Special to The Digest At 758.8 million tonnes (503.6 million tonnes, milled basis), world paddy production in 2017 would stand 0.8 percent, or 5.8 million tons, above a revised estimate for 2016. The comparatively modest year-on-year increase mirrors constraints posed by tight margins and heightened competition with other crops, could entail a slow-down in […]
By Claudia Geddes, Senior Scientist, Technical Service, Novozymes Special to The Digest It’s been a scorcher of a summer for much of the U.S., including the more than 25 states with ethanol production facilities. But while the dog days of summer may be behind us, record-setting temperatures are still in the forecast for many producers. […]
By Wayne Lee, CEO Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest While oil prices remain relatively low, and the status of U.S. government incentives remains uncertain, the predictable downturn in biofuel and biochemical related industries brings with it increased participant discomfort. Those that have been in these “bioeconomy” industries for some time have seen their […]
By Lorenz Bauer, Ph.D., Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest Methanol Sources and Uses Methanol and bioeconomies are two of the buzz words of the last decade. They had their origin in the “peak oil” scare and the predicted sky rocketing oil prices. They were further boosted by environmental concerns about pollution and climate change. […]
By Dr. Anju D. Krivov, Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. Special to The Digest Neil DeGrasse Tyson’s vision of an algae oil machine fed with a bucketful of algae soup from a pond at one end spits out oil at the other – that must have amused the NOVA Science television viewers back in 2009 – […]
By Brent Erickson, Executive Vice President, Head of Industrial Biotechnology section, Biotechnology Innovation Organization Special to The Digest We were disappointed, but not surprised, to see Mike McAdams and his members come out in support of changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard in Biofuels Digest (July 26 – The Time Has Come for RFS Reform). […]
By Gregory T. Benz Special to The Digest Fermentation processes, both aerobic and anaerobic, have been successful on an industrial scale for quite a long time, producing a wide variety of products. In most of these processes, if any gas has been added, it has been either air or oxygen-enriched air. In the advanced bioeconomy, […]
By Mike McAdams, president, Advanced Biofuels Association Special to The Digest In December of 2007, President Bush—with overwhelming bipartisan support—signed the RFS2 into law. Since that time, it has become clear the law has worked for first-generation corn ethanol and biodiesel. While the first generation fuels now represent over eighteen billion gallons of fuel production, […]
By Dr. Bernard Cooker, Chemical Processing Solutions, Consultant with Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest Biomass-based green polymer and monomer projects, as reported in Chemical and Engineering News and Chemical Engineering Progress in Q1, Q2 2017 are surveyed. The focus here is on combinations of low raw material cost, commercial scale operation and high […]
By Charles G. Loos, P.E., Special to The Digest By the time a developer seeks non-recourse financing for a biomass project, the contracts for construction and major equipment procurement have usually been pre-negotiated and are on hold awaiting notice to proceed. Prospective lenders then scour these contracts for defects, paying particular attention to inconsistencies between […]
