Author Archive: Jim Lane

The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Federal Procurement as Bioeconomy Orchestration Lever

September 7, 2026 | Jim Lane

Federal procurement only de-risks bioeconomy projects when volume risk is enforceably transferred to the buyer in a form surviving appropriations lapses. Standard multiyear contracts are budgeting efficiencies that lenders cannot underwrite because they mandate termination if appropriations fail. Only four legal mechanisms, including advance appropriations and balance-sheet instruments, bypass this limit. Without these, federal support […]

The E32 Caipirinha: How Brazil Spiked Its Biofuel Engine and Brewed a 2026 Regulatory Hangover

September 7, 2026 | Jim Lane

Sitting on a rustic wooden deck at Palaphita on the edge of the Rodrigo de Freitas Lagoon, watching a couple of swan-shaped pedal boats glide lazily past with Corcovado looming in the background, you learn quickly that a proper Caipirinha is an exercise in absolute equilibrium. Fresh lime, a spoonful of sugar, crushed ice, and […]

The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Hybrid Critical-Mineral Bioprocess Operators

September 3, 2026 | Jim Lane

Industrial bio-processing of critical minerals requires hybrid operators with genuine dual competence in microbiology and extractive metallurgy. However, biology graduates lack plant experience and process operators lack biology, meaning neither parent pipeline is deployable alone. No national standard or competency map currently defines this composite role, forcing employers to write it themselves. Every qualification layer […]

The New Big Boys of the Bioeconomy: Ballard, Avantium find that scale is more than size, it’s scope

September 3, 2026 | Jim Lane

Somewhere between adolescence and maturity, a line is crossed, yet no one hands you a diploma, rings a bell, or hosts a party — we know the moment has arrived because, one morning, everybody has stopped applauding your pilot plant and started asking whether you can deliver 10,000 tonnes on Tuesday. You’re a Big Boy […]

The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Multi-Asset Bioeconomy Orchestration

September 2, 2026 | Jim Lane

While record profits are often attributed to individual multi-asset orchestration, this industry-wide swing was actually driven by macro factors like tax credits and margin shifts. True orchestration requires navigating critical dependencies outside developer control, such as third-party pipelines. When another company’s completion date dictates your revenue, that date is your infrastructure. Operators must stop relying […]

CO2 and medical applications

September 1, 2026 | Jim Lane

By Sam A. Rushing, president, Advanced Cryogenics Special to The Digest Even though carbon dioxide is often thought of by those who are not in the industrial gas business, as a major greenhouse gas relating to climate change; and to the essential ingredient in soft drinks which gives the refreshment specific and unique properties. However, […]

EPA and Small Refinery Exemptions: 2, 4, 6, 8 — Reallocate!

September 1, 2026 | Jim Lane

Making Farmers Whole — or Making Another Hole for Farmers to Fall Into? Down around Braddyville, on the south side of Page County, Iowa, the cornfields roll toward the Nodaway River and the Missouri line. For a hundred years, farmers here have been getting extraordinarily good at one thing. Growing corn. The seed got better. […]

The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Workforce and Capability for Critical-Mineral Bio-Processing

August 31, 2026 | Jim Lane

Deploying critical-mineral bio-processing facilities requires operators possessing rare, simultaneous fluency in microbiology, fermentation, and extractive metallurgy. Since no industry standard or competency map exists for this hybrid role, first-of-a-kind developers must write these maps themselves before final investment decisions. Furthermore, evidence demonstrates that bioindustrial startup delays are overwhelmingly caused by equipment and process defects, not […]

The Diesel Hybrid and the Human Scale of Mobility

August 31, 2026 | Jim Lane

In 813, Charlemagne was near the end of his life, and the old Roman world was near the end of its rope. The emperor represented a restored Roman order. But restoration on the map was not the same as protection on the ground. When Saracen raiders struck Centumcellae—the ancient Italian port that became Civitavecchia—this was […]

The Digest’s 2026 Multi-Slide Guide to Workforce Training Pipelines

August 27, 2026 | Jim Lane

The bioeconomy relies on two distinct training pipelines that fail at different points. Apprenticeships, which are employer sponsored, face high attrition due to persistence issues like transit, childcare, and mentoring quality. Their cumulative six year completion rate is under forty seven percent, heavily bottlenecked by scarce employer job slots. Conversely, community colleges lose candidates to […]

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