Author Archive: Jim Lane

rss feed

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development and Challenges

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Global Sustainable Aviation Fuel Development and Challenges

August 14, 2025 |

The evolving regulatory landscape, including global SAF mandates (e.g., India’s 1% by 2025, UK’s 10% by 2030), is driving SAF development. Key challenges are high cost (1.5-6x conventional fuel), scaling production, infrastructure, and sustainable feedstock. ICARUS evaluates promising pathways like Biocrude Oils to SAF (HTL), Alcohols to SAF (ATJ), and Syngas to SAF (FT), noting […]

Read More

Liberal, Kansas and the fight conservatives are waging for energy freedom

Liberal, Kansas and the fight conservatives are waging for energy freedom

August 14, 2025 |

By General Jim “Jayhawker” Lane Special to The Digest I am a fighting man, and I mean to fight for freedom. You remember me as General Jim Lane, the Jayhawker — we were the ones who raided the border, broke the chains, and made Kansas free soil. I wore the name gladly. Freedom wasn’t just […]

Read More

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to International SAF Policy Landscape and Investment Hurdles

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to International SAF Policy Landscape and Investment Hurdles

August 13, 2025 |

International SAF markets are heavily reliant on HEFA (85% future volume), but need diversification due to feedstock limits. Strong global policies and mandates are emerging (e.g., EU’s ReFuelEU, UK’s 10% by 2030, US’s 3 billion gallons by 2030). Despite this, investor hesitation persists due to past failures and differing sustainability criteria between regions, indicating a […]

Read More

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Brazilian Innovations in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Brazilian Innovations in Sustainable Aviation Fuel Production

August 12, 2025 |

Brazil is emerging as a significant SAF producer, leveraging its abundant renewable resources through a strong government-university-industry synergy. The SENAI Innovation Institute for Renewable Energies (ISI-ER) is a key player, focusing on scaling up SAF production via Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis and HEFA pathways. ISI-ER boasts substantial infrastructure, including experimental hydrotreatment and distillation units, actively contributing […]

Read More

Beyond Broken Eggs: Fixing the SAF Machine

Beyond Broken Eggs: Fixing the SAF Machine

August 12, 2025 |

Yesterday, we talked about two broken eggs — the MAHA Commission’s push to reduce seed oils in the food system and the renewable fuels sector’s chronic shortage of affordable plant oils — and how, combined, they might make a better omelette for both public health and decarbonization. Today, there’s a third egg on the counter: […]

Read More

A Grand Bargain: Can Food and Fuel Find Common Ground?

A Grand Bargain: Can Food and Fuel Find Common Ground?

August 11, 2025 |

The MAHA Commission has cracked a few eggs. Its recent report calls for sweeping changes in the U.S. diet, including a reduced role for widely used seed oils in the food system. Industry reaction has been swift and sharp — with oilseed processors, farmers, and nutrition scientists warning of market disruption, higher costs, and questionable […]

Read More

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Commercialization Progress and Challenges of Biojet Fuels

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Commercialization Progress and Challenges of Biojet Fuels

August 11, 2025 |

SAF is crucial for aviation decarbonization, needing >400 billion litres by 2050 (currently <1%). While HEFA is commercial, its feedstock is limited, thus all 11 ASTM-approved pathways must be pursued. Challenges include slow commercialization and feedstock logistics. Key opportunities: diverting jet fuel from existing renewable diesel facilities (15-50% SAF) and co-processing in refineries for rapid […]

Read More

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Modeling Farmer Adoption and Bioenergy Supply Chain Evolution

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Modeling Farmer Adoption and Bioenergy Supply Chain Evolution

August 7, 2025 |

Biofuel production faces hurdles from slow technology and supply chain uncertainties. This study uses an innovative Agent-Based Modeling (ABM) approach to simulate farmer behavior and land allocation for biomass. ABMs show producer adoption impacts biorefinery supply radii (shrinking from 90 to 22 miles) and steady-state feedstock mixes. The model indicates optimizing biorefinery ecosystems could reduce […]

Read More

From 221B Baker Street: A Study in Hydrogen

From 221B Baker Street: A Study in Hydrogen

August 7, 2025 |

I confess at the outset that the morning’s post left me in a fog. The hearth was banked low at 221B, the London light was the colour of dishwater, and the breakfast table groaned under the weight of newspaper reports, addressed, “John H. Watson, MD, 221B Baker Street, London,” from Texas, Egypt, China, Cornwall, Oman, […]

Read More

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Biogas Engineering’s Multi-faceted Roles and Global Potential

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Biogas Engineering’s Multi-faceted Roles and Global Potential

August 6, 2025 |

Biogas engineering offers five key roles: emission mitigation, renewable energy, fertilizers, environmental protection, and soil improvement. A newsworthy aspect is Biogas with Carbon Capture and Sequestration (BGCCS) for negative emissions. China demonstrates immense biogas potential from agricultural waste, projecting significant contributions to natural gas needs and methane reduction. The “Great Cycle” concept integrates these benefits. […]

Read More

}