The remarkable story of Zero Acre Farms leaked into the public domain this week with the news that the company, focused on the production of “healthy, more sustainable oils and fats” from sugars has raised $37 million in an oversubscribed Series A. Co-founders include Steve del Cardayre, Jay Keasling and Jeff Nobbs. If it’s starting […]
The last time we did an in-depth story on Biotalys with an exclusive Digest interview with Patrice Sellès, CEO of Biotalys and veteran international ag exec formerly with Syngenta, we talked about product launches, product pipeline, how their biobacteriacides and biofungicides tackle food security and waste at the same time. So needless to say when […]
Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity? Biomass conversion needs a new cost effective, “green chemistry” approach. Instead of focusing on thermochemical conversions, my company developed the […]
In what seems like a twisted, alternate universe, famous wiener maker and bologna bliss master, Oscar Mayer, launched a face mask that looks like bologna but is made out of seaweed, witch hazel and collagen (and as clearly marked on their packaging, is not meant to be eaten). If walking around with a bologna-looking […]
More sustainable automotive coatings, nylon-6,6 and specialty nylons, here we come. Today, let’s chat about HMD, but not the head-mounted displays known by many as virtual reality goggles. Today, let’s look at the molecule, hexamethylenediamine, also known around the bunsen burner as HMD. In this case, bio-HMD, and Covestro and Genomatica have revealed that they […]
By Chris Calvey, postdoctoral researcher in microbial metabolic engineering at the National Renewable Energy Lab (NREL) Special to The Digest This post is the first of a series intended to take a closer look at the science behind some of the most promising biotech companies in the renewable energy sector. First of all, what is […]
Like a feeding frenzy that doubles Godzilla’s size, in West Virginia, Downey Ridge Environmental Company, developer of Greasezilla FOG (fats, oils & grease) separation and processing systems will more than double the number of Greasezilla systems in operation during 2022, and that’s on top of a pretty incredible 2021 for them. In today’s Digest, all […]
The dream of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is closer than you may think with an entire village called Cacao Eco Village being planned in Ecuador using renewable construction materials including 3D printed cacao waste. It comes complete with an education and research center and of course, a chocolate factory. And cleaning with fish waste […]
By Doug Durante, Executive Director, Clean Fuels Development Coalition Special to The Digest Reducing greenhouse gases, decarbonizing our transportation fuels, providing environmental justice—all laudable objectives, but in the face of political, financial, and practical obstacles, can we realistically expect meaningful results in the short or even mid term? We can if we put egos aside […]
Since the summer of last year, a cadre of algae and energy R&D veterans have been hammering away to create The Algae Prize, to catalyze student teams to tackle Production, Downstream Processing, Identification of Novel Products or Tools and compete for $130,000 in prizes, in a $300,000 initiative now sponsored by the US Department of […]
