It was a gigantic day yesterday for the biofuels industry, and the biggest news was saved for last, that Syntroleum and Tyson have completed construction, and commenced commissioning, of their 75 Mgy renewable diesel plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The Dynamic Fuels project becomes, by a factor of 18, the largest operating advanced biofuels plant in […]
Does LanzaTech represent a new way to extract value, or a new way to understand it? In recent weeks the Digest reported that Vinod Khosla, in a keynote at BIO, pooh-poohed a wide-assortment of technologies in biofuels with a special focus on critiquing the high cost of enzymes, while focusing his praise on fuels produced […]
In California, Amyris Biotechnologies is in the final stages leading to the pricing of its IPO, and just two questions remain, but they are big ones: 1. How will Amyris price if at all, and begin public trading. 2. Is it a safe buy, or a long shot? Here’s what the Digest’s editors and sources […]
In Washington, BIO’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing is underway, and by the time you are reading this, it may well be over. More than 700 industry professionals gathered this week to confer, argue, commiserate, brag, beg, spy, kvetch and inspire. Usually a few days at BIO feels like a stretch at Top […]
Of all the results in the recent Transformative Technologies reader poll, the most surprising by far is the support for seaweed-based biofuels technologies. The sector placed third among all transformative technology platforms, with 8.63 percent of the votes. It could be simply that “macroalgae” attracts votes in the way that “jatrophalgae” or “cornalgae” might have, […]
“This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they continued singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends…” It was the day upon which the secret of […]
In Massachusetts, Qteros has been gaining heavy support in the Transformative Technologies poll – far more than you get from marshaling all the friends, Romans and countrymen associated with a 50-person, early-stage company in the business of consolidated bioprocessing. In fact, I remarked to Qteros CEO John McCarthy that, had the company been renamed QAlgae, […]
It was about a year ago that Shell jettisoned all of its wind, solar and geothermal desires and focused its renewable energy development strategy around biofuels. The second tangible fruit of that decision appeared this week with the news that it will re-invest in Iogen Energy, and has made a “significant incremental commitment” to fund […]
In Washington, 90 US scientists wrote to US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and US Senate Majority leader Harry Reid to fix accounting standards for greenhouse gas emissions associated with bioenergy projects. The scientists said they wanted to correct a perception that “that all biofuels and bioenergy are equally good for the environment and are all […]
Biofuels developments typically involve “two, four or more” carbon approaches (ethanol, biobutanol, or longer chain hydrocarbons in the gasoline or diesel range). Though used in biodiesel production or as an intermediate in other biofuel production processes, the one-carbon methanol is not commonly targeted as a biofuel. Methanol has its haters, and its passionate fans. Who’s […]
