By Alexander A. Koukoulas, Ph.D., ANL Consultants LLC Special to The Digest Over the last 10 years, the United States has made enormous investments in the pursuit of “Second Generation” or 2nd Gen biofuels. During this time, ethanol derived from corn and sugar cane or 1st Gen fuels saw considerable commercial success becoming well-established in terms […]
By Dr. Bernard Cooker, Chemical Processing Solutions Special to The Digest This is a review of the biomass-fed chemical process projects to renewable chemicals which were published in Chemical Engineering Progress (CEP) and Chemical and Engineering News (C&EN) from 1/1/16 to 10/31/16, including activity in bioplastics, biopolymers and biochemicals. It is based on a spreadsheet […]
By Douglas L. Faulkner, “The Cleantech Conservative” The November elections ushered in a different type of divided government than conventional wisdom expected. Yes, the GOP is in control of the White House, the House of Representatives and the Senate. But, who’s in control of the Republicans and will they – – can they – – […]
By Dennis Zeedyk, Glycerin Traders, Lee Enterprises Consulting Special to The Digest Anyone who has produced biodiesel knows that glycerin can set up like wax if the process is over-catalyzed and/or animal fats are used as feedstocks. More than one of us has shoveled our share of “hard” glycerin. As a result, many biodiesel producers […]
By Mark Warner, PE, Founder, Warner Advisors LLC Special to The Digest The most common question I receive from companies working to scale-up advanced biotechnology is whether their process can operate at commercial scale. My common response is that it is not a question of whether it will work at commercial scale, but whether will work […]
By Corinne Young and Michele Jalbert, re:chem Alliance Special to The Digest It will be some time before the new world order in Washington DC is fully defined. In the wake of his stunning victory, every media outlet and political pundit is parsing clues from President-elect Trump’s meetings, announcements, videos and tweets. For large, entrenched […]
By Brent Erickson, executive vice president, Biotechnology Innovation Organization Special to The Digest Donald Trump’s election victory has Washington insiders closely watching the incoming administration’s cabinet selections and personnel appointments for clues to the direction that federal policy will take. And there will be more tea-leaf reading down the road as Democrats and Republicans in […]
In the autumn of 1621, after an alliance with a friendly native tribe led a bountiful harvest, following a terrible winter of ignorance and sickness and death — a group of surviving colonists known ultimately as the Pilgrims held with and for their tribal friends a feast which is recorded as the first Thanksgiving. Across the […]
By Lorenz Bauer, Ph. D., Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. Special to The Digest Currently over 866 million tons per year of CO2, or 2.4% of the world’s total, come from maritime sources. A report to the European Parliament predicts that maritime emission will account for up to 17% of total global greenhouse gas produced by […]
By Antoine C. Schellinger, Special to The Digest On October 3, 2016, the EPA issued a Notice of Public Rulemaking (NPRM). Once published in the Federal Register, a 60 day comment period is triggered on the set of proposed rule changes to the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS2). While the EPA proposed a wealth of rule changes, […]
