Category: Top Stories

Squid self-repairing design inspires U.S. military, microflora-based vegan ice cream, dairy-waste to hand sanitizer, banana fiber PPE, and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of August 6th

August 5, 2020 | admin

While taking a dip in the ocean, take a good look at that squid in a different light…researchers at the US Army Research Institute are developing a renewable, self-healing material inspired by squid teeth in the hopes it can be used to design self-repairing robots and uniforms. Then enjoy some surfside “Brave Robot” vegan ice […]

Owning the Landscape: The Importance of Intellectual Property Rights in Engineered Biofuels

August 4, 2020 | Jim Lane

By David Fournier, Chair for Patent Prosecution and Portfolio Counseling, Perkins Coie LLP Special to The Digest Biocarbons are experiencing significant investment and growth as a drop-in replacement for fossil fuels in energy and metals production. As companies move from found fossil fuels to engineered biofuels, intellectual property rights will invariably have a significant impact […]

A Whopping $97M from U.S. Department of Energy for Bioenergy Research and Development

August 3, 2020 | Jim Lane

In Washington, D.C. comes news from the U.S. Department of Energy that they gave more than $97 million in funding for 33 projects that will support high-impact technology research and development to accelerate the bioeconomy. These projects will improve the performance and lower the cost and risk of technologies that can be used to produce […]

Inside GranBio, NextChem’s new partnership to “blow out” cellulosic ethanol global roll-out

August 3, 2020 | Jim Lane

News arrives from Sao Paulo and Rome that GranBio and NextChem have inked a strategic alliance and will co-license GranBio’s patented technology for the production of second-generation ethanol. NextChem is a subsidiary of Italian engineering giant Maire Tecnimont dedicated to the energy transition. The news follows the announcement last week that GranBio has retained Citigroup […]

Competitive Edge: Ways2H, Inc.

July 30, 2020 | Jim Lane

Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity? We started Ways2H to improve the global environment by eliminating waste while producing carbon-negative renewable hydrogen. There’s an urgent need […]

Antiviral jeans that protect you from COVID-19, corn waste and wine waste based sneakers, and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of July 30th

July 29, 2020 | admin

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, innovative companies are finding ways to make a difference in tackling the beast, like antiviral jeans that protect you from COVID-19 using a 72% biobased “Viroblock” which kills 99.9% of COVID-19 within 30 minutes—much quicker than the two days the virus can linger on fabrics at room temperature. Or […]

Hail and Farewell to the ‘Ethanol Answer Man’

July 28, 2020 | Jim Lane

Today, let us mark the passing of Larry Johnson, following a stroke. Johnson was 76. He was formerly the president of the Minnesota Corn Growers Association and a director of the National Corn Growers Association, , he was “the Ethanol Answer Man” to many, a friend to all, a long-time Minnesota farmer whose embrace of […]

Transitioning to the New BioRefining Era & Future Vision for Ethanol Plants

July 28, 2020 | Jim Lane

By Joel Stone, ConVergInce Advisers and member of Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to the Digest Many of those who have listened to me talking about the transition to a bioeconomy, have heard and seen my presentations regarding the use of existing bioethanol infrastructure and facilities to be expanded into producing an array of value-added products. […]

Letter to the Advanced Bioeconomy: Advance off the Beach

July 27, 2020 | Jim Lane

There was always going to be a point when the advanced bioeconomy reached the end of the “R&D years” and transitioned into “the years of deployment”, and if you read the Biden plan here or the latest pushback from the bioeconomy here against the alleged misdeeds of the Trump Administration, you might realize that we have […]

5 Big Scale-up Projects – From beginning to end of supply chain, these projects show how scale-up happens

July 26, 2020 | admin

You may not believe it with everything else going on in the world today, but there were 5 big scale-up projects announced over the past week or so that caught The Digest’s attention. From different ends of the supply chain ranging from feedstock all the way to facility technology, these projects show that scale-up is […]

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