By Lorenz Bauer, Ph.D., Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. Special to The Digest After many years of development biomass pyrolysis is finally maturing as a commercial technology. Pyrolysis is not incineration. The goal is to use heat in the absence of oxygen to convert the biomass to a more useful form while preserving as much of […]
Global Algae Innovations designs innovative technology to make algae production more efficient and consistent. They are accelerate the commercialization of algal biofuels and other products through development of an integrated, photosynthetic, open raceway pond system to produce algal oil. Their approach is to combine best-in-class cultivation and pre-processing technologies with some of the world’s leading strain […]
In Washington, the US Patent & Trademark Office has just issued a “notice of allowance” for a patent by the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency for a high efficiency, high compression engine that would reduce the cost per mile for the American driver by 26.2 percent, compared to using straight gasoline and a conventional engine. […]
The US ethanol industry is working hard on E15 deployment right now — from market deployment to regulatory relief, there’s action on every front aimed at making E15 a widely-available, lower-cost source of octane that can replace mid-grade 89-octane fossil fuels at US pumps. Those fossil fuels generally cost the consumer 10-20 cents per gallon […]
Fulcrum BioEnergy has developed a “game-changing process for converting municipal solid waste that would otherwise be landfilled, into renewable transportation fuels including syncrude, jet fuel and diesel”. The company has successfully proven and demonstrated this process for converting MSW to fuels utilizing its proprietary, innovative, clean and efficient thermochemical process. Fulcrum has secured long-term, zero-cost […]
By Mark Warner, PE, Warner Advisors LLC Special to The Digest Advanced biotechnology has historically focused on fermentation as the key technology for development, with synthetic biology and proprietary organisms the key intellectual property. As any biotechnology moves toward commercialization, recovery and purification of the product requires a change of focus, which is often more costly […]
200,200 downloads for the DOE’s classic report on value-added chemicals — but some hot molecules are missing! “Top Value Added Chemicals from Biomass” a 2004 survey, completed by staff led by Gene Petersen and Todd Werpy, at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and NREL, is the Dark Side of the Moon of biobased, a perennial classic […]
By Eduardo Baralt, special to The Digest Reverdia is a joint venture between Royal DSM, the global Life Sciences and Materials Sciences company, and Roquette Frères, the global starch and starch-derivatives company. Reverdia is dedicated to be the global leader in the market for sustainable succinic acid, focusing on market development by establishing partnerships with […]
As we wrote in our Digest Top 10 Predictions for 2017: Whether it is Intrexon, Calysta or potentially Synata Bio, companies have been switching to methane as a source of cleaner yet cheaper carbon, compared to petroleum. The emissions gain is not all that compelling, but it’s at least as compelling as ethanol made from […]
What’s it worth? It’s the cry of a thousand fortune-hunters combing garage sales and close-out auctions this spring. Whether you are owner or seller, you need to know the underlying value of a feedstock in the advanced bioeconomy — and that is not the same thing as its current market price. In fact, what makes […]
