Patiently, assuredly, one cluster at a time, Canada has amassed a potent armory of renewable fuel and biobased technologies, people and clusters of activity. Where’s it going? The Digest looks at a whole slew of workshops north of the border and south of the North Pole. In Vancouver last week, it fell to established industry sage […]
$80 oil. Seems like almost everyone in biofuels wants it, and is scared silly by today’s low-price environment. Are high prices good for renewable fuels? The hard data actually goes the other way. The Digest investigates. There’s a persistent theory going around in advanced biofuels circles that what the industry needs is a return to […]
Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for example corn stover in North America, bagasse in South America or wheat straw in Europe and can be adapted to various plant concepts. The production […]
In Kansas, Abengoa has decided to suspend production at its new cellulosic ethanol plant in Hugoton as well as its corn-based ethanol plant in Colwich as part of the recent financial troubles the company is suffering from that may eventually lead to bankruptcy. The company also plans to shut down its Abengoa Bioenergy headquarters in […]
Construction underway. Commercial production in 2016. That’s the word from Green Biologics on its first commercial. Here’s the skinny and the lowdown. In Minnesota, construction is now underway at the Green Biologics bio-based n-butanol and acetone manufacturing facility in Little Falls, MN. The existing manufacturing site, formerly known as The Central MN Ethanol Cooperative (CMEC), […]
INFORMA’s Scott Richman looked at the EPA’s RFS rulemaking, and the volumes, issues and opportunities for ethanol and biodiesel in 2016. The Digest was there. “In the old days, ethanol was a political commodity,” Informa Economics Senior VP Scott Richman told the crowd assembled at the Canadian Bioeconomy Conference in Vancouver this week, organized by the […]
In Kansas, INVISTA and LanzaTech have developed a metabolic ‘toolkit’ that has been successfully applied to generate novel metabolic pathways to bio-derived butadiene and key precursors, such as 1,3 butanediol and 2,3 butanediol, resulting in new direct and 2-step processes for butadiene utilizing gas-fermentation technology. A metabolic toolkit integrates detailed knowledge about a bacterium’s genetic […]
In Washington, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced final volume requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard program today for the years 2014, 2015 and 2016, and final volume requirements for biomass-based diesel for 2014 to 2017. This rule finalizes higher volumes of renewable fuel than the levels EPA proposed in June, boosting renewable production and […]
In France, President Obama and French President Hollande, along with a wide range of other top global leaders, are announcing today the launch of “Mission Innovation,” a 20-country initiative to dramatically accelerate public and private global clean energy innovation to address global climate change, provide affordable clean energy to consumers, including in the developing world, […]
In France, 28 business leaders and organizations launched the Breakthrough Energy Coalition, with Coalition chairman Bill Gates stating that “The existing system of basic research, clean energy investment, regulatory frameworks, and subsidies fails to sufficiently mobilize investment in truly transformative energy solutions for the future. We can’t wait for the system to change through normal cycles.” More […]
