Major Stories
Heard on the Floor at the Bio World Congress: The Top Storylines from Day 2
Industrial biotech’s biggest and grandest show, the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, continued today in Montreal and there was a Capital W in World today on the main stage. The opening plenary featured India’s Praj, Sweden’s SEKAB, Canada’s Air Canada, France’s Global Bioenergies, and more Queenslanders on and around the stage than you’ll see at […]
Top 10 Storylines: Heard on the Floor at the 2017 BIO World Congress
Industrial biotech’s biggest and grandest show, the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology, opened today in Montreal and BIO itself was in the newsframe with a striking report debunking myths around RIN price surges. 10 Hot Newstories from the World Congress Floor 1. Going commercial. Verdezyne has started construction of its first commercial, in Malaysia completion […]
Arzeda Pumps It Up with Big Series A Funding
In Washington, Arzeda raised $12 million in a Series A round of funding, moving it forward on scaling up of their advanced protein design technology that is used for production of a range of chemicals and materials. The funding came from OS Fund, Bioeconomy Capital, Sustainable Conversion Ventures, and WRF Capital and will help beef […]
IPO market re-opens, sort of, as Calyxt raises $56M in NASDAQ offering
In Minnesota, Calyxt, the gene editing agriculture company, raised $56M and priced its NASDAQ initial public offering of 7 million shares at $8.00. The number of shares in the offering was sweetened to 7 million this week, from the original estimate of 6.06 million — and the price was substantially lower than the expected $15.00-$18.00 […]
The Greenest Skies You’ve Ever Seen are in Seattle: Sea-Tac Airport leads on financing strategy for sustainable aviation fuels
In Washington state, Carbon War Room and SkyNRG have joined with the Port of Seattle to announce recommendations for long-term funding mechanisms that could supply all airlines at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) with sustainable aviation biofuels. The report, titled Innovative Funding for Sustainable Aviation Fuel at U.S. Airports: Explored at Seattle-Tacoma International, reveals the financial […]
8-Slide Guides
The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Camelina’s biofuels potential
Can camelina oil be a viable substitute as a biodiesel feedstocks, given that palm oil has received so much negative attention in Europe at least. In this deck, industry consultants Dr. Kapil Lokare and A. Chakrapani explore the options, the progress with camelina, the metrics and more.
Products, and open for contract manufacturing: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to REG Life Sciences
In January 2014, REG acquired LS9 for a purchase price of up to $61.5 million. Most of the old LS9 team, including the entire R&D leadership group, joined the newly named REG Life Sciences, LLC. The technology has been substantially developed under REG’s management, with several molecules ready for commercialization in the next 2-3 years […]
War on Recalcitrance: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-SLide Guide to the BioEnergy Science Center
The BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) is a multi-institutional (18 partners), Department of Energy-funded research organization performing basic and applied science dedicated to improving yields of biofuels by focusing on the fundamental understanding and elimination of biomass recalcitrance. This multidisciplinary research encompasses the biological, chemical, physical, and computational sciences, as well as mathematics and engineering. Brian […]
Scalable, reliable, sustainable: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to NexSteppe
NexSteppe is dedicated to pioneering the next generation of scalable, reliable, cost-effective feedstock solutions for the biofuels, biopower and biobased products industries. Using advanced breeding techniques and cutting-edge analytical technologies, NexSteppe is developing Malibu sweet sorghum, Metano Alto, Carbo Alto and Palo Alto high biomass sorghum to produce feedstocks tailored for these biobased industries. Recently, […]
Ready for take-off: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Honeywell’s UOP and aviation biofuels
Honeywell’s UOP has developed a renewable jet fuel processing technology, a renewable diesel process, as well as a joint venture, Envergent Technologies, that will market technologies and equipment for generating power, transportation fuel and heating oil from biomass using pyrolysis. UOP also owns a Renewable Energy & Chemicals business that produced green diesel using its Ecofining […]
The Latest World News
Brazilian ethanol production falls slightly on year during H1 July
In Brazil, UNICA says that the ethanol-sugar mix during the first half of July was just below 50% with 49.62% of cane going towards ethanol production, down from 52.34% during the same period last year. Ethanol production fell in line with the lower usage rate to 1.88 billion liters, down 1.93% on the year. Overall […]
IGPC celebrates company’s expansion doubling ethanol production by 2018
In Canada, IGPC Ethanol Inc. hosted on Monday the Hon. Glenn Thibeault, Ontario’s minister of energy for a celebration recognizing the company’s C$120-million investment to double ethanol production capacity at its facility in Aylmer, Ont. As a result of the expansion, by 2018 IGPC will produce at least 400 million liters of ethanol per year, […]
North Queensland community looking to develop biofuels industry with 20,000 acres to start
In Australia, the community of Cloncurry in northern Queensland is working with the local development agency to determine the feasibility for supporting a local biofuels industry, one that the mayor says could encompass at least 20,000 acres in the next few years. Thanks to the possibility of new dam on the Cloncurry River, biofuel crops […]
Agrisoma and UPM sign long-term supply agreement to grow Carinata in South America
In Canada, Canadian-based Agrisoma Biosciences Inc., and biorefinery giant UPM from Helsinki, Finland, signed a long-term supply agreement that will expand the world’s only oilseed crop, developed to produce renewable fuels in South America. Under the deal, the two companies will grow Carinata oilseed crops with third-party farmers in Uruguay and Brazil. Carinata is the […]
Praj and Gevo team to adapt isobutanol technology for cellulosic feedstocks
In Canada, at the BIO World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology taking place in Montreal, Canada, Praj Industries Ltd and Gevo, Inc. unveiled a new commercial opportunity in renewable bioproducts, jointly announcing that Gevo’s proprietary isobutanol technology will now be available for licensing to processors of sugar cane juice and molasses. This follows on the back […]
