most people hate plastics. Similarly, most people love nature (sunsets, the beach, walks or drives through the woods, especially for leaf peeping, flowers, furry animals, etc.), but also hate nature (hurricanes, tornados, jellyfish, biting insects, spiders, snakes, skunks, ragweed, fallen […]

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Thermochemical Technology to Turn Trash to Treasure: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Enerkem’s Waste to Fuels

Thermochemical Technology to Turn Trash to Treasure: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Enerkem’s Waste to Fuels

December 10, 2019 |

Taking non-reyclable waste to sustainable chemicals and biofuels is Enerkem’s world. Current products from ‘trash’ include syngas, methanol and ethanol with alternative pathways currently under development. Andrea Redford, Chief Business Development Officer from Enerkem gave this illuminating presentation at the ABLC NEXT in San Francisco that details the latest on their Alberta Biofuels commercial scale […]

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Automated Microfluidic System Saves the Day for Microbes, Enzymes, Proteins: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Efficient Robotics

Automated Microfluidic System Saves the Day for Microbes, Enzymes, Proteins: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Efficient Robotics

December 10, 2019 |

Domo arigato Mr. Roboto – How would you like an automated microfluidic system to help create an ultra-high throughput workstation for the screening and optimization of microbial strains, cell lines, enzymes, proteins and peptides? Efficient Robotics has made this happen with their NTP (nano-titer-pipe) automated microfluidic platform! Martin Mitchell, Global Sales & Marketing Director from […]

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In the Hydrogen Roadmap Europe, a path for EU energy transition

In the Hydrogen Roadmap Europe, a path for EU energy transition

December 10, 2019 |

From Europe we’d like to shine a light today on “Hydrogen Roadmap Europe: A sustainable pathway for the European Energy Transition“ concludes that hydrogen is an essential element in the energy transition and can account for 24% of final energy demand and 5.4m jobs by 2050. The new study by the FCH JU was developed with […]

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9 Hot New CO2 Applications

9 Hot New CO2 Applications

December 9, 2019 |

By Sam A. Rushing, President – Advanced Cryogenics Special to The Digest BACKGROUND The CO2 industry expands organically, say 3% annually in some markets. The best way to grow more rapidly in the industry, is via the development and implementation of new and unique applications in a wide variety of markets. CO2 applications, of a […]

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On the Road to Success from Research to Product: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Cyclotron Road

On the Road to Success from Research to Product: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to Cyclotron Road

December 9, 2019 |

Cyclotron Road is a partnership between the non-profit Activate.org and Lawrence Berkeley National Lab to empower scientists to advance their technologies from concept to first product through a fellowship program. It’s a home for hard tech innovators. Companies like Opus 12, MicroByre, Visolis, CinderBio, and others had their beginnings in Cyclotron Road, according to Tom […]

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Enzymes Bring Biomass Value: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to MetGen’s Enzymes

Enzymes Bring Biomass Value: The Digest’s 2019 Multi-Slide Guide to MetGen’s Enzymes

December 8, 2019 |

Tailored hydrolysis enzymes have many benefits for biomass, especially since it’s a soup of the day and each unique substrate is a combination of feedstock. MetGen has this covered with their production strains and processes that streamline the chemo-enzymatic route to bioplastics and platform chemicals. Alex Michine, CEO at MetGen, gave this illuminating presentation at […]

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