Category: Top Stories

Switchcraft: Metabolix bioconverts itself into Yield10, focuses on crop yields

Switchcraft: Metabolix bioconverts itself into Yield10, focuses on crop yields

January 8, 2017 |

In Massachusetts we have had more signs of the pivoting underway in the advanced bioeconomy with the news that Metabolix is changing its name to Yield10 Bioscience and will focus on developing disruptive technologies for step-change improvements to crop yield to enhance global food security. The company is hard at work re-thinking how it talks […]

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The Clean Tech Primer 2017

The Clean Tech Primer 2017

January 5, 2017 |

In New York, Raymond James released its Clean Tech Primer 2017, arguably the most cogent and concise summary of activity and prospects across the gamut from solar power through to water technology, including all biofuels, biopower and bioindustrials. The report’s lead author, Pavel Molchanov, will be on stage at ABLC 2017 this March for an in-person […]

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Top 100 People in the Advanced Bioeconomy for 2017 Nominations open

Top 100 People in the Advanced Bioeconomy for 2017 Nominations open

January 4, 2017 |

We are making our list of the Top 100 People in Bioenergy together, but as with all Digest rankings and lists, we’d like you to participate. The nominations link is here. We’d like you to suggest as many people as you like, and in a few sentences explain why you think they are amazing, important, […]

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The Scandal at USASpending.Gov: Part II: Genomatica responds

The Scandal at USASpending.Gov: Part II: Genomatica responds

January 3, 2017 |

On Monday, we reported in Where is Your Money Going? The Mess at USASpending.Gov that according to the US government’s transparency in government spending website, bioeconomy pioneer Genomatica has received more than $280 million in federal grants and contracts since 2008. We added: Surprising we would imagine to the staff at Genomatica, too, since it’s hogwash of the […]

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KnipBio closes Series B round for its Single Cell Protein: what’s SCP and why is it becoming the hottest development target around?

KnipBio closes Series B round for its Single Cell Protein: what’s SCP and why is it becoming the hottest development target around?

January 3, 2017 |

In Massachusetts, the expected wave of 2017 methane-to-protein advances got a kick-start with news that KnipBio closed a $2M Series B investment round led by Launchpad Venture Group and Cherrystone Angel Group. KnipBio intends to use the investment of up to $2M to advance new product development, continue the aggressive move towards commercial-scale manufacturing of […]

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Top 10 Bioeconomy Predictions for 2017

Top 10 Bioeconomy Predictions for 2017

January 2, 2017 |

A mere “The Year in Rewind” as we sail into 2017? Not the good ship Digest! Instead, we dust off our crystal ball and offer our predictions for the year ahead. As the sunset of 2016 gives way to the dawn of 2017, here at the Digest we resist the holiday temptation to look back over the […]

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Where is Your Money Going? The Mess at USASpending.Gov

Where is Your Money Going? The Mess at USASpending.Gov

December 31, 2016 |

As the old Irving Berlin song put it, Let’s Start the New Year Right. By looking into something gone wrong. USASpending.gov launched with a certain amount of brouhaha back in 2007, after the enabling legislation sailed through Congress in the fall of 2006. The bill’s Senate sponsors included the unlikely grouping of Senators Tom Coburn […]

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DOE pushes renewable jet fuel towards commercial-scale with key grants to LanzaTech, Byogy, AVAPCO-led teams

DOE pushes renewable jet fuel towards commercial-scale with key grants to LanzaTech, Byogy, AVAPCO-led teams

December 30, 2016 |

In Washington, the Energy Department announced the selection of six projects for up to $12.9 million in federal funding, entitled, “Project Definition for Pilot- and Demonstration-Scale Manufacturing of Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biopower.” These projects, required to share the cost at a minimum of 50%, will develop and execute plans for the manufacturing of advanced or […]

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Biofuels Mandates Around the World 2017

Biofuels Mandates Around the World 2017

December 28, 2016 |

In Florida, the Digest today releases its annual review of biofuels mandates and targets around the world, looking at the state of biofuels mandates in 64 countries. The bulk of mandates continue to come from the EU-27, where the Renewable Energy Directive (RED) specified a 10 percent renewable content by 2020 but has been scaled […]

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Bubble Trouble: No more shampoo goo, via a nifty biobased chemical technology

Bubble Trouble: No more shampoo goo, via a nifty biobased chemical technology

December 27, 2016 |

If you find yourself among the 79 percent of people who “agree that they consider themselves an environmentally conscious person,” you’ve probably stayed up nights in recent years wondering what the heck to do with the swamp of dubious chemicals in your hair known benignly as shampoo. But if you are among the 75 percent […]

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