Author Archive: Jim Lane

rss feed

Yes, bacteria do it: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to ethylene, protein from sun, thin air and seawater

Yes, bacteria do it: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to ethylene, protein from sun, thin air and seawater

September 4, 2017 |

Hurricane Harvey has turned the world’s most widely-produced chemical, ethylene, into something of a rarer commodity because of refinery slowdowns. The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to produce transportation fuels via photosynthetically derived ethylene. The research team notes that “steam cracking of petroleum, is the largest CO2 emitting process in chemical industry”. […]

Read More

Nebraska, Iowa Ag Secretaries land senior USDA posts

Nebraska, Iowa Ag Secretaries land senior USDA posts

September 3, 2017 |

In Washington, Nebraska Secretary of Agriculture Gregory Ibach and Iowa Secretary of Agriculture Bill Northey were appointed to key USDA posts by President Trump. Ibach was appointed under secretary for marketing and regulatory programs, which oversees three USDA sub-agencies — Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, the Agricultural Marketing Service, and the Grain Inspection, Packers, and Stockyards Administration. Ibach […]

Read More

How much do algae biofuels cost? The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to algae biofuels’ techno-economics

How much do algae biofuels cost? The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to algae biofuels’ techno-economics

September 2, 2017 |

The US Department of Energy is supporting a project aimed at providing process design and economic analysis support for the algae platform to guide R&D priorities to commercialization. In short, a technolo-economic rationale for algae biofuels at scale, and co-=products along with those fuels or as a pioneer product set. The research team aims to translate […]

Read More

New research shows biodiesel could be 10% cleaner than thought

New research shows biodiesel could be 10% cleaner than thought

August 31, 2017 |

In Indiana, a new academic paper published in Biotechnology for Biofuels shows biodiesel’s benefits are even better than previous models suggest. Updated modeling from Purdue University suggests the advantage of using biodiesel has been underestimated by 10 percent. “This latest research verifies biodiesel is an ideal option to support American-made energy and renewable fuels,” said […]

Read More

The People’s Fuel

The People’s Fuel

August 31, 2017 |

Biodiesel is the people’s advanced biofuel, but it is not always the Establishment’s darling. Whether it is cleaner air, more lubricity, more advanced domestic manufacturing and jobs, higher property values driving higher revenues for states and schools, or a secondary market for growers to prevent another Farm Aid era of commodity busts — biodiesel delivers […]

Read More

Gettin’ a new Cat: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Catalyst Costs

Gettin’ a new Cat: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Catalyst Costs

August 31, 2017 |

The US Department of Energy is supporting a project to develop a catalyst cost estimation tool that would enable rapid and informed cost-based decisions in research and commercialization of catalysts. As the research team notes, “Nearly all biomass conversion processes rely on catalysis as do many biochemical processes. Catalytic technology development is leveraged by a major portion […]

Read More

The Expert Witness in Biofuels and Biochemicals Litigation

The Expert Witness in Biofuels and Biochemicals Litigation

August 30, 2017 |

By Wayne Lee, CEO Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest While oil prices remain relatively low, and the status of U.S. government incentives remains uncertain, the predictable downturn in biofuel and biochemical related industries brings with it increased participant discomfort. Those that have been in these “bioeconomy” industries for some time have seen their […]

Read More

Hot Spots: The Top 10 Advanced Bioeconomy Places to Watch in California

Hot Spots: The Top 10 Advanced Bioeconomy Places to Watch in California

August 30, 2017 |

California is for many the “home of innovation” but almost everyone thinks of Silicon Valley in this respect, or perhaps the Bay Area as a whole. And there are innovative companies in huge numbers, for sure— but you’d be surprised how broad the innovation story is across the entire Golden State. The sexy PR is […]

Read More

Gassy Gold: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to a Biogas-to-Muconic Acid pathway

Gassy Gold: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to a Biogas-to-Muconic Acid pathway

August 30, 2017 |

The US Department of Energy is supporting a NREL-led project to establish a novel gas fermentation bioprocess for secretion of an array of fuel and chemical intermediates. The project also aims to develop a novel methanotrophic biocatalyst and fermentation configuration for the production of muconic acid from renewable biogas. The research team ultimately demonstrated an […]

Read More

Hot Spots: 10 Advanced Bioeconomy Places to Watch in Iowa

Hot Spots: 10 Advanced Bioeconomy Places to Watch in Iowa

August 29, 2017 |

Eddyville, Fort Dodge, Clinton, Newton, Cedar Rapids. Communities like these have been mainstays of the Iowa bioeconomy for years, even decades — home to corn and soy processing on the largest world scale, and much much more — integrated complexes of advanced refining where companies share infrastructure and often where the residues of the one […]

Read More

« Previous Page — Next Page »
}