Author Archive: Jim Lane

Persistence through integration: Assessing the Manus-Inscripta merger, through the GTESI lens

April 22, 2025 | Jim Lane

This past week, we reported that Manus and Inscripta have announced a strategic merger to establish an end-to-end platform for scalable development, biomanufacturing, and commercialization of bioalternative products. In our report, we noted the public rationale: by combining Inscripta’s whole-genome engineering technologies with Manus’ cell factory engineering platform, biomanufacturing expertise, and commercialization capabilities, the merged […]

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Vertimass

April 21, 2025 | Jim Lane

The presentation details Vertimass’ proprietary CADO (Consolidated Alcohol Deoxygenation and Oligomerization) technology, a 1-step catalytic process that transforms diverse alcohols into sustainable fuels like SAF, gasoline, and diesel. The presentation, by John Hannon, highlights the promise of economically viable and environmentally sound green fuels that seamlessly integrate with existing infrastructure. With growing SAF demand and […]

Sunshine Corridors: Adapting in a Time of Carbon Confusion

April 20, 2025 | Jim Lane

Even in Seattle, people buy sunglasses. I know, I come from a very rainy part of the world, a little hamlet called Redmond, Washington. The population was 1,200 when I was a little guy, our biggest manufacturer was the Carnation Company, our contented cows gave better milk. We had fresh fruits and vegetables at the […]

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to World Energy

April 17, 2025 | Jim Lane

This presentation desk introduces World Energy as a low-carbon solutions pioneer working with hard-to-abate sectors to meet net-zero commitments through sustainable aviation fuel, green hydrogen, and advanced biofuels. Their SAF production uses HEFA technology with a focus on waste and sustainable feedstocks, achieving significant lifecycle emissions reductions. World Energy prioritizes feedstocks that do not compete […]

Renewable Diesel vs Sustainable Aviation Fuel: why such a difference in adoption rates?

April 17, 2025 | Jim Lane

At first glance, RD and SAF appear nearly inseparable—often co-produced in HEFA systems, governed by overlapping policy frameworks, and sharing many investors, incentives, and technologies. Traditional analysis sees them as market twins. Yet, in this analysis out from SAF adoption leader and hard-working champion IAG, the numbers for SAF lag far behind renewable diesel. Converting […]

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to biorefinery integration

April 16, 2025 | Jim Lane

This presentation from Sandia National Laboratories summarizes a workshop on biorefinery integration held in October 2025. The objectives were to develop a shared vision for the refinery of the future and identify R&D needs for processing both bio-based and fossil feedstocks. Recommendations from industry and research attendees included developing centralized lab facilities, analytical methods for […]

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to Iogen

April 15, 2025 | Jim Lane

This presentation deck from ABLC highlights their position as a pioneering technology company focused on 2nd generation biofuels from agricultural residues. They emphasize that 2G biofuels offer a practical path to net-zero in hard-to-electrify sectors like aviation and, when combined with carbon capture and storage, can actively remove CO2. Iogen notes that despite early challenges, […]

Investment Decision or Infinite Delay? Looking at the progress, prospects for Alcohol to Jet Technology

April 15, 2025 | Jim Lane

As the search for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) intensifies, alcohol-to-jet technology has emerged as a promising yet perplexing pathway. Promising because of the progress on technology and projects. Perplexing because traditional techno-economic analysis is capturing part of the story—costs, feedstock flows, policy incentives—but struggles to explain why some technologies persist and others stall, even with […]

The Digest’s 2025 Multi-Slide Guide to decarbonizing marine shipping

April 14, 2025 | Jim Lane

This presentation from NexantECA focuses on decarbonizing marine shipping, noting its CO2 emissions and the need for alternative fuels to meet IMO GHG reduction targets. NexantECA projects a shift from conventional fuels like HSFO and VLSFO to lower carbon intensity options such as LNG, ammonia, hydrogen, and methanol by 2050. The guide also addresses the […]

Let’s ‘Make Hay’ from CO2 In biofuels production, and consider three potential marketing scenarios