Category: Top Stories

Beast Mode Yeast Load: Novozyme’s new Innova Apex, Turbo are ethanol yield monsters

Beast Mode Yeast Load: Novozyme’s new Innova Apex, Turbo are ethanol yield monsters

July 31, 2022 |

News has emerged in the sector which should be known as Medieval Combat and yet is politely described as yeast fermentation that Novozymes’ new Innova Apex and Innova Turbo have arrived on the Innova yeast platform. They are companions to Innova Quantum. Usually, advances in yeast are told in terms of yield, but here’s an […]

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What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act — for renewable fuels?

What’s in the Inflation Reduction Act — for renewable fuels?

July 28, 2022 |

The Ultraviolets (by which I mean the left side of the political spectrum) and some enthusiasts for renewables that come from other parts of the politcal spectrum are rejoicing over news that Senators Schumer and Manchin reached an agreement on the Inflation Reduction Act. President Biden said, “With this agreement, we will improve our energy security and […]

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Enko raises $70M  in crop protection Series C round — is there life after glyphosate?

Enko raises $70M in crop protection Series C round — is there life after glyphosate?

July 27, 2022 |

From Connecticut comes news that crop protection tech pioneer Enko raised $70 million in Series C funding, bringing the company to an overall valuation of $320 million. Global agrochemical company Nufarm led the round — we’ve covered their NuSeed subsidiary extensively in recent years as it has invested in bringing carinata forward as a feedstock. […]

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The Digest turns 15: The 7 Top Trends, 10 Most Bizarre Stories, and 2 mindsets, 3 regrets, many blessings

The Digest turns 15: The 7 Top Trends, 10 Most Bizarre Stories, and 2 mindsets, 3 regrets, many blessings

July 26, 2022 |

Today, The Daily Digest turns 15, it’s our quinceañera! We started the Digest on July 27, 2007 because it seemed to me, then as now, that the industry could use a good 5-minute round-up of what’s going on around the globe. ABLC came along, then the CIRCULAR and not long ago, ROBIN. It seems like […]

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The Zymerger: Ginkgo acquires Zymergen as the industrial biotech Carousel of Slower than Expected Progress takes another spin

The Zymerger: Ginkgo acquires Zymergen as the industrial biotech Carousel of Slower than Expected Progress takes another spin

July 25, 2022 |

The Iron Law of Sustainability reasserted itself this morning when Ginkgo BioWorks acquired Zymergen and along with it a vast sea of intellectual property and some tasty business opportunities, for the bargain price of $300 million. It’s just a fraction of the $3 billion valuation that Zymergen achieved at its all time high of $4.8 […]

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The Biogas yield explosion: Nature Energy’s 66% higher yields, 3 new US projects and a new US CEO

The Biogas yield explosion: Nature Energy’s 66% higher yields, 3 new US projects and a new US CEO

July 21, 2022 |

In the days around the global financial crisis of 2008-09 when so many eyes were glued to the television watching the cable financial networks like Bloomberg and Fox Business, the 9am Morning Call program at Fox was so frenzied as the storylines expanded, that you might have mistaken it for the frenzy of the US […]

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The ‘Lon and Winding Road: leaps toward sustainable nylon, Revlon bio-packaging

The ‘Lon and Winding Road: leaps toward sustainable nylon, Revlon bio-packaging

July 21, 2022 |

Been a lon, lon day here in Digestville, and that’s no typo. We have news on Revlon and nylon, taking a step towards that happy day when product makers no longer Use the Sky as a Free Sewer. From Italy and California news has arrived that long-time partners Genomatica and nylon giant Aquafil broke through […]

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Victor Tango Foxtrot – The pursuit of affordable Sustainable Aviation Fuels at scale

Victor Tango Foxtrot – The pursuit of affordable Sustainable Aviation Fuels at scale

July 20, 2022 |

In aviation fuels as elsewhere in life, it’s sustainable, affordable, available, pick two out of three. You can find affordable SAF, but not in big volumes. You can find as much unaffordable SAF as you like. as we know, there’s plenty of petroleum-based jet fuel and the carbon numbers are astronomical (a case of “off […]

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Chevron to ZEVron: CVX’s acquisition of Renewable Energy Group powers its search for net zero

Chevron to ZEVron: CVX’s acquisition of Renewable Energy Group powers its search for net zero

July 19, 2022 |

It’s probably not well known that Chevron’s original name was Standard Oil of Iowa, you’d be 116 years old this week if you were around back then to notice it. Congratulations on your longevity. This summer, the Iowa-Chevron tie has been revived with Chevron’s acquisition of Iowa-based Renewable Energy Group, which now becomes Chevron Renewable […]

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Two cheers for the EU’s new Fit for 55 transport fuels policy

Two cheers for the EU’s new Fit for 55 transport fuels policy

July 18, 2022 |

There’s euphoria in the EU and Canada over expanded opportunities for SAF and transport fuels, and especially from those engaged int he world of e-fuels. We reported earlier this month from Canada of the approval and release of the rules for the Clean Fuels Standard, and from Europe we see this update from the European […]

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