Rudolf Diesel in 1892 received a patent for a compression ignition reciprocating engine. However, his original design, which used coal dust as fuel, did not work as planned. To put things in context – thirty-three years prior, in 1859, crude oil was discovered in Pennsylvania. The first product refined from crude was lamp oil […]
By Gerard J. Ostheimer & Douglas L. Faulkner Special to The Digest The world really, really wants to have a thriving Global Bioeconomy. It just doesn’t know it, yet. Two years ago, essentially all the governments of the world agreed that they wanted a sustainable, low carbon future. These ideas were encapsulated in two landmark […]
By Jennifer Holmgren, CEO, LanzaTech As our planet approaches a 1.5C temperature raise, decarbonizing our economy has become a central topic of discussion from governments to board rooms to the popular press. To successfully decarbonize, we must change the way we use carbon and focus on preserving every bit of our carbon budget for essential uses. […]
By Lorenz Bauer, Ph.D., Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. Special to The Digest After many years of development biomass pyrolysis is finally maturing as a commercial technology. Pyrolysis is not incineration. The goal is to use heat in the absence of oxygen to convert the biomass to a more useful form while preserving as much of […]
By Mark Warner, PE, Warner Advisors LLC Special to The Digest Advanced biotechnology has historically focused on fermentation as the key technology for development, with synthetic biology and proprietary organisms the key intellectual property. As any biotechnology moves toward commercialization, recovery and purification of the product requires a change of focus, which is often more costly […]
By Sam A. Rushing, Special to The Digest At this time, it could be a great opportunity for the right source to take a look at the possibilities of making money with CO2 production and distribution on their own; or even reevaluate the current production / supply arrangement with a current gas company supplier, before […]
By Douglas L. Faulkner, “The Cleantech Conservative” Special to The Digest Mr. Trump won the Presidency by promising to get government out of the way of rejuvenating American manufacturing, energy production and agriculture. He is now repaying those constituencies by asking them to do just that – – help him help them. But, after eight […]
By Brent Erickson, Executive VP, Biotechnology Innovation Organization Special to The Digest Members of the U.S. Senate are questioning whether Carl Icahn’s lobbying to change the Renewable Fuel Standard creates an ethics conflict with his role as advisor in the Trump administration. In addition to the ethics question, Members of Congress and some in the […]
By Gregory T. Benz Special to The Digest In a previous article (ref 1), it was stated that both pitched blade turbines and hydrofoils could be successfully used to agitate high-solids lignocellulosic materials, but that the hydrofoil could do the job with less power and torque. This article expands on that comment. A little history […]
By Daniel A. Lane and Joel A. Stone, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest The US commercial petroleum industry started with the drilling by retired railroad conductor Edwin Drake of a well near Titusville, PA in 1859. Drake’s well sparked an oil boom and over the next couple of years, and US petroleum production […]
