Fiberight is a privately held company founded in 2007 with current operations in Virginia, Maryland and Iowa. The company focuses on transforming post-recycled municipal solid wastes and other organic feedstocks into next generation renewable biofuels, with cellulosic ethanol and renewable compressed natural gas as core products. Pilot plant facilities began in 2008-2009. This week we […]
Synvitrobio accelerates bio-discovery through cell-free systems. Synvitrobio’s Next Generation Expression platform allows for high-throughput data collection that is real and experimentally validated at speeds of simulation based approaches. A cell-free system is a mixture that contains only the functional machinery of a cell. Cell-free systems allow us to do complex biochemistry without any of the limitations of […]
In November we reported that POET-DSM Advanced Biofuels achieved a major breakthrough in cellulosic biofuels production at its Project LIBERTY plant in Emmetsburg, Iowa. The company has solved the critical challenge in pretreatment, overcoming what has been the No. 1 hurdle to commercialization for producers around the world, according to their news release. Project LIBERTY is […]
Velocys enables modular gas-to-liquids and biomass-to-liquids plants to convert unconventional, remote and problem gas and waste biomass into valuable, drop-in liquid fuels. After 15 years and some $300 million in investment, Velocys technology is at commercial-scale. The ENVIA project is now producing fuels in Oklahoma, and more projects aimed at the US market are on […]
Last year, industry consultant Vonnie Estes — whose latest Digest column is here — picked up the Rosa Franklin Award for leadership in industrial biotechnology — and her most recent presentation decks offer a pretty good sense of why — she’s given us this overview on cellulosic sugars, this on Caribou and CRISPR technology, this one on partnering […]
ChemCatBio is a research and development consortium dedicated to identifying and overcoming catalysis challenges for biomass conversion processes. Led by U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) national laboratories, we work with industry to rapidly transition R&D discoveries into commercial processes and grow the bioeconomy in the United States. Current research encompasses the following five themes: Upgrading […]
Hydrogen, hydrogen, hydrogen — the most abundant element in the universe, but the advanced bioeconomy can never seem to get enough of it, and finding ways to produce renewable, affordable hydrogen — well, that’s real gold. A team led by Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s Abhijeet Borole and including a number of ORNL colleagues and also […]
In December, we reported that Cargill and Calysta will co-create the world’s largest gas fermentation facility in Memphis, Tennessee to produce Calysta’s FeedKind protein, a family of sustainable, traceable nutritional ingredients for fish, livestock and pets. Start-up is expected in late 2018. Amidst a flurry of development announcements, Calysta CEO Alan Shaw gave this illuminating overview of […]
US-based White Dog Labs have developed a new process that eliminates the production of CO2, a potent greenhouse gas, during fermentation and instead shifts the carbon to added ethanol production, boosting fermentation yields by around 50 percent. The by-products are distillers grains, corn oil (if extracted from the grains) and water. The process can boost […]
Vertimass technology was originated at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where scientists discovered novel catalysts that convert a wide range of alcohols into various hydrocarbon blend stocks which can be used in existing gasoline, diesel and jet engines without modifications. CEO Charles Wyman gave this illuminating overview of the technology, the commercial rationale and the timelines […]