R&D News
ORNL researchers discover new class of porous membranes boosting biofuel production efficiencies
In Tennessee, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory set out to determine what could increase production speeds and improve the quality of biofuels and bioproducts. What they discovered is a new class of porous membranes—a high performance architecture surface-selective (HIPAS) membrane technology. Supported by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office, this new class […]
WSU researchers develop better, faster way to grow algae
In Washington state, Washington State University researchers have developed a way to grow algae more efficiently — in days instead of weeks — and make the algae more viable for several industries, including biofuels. Their work was reported in the journal Algal Research. The researchers developed a unique biofilm reactor that recycles gasses and uses less […]
Sugarlogix researchers go from fuel to food
In California, two cofounders of Sugarlogix went from engineering yeast for cellulose based fuel production and refining biofuel fermentation processes to cultivating prebiotic sugars that could be good for your gut. Their goal is to develop prebiotic sugars that feed the good probiotics in your gut, especially for people who have taken antibiotics or infants […]
Gen3Bio commercializing algae-to-biochemicals technology
In Indiana, Gen3Bio Inc., a Purdue Foundry-affiliated company, is developing a unique process that could more effectively and affordably transform microalgae into bio-based chemicals to maximize the value of biofeedstock and reduce landfill waste. The company is scaling up and commercializing an effective, efficient and low-cost algae extraction method to lyse open the algae cells […]
MIT researchers better understand how plants protect themselves from too much energy production
In Massachusetts, photosynthesis, which allows energy from the sun to be converted into life-sustaining sugars, can also be hazardous to green plants. If they absorb too much sunlight, the extra energy destroys their tissue. To combat this, green plants have developed a defense mechanism known as photoprotection, which allows them to dissipate the extra energy. […]
Policy & Policymakers
European Commission may announce biodiesel anti-dumping tariff reductions Thursday
In Belgium, the European Commission could announce a reduction in anti-dumping duties on Argentine and Indonesia biodiesel on Thursday, a move which should make biodiesel more competitive than ethanol thanks to an increase in imports in the near future. The European Biodiesel Board is begging the European Commission to wait until at least September to […]
Young Nebraskan launches gubernatorial campaign on ag, hemp and biofuel platform
In Nebraska, the governor has competition for the Republican primary election next year in a young woman who is putting the focus on strengthening agriculture with a platform that heavily supports hemp production for biofuels, aiming to making the state the national leader in hemp-based biofuel manufacturing. She wants to bring young people into farming […]
No vote on E15 bill this week, ethanol industry disappointed
In Washington, DC, the U.S. Senate Environment and Public Works Committee won’t be voting this week on the Consumer & Fuel Retailer Choice Act after all, leading many in the ethanol industry, like Growth Energy and Biotechnology Innovation Organization, to be disappointed. The Act would allow higher 15% ethanol concentrations in gasoline year-round, instead of […]
Year-round E15 bill may get Senate committee vote on Wednesday
In Washington, a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee vote on the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act that seeks to allow sales of E15 year-round could be held as soon as Wednesday. The fight over the bill has brought together pro-ethanol states and industries on one side against those who say the law would […]
EU to cut anti-dumping duties on Argentine and Indonesia biodiesel by almost half
In Belgium, following rulings by the World Trade Organization, the European Commission will lower anti-dumping tariffs against Argentine biodiesel imports by up to 10.6% and up to 6.9% for imports from Indonesia, roughly half of the levels that had been in place in 2013. Argentine companies who cooperated with the EU’s investigation could see their […]
Other Recent Articles
North Dakota Soybean Processors have until March to raise $60 million in equity
In North Dakota, North Dakota Soybean Processors is giving itself until March to raise the $60 million in equity needed for the planned $287 million soybean crushing project but until then is roadshowing to local investors who would need to put in a minimum of $40,000. Share prices will go up September 1 to a […]
The Time has come for RFS Reform
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, […]
India gets new fuels testing lab to prepare for BS-VI standards in 2020
In India, the petroleum minister has inaugurated Indian Oil Company’s new R&D facility designed to test diesel, ethanol-blended petrol, biodiesel, CNG, LNG, hydrogen-CNG, and second generation ethanol to ensure compliance with the new BS-VI fuel standards set for implementation in 2020. Currently fuel standards are BS-IV, meaning the jump to BS-VI should have a significant […]
Malaysia wants Philippines to boost biodiesel consumption with imports
In Malaysia, the country is trying to encourage the Philippines to boost its biodiesel blend to 5% from the current 2% and supplement consumption with sustainable palm oil-based biodiesel imports. Currently the Philippines uses only domestically-produced coconut-based biodiesel at around 323,000 metric tons per year. Malaysia is targeting a 50% increase in palm oil exports […]
Illinois E10 to get more expensive after lawmakers agree to drop ethanol tax exemption
In Illinois, lawmakers removed the 20% ethanol tax exemption in the budget it approved earlier this month, a move that could see E10 blends jump between 7 and 10 cents per gallon at the pump. The tax exemption was up for renewal in 2018. The state’s petroleum marketers association says its members could stop selling […]
UNICA teams with Brazilian auto manufacturers to boost ethanol use in vehicles
In Brazil, UNICA recently signed an MOU with the local auto manufacturers association Anfavea to work together towards reducing emissions in vehicles and improving energy efficiency. Use of ethanol in vehicles will be high on the common agenda, a move which coincides with the RenovaBio program the government will push through later this year to […]
