In Washington, the governors of North Carolina, Arkansas, Maryland and Delaware made a formal request for a waiver of the Renewable Fuel Standard, in response to the 2012 US drought, which has caused a sharp fall in US corn crop estimates. Yesterday, the RFA conducted a webinar on the topic which can be replayed here. […]
By Douglas L. Faulkner, “The Cleantech Conservative” Special to the Digest Voters are in an ugly mood. Many view overreaching regulations and fiscal failings of the federal government as big roadblocks to economic recovery and even threats to our way of life. Meanwhile, the oil and gas industry is gaining political strength as its production […]
In 1938, as the German-Czechoslovakian crisis unfolded on the eve of World War II, Hilaire Belloc summarized British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain’s appeasement policy as: “Dear Czecho-Slovakia, I don’t think they’ll attack yer, But I’m not going to back yer.” So might the policies of a Romney Administration towards biofuels be fairly described. It shaped […]
The maker of nylon products such as Lycra and Dacron teams with LanzaTech to produce a vital intermediate, butadiene. Can you really make a parachute from blast furnace waste gases? In Kansas, LanzaTech and top nylon producer INVISTA (think Lycra and Dacron) have inked a joint development agreement to develop one-step and two-step technologies to […]
Codexis expects to lose all of Shell funding, win freedom to operate globally (excepting Brazil). Pyrrhic victory or the necessary price of freedom? In California, Codexis (CDXS) announced that it expects to obtain rights from Shell to market its CodeXyme cellulase enzymes to other cellulosic biofuels developers, (excluding Brazil) and that Shell will discontinue its […]
As Solazyme, Gevo and Amyris report on results for Q2, update forward guidance – what does the data reveal about demand, supply of advanced biofuels and co-products? We digest down analyst reports, company comments into a 5-minute summary of “news you can use”. In California and Colorado, the newswires have been working overtime this week […]
Could US oil imports be replaced with a single set of facilities producing biofuels from CO2, salt water and low-cost natural gas? Subsidy free, cropland free, mandate free? If you happen to be awakening from a four-year nap, or returning from a tour of the outer solar system, you may not have been made aware […]
We have this from our friends at BIO – who have been raising concerns over proposed CAFE standards for light duty vehicles (e.g. passenger cars) in the upcoming 2017-2025 period. This is more technical (and somewhat longer) than typical Digest stories – but its an important topic worth the time to explore. BIO writes: While […]
Prosperity arrives not just via “all of the above” with energy sources; but with agriculture markets, too, say Agriculture Secretary Vilsack and Senate Agriculture Committee chairwoman Debbie Stabenow in impassioned addresses in Michigan “We don’t have an economy unless we make things and grow things,” begins Senator Debbie Stabenow, addressing the Biobased Stakeholders meeting. It’s […]
Creative financing keeping numerous advanced biofuels companies on the march, despite political uncertainty. Fiberight, Zeachem in focus. Which strategics are next? What rule changes can USDA make to accelerate commercialization? Although the USDA is trying to inject some mystery into the announcement, tomorrow USDA Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager and Senate Majority Leader […]
