Stephanie Batchelor, Vice President, Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) Special to The Digest As we speculate on the details and implications of the administration’s renewable fuels deal, the future of an entire green industry hangs in the balance. The debate over the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) has become muddied with rhetoric about special interests and government […]
Developing efficient and economical biological and chemical technologies to convert biomass feedstocks into energy-dense liquid transportation fuels, such as renewable gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel, as well as bioproducts, chemical intermediates, and biopower is the primary goal of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Conversion R&D team. As part of the 2019 BETO Peer Review, Program […]
In Vermont, representatives from Vanguard Renewables, Middlebury College, Vermont Gas, Goodrich Farm, and the State of Vermont were on hand the other day to celebrate the official groundbreaking for the largest anaerobic digester east of the Mississippi, with Middlebury will be the primary consumer of the RNG produced at the dairy farm. But the students […]
CO2 is one of those things you love to hate, but it’s there and it’s not going away, so if we don’t find a way to use it, isn’t it a missed opportunity? As part of the 2019 BETO Peer Review, Ian Rowe from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office gave this illuminating […]
PACE – Producing Algae for Coproducts and Energy, has several project goals including increasing algal biomass productivity to >25 grams dry weight per meter squared per day using robust engineered algal strains to reduce costs. So how do we get these high value, high market algal coproducts? Matthew Posewitz from the Colorado School of Mines […]
Not only is it Friday the 13th, it’s also a full moon tonight. But don’t worry, this week’s Top 10 innovations will scare all the boogies away, starting with Provivi’s new fall armyworm pheromone now produced at ton scale that will ward off those nasty armyworm pests that damage corn, rice, sorghum, cotton, sugarcane and […]
By Dave Fischer, Vice President of Technology, QED Environmental Systems Special to The Digest Numerous volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are on federal and state lists of toxic compounds that must be removed from water before it is used or discharged into the environment. A variety of treatment technologies are available, each with its own advantages […]
Noone knows fungus like these guys. A PNNL team has been developing fungal genetic engineering tools for industrially relevant fungi (filamentous and yeasts) and applying them to development of biofuel and bioproduct bioprocesses in stirred tank reactors. Jon Magnuson from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory gave this illuminating overview of PNNL’s work to engineer a Lipomyces […]
US Senator Amy Klobuchar from Minnesota surged into 3rd place in the second Digest Bioeconomy 2020 US Presidential Poll, more than doubling her bioeconomy sector support since declaring that she would halt oil refinery waivers in her first 100 days in office. 31 refineries received hardship waivers in recent weeks, excusing compliance with Renewable Fuel […]
Many have asked, why do we need mandates for renewable fuels, carbon prices, and all that. Isn’t that a government subsidy, a hand-out for politician-friendly technologies that can’t make it in the marketplace? Well, that depends, my friend, how you think about the community landfill. About landfills That gate fee at the landfill is not […]
