Major Stories
Ground Stop: Time for Plan B on the SAF Grand Challenge?
The International Energy Agency held a materially significant workshop in Paris this week on accelerating the pace of sustainable biofuels development. There was much talk about sustainable aviation fuels, or rather the lack of them. Let’s start with the good news. There’s will and steadfastness of purpose from the SAF stakeholders. There’s available capital, technology, […]
Future Origins and the Biobased Chemicals Market Wigwag
News arrived earlier this year that Geno, Unilever, Kao, and L’Oréal have named their joint venture which aims to make alternatives to petroleum and palm for surfactant ingredients used in laundry detergent and cosmetics. They’ve chosen Future Origins as the moniker. Yes, there’s a Market Says here, “USDA forecasting palm oil consumption in 2023-24 to […]
The rise of Underdog people and their Underdog fuels: The small town and E85
News arrives from Washington state that Propel Fuels has E85 expansion underway and a new outlet has opened in the Yakima Valley town of Wapato. Also, the company announced a new regional office in White Salmon, along the north side of the Columbia River at the only vehicle between Portland and The Dalles. You might […]
Decarbonizing the Shipping Industry
By Wily Salim, LEC Partners Special to The Digest Approximately 71% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, which makes shipping a vital mode of transportation. The earliest known seafaring can be traced back to 6,000 BC, when ancient civilizations, such as the Egyptians, began using boats to transport goods and people across water bodies. […]
Get Funded! Avoid the Top 3 Mistakes in Raising Bioeconomy Capital
By Steve Weiss, co-founder of Grey Heron, and long-time member of the Due Diligence Wolfpack* Capital is the fuel for building your business – and you can get it, just like you keep achieving milestones and adding partners. But fundraising is often harder, longer and more uncertain than you’d like – and you don’t want […]
8-Slide Guides
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to NEXT Renewables
NEXT Renewable Fuels turns recycled organic materials, such as used cooking oil, into an advanced biofuel that works just like petroleum-based diesel, but with as much as 85 percent less greenhouse gas emissions. With development and technology partners, NEXT Renewable Fuels provides the renewable transportation fuels the future demands, and is developing projects on the […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Iogen
You may know Iogen as the cellulosic ethanol tech and biofuel company, but did you know they are now deploying low-carbon BECCS hydrogen? Check out this slide guide from ABLC 2024 in San Francisco from CEO Brian Foody on net zero fuels and BECCS, which ones they think have the most promise and why, and […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Gold Hydrogen
Recently, Cemvita launched the Gold Hydrogen program for subsurface biomanufacturing of Hydrogen, noting that “With thousands of depleted oil wells in the US and more around the world, Gold Hydrogen represents a unique opportunity to work with the oil and gas industry—not against it—to move away from our reliance on fossil fuels and toward a […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Wagner Sustainable Fuels
The Wagner Companies has actively been working toward implementing more green business practices since 2004, when they first participated in the Queensland Focus on Energy program. As a result, they have upgraded to more energy-efficient lighting; and hot-water boiler and air compressor systems. They also offer products and components that qualify for LEED credits. But […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to a Risk-Adjusted SAFc Carbon Credit Portfolio
OTC Direct created a services arm, Base Climate, that leverages proven project development innovation to simplify and de-risk investments in SAFc carbon credits. SAF project decarbonization value potential not matched by deployed pre-construction venture capital. Most projects are stalled. <250 SAF projects announced; >$2b deployed pre-construction; <50x investment needed to hit targets. At the same […]
The Latest World News
TotalEnergies and Vanguard Renewables launch US-based RNG JV
In France, TotalEnergies and Vanguard Renewables, a U.S. leader in farm-based organics-to-renewable natural gas production and a portfolio company of a fund managed by BlackRock’s Diversified Infrastructure business, have signed an agreement to create an equally owned joint venture to develop, build, and operate Farm Powered® renewable natural gas (RNG) projects in the United States. […]
Comstock finalizes $3M investment in RenFuel K2B
In Nevada, Comstock Inc. announced the execution of agreements with RenFuel K2B AB wherein Comstock is investing up to $3,000,000 over three years to support commercialization of joint development applications for RenFuel and Comstock complementary renewable fuel technologies, and the continued development of the 100,000 metric ton per year biorefinery joint venture project in Sweden. […]
Honeywell says hydrocracking technology can produce SAF
In North Carolina, Honeywell announced its hydrocracking technology can be used to produce sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biomass, helping to make sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) that is 90% less carbon intensive than traditional fossil-based jet fuels. The new technology produces 3-5% more SAF, enables a cost reduction of up to 20% and reduces by-product waste […]
Northstar Clean Technologies receives second tranche for FEED study funding
In Canada, Northstar Clean Technologies Inc. announced that, upon completion of detailed engineering design for its planned asphalt shingle reprocessing facility in Calgary, the company has received the second installment of C$100,000 in grant funding from Alberta Innovates, a provincial Crown corporation and Alberta’s largest research and innovation corporation. The company received approval in March […]
Ethanol production falls to 13-week low
In Washington, Brownfield Ag News reports ethanol production fell to its lowest level in 13 weeks on the back of seasonal maintenance, the third consecutive week in a row that production as fallen. Production reached just 954,000 barrels a day, levels not seen since mid-January, which has helped to tap into growing stocks that have […]
R&D News
DECHEMA report outlines opportunities for carbon dioxide for sustainable production routes
In Germany, the DECHEMA report ‘Carbon for Power-to-X – Suitable CO2 sources and integration in PtX value chains’ deals with possibilities to capture and utilize carbon dioxide for sustainable production routes. Carbon dioxide can serve as a carbon feed for numerous climate friendly commodities produced with Power-to-X technologies. The report elaborates on point sources and […]
Thai researchers scale up SAF production from yeast
In Thailand, researchers from Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Science are accelerating their technological development to scale up the production of aviation biofuel from yeast. This is an extension of the successful results of research that found a strain of yeast with a high potential for producing fat for use in aviation fuel. In addition to producing yeast […]
Fraunhofer researchers develop biobased synthetic rubber
In Germany, synthetic rubber is indispensable today, especially for car tires and technical rubber goods. Until now, the raw materials for its production have largely been obtained from fossil sources. Under the leadership of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research IAP, four Fraunhofer Institutes are now developing alternative, biobased raw material sources for synthetic […]
Nigerian researchers produce biofuels from egg’s shells
In Nigeria, Leadership reported that a professor of Chemical Engineering at the University of Ilorin, Elizabeth Odetoye, has produced biodiesel through the exploration of chicken egg’s shell derived heterogeneous catalyst. According to the report, Odetoye said that the research complements the efforts of the University of Ilorin towards developing homegrown technology that would enhance the […]
Argonne researchers introduce Decarbonization Scenario Analysis Model
In Illinois, while decarbonization pathways are complex, varied and specific to individual industries, clean-energy technologies and low- and zero-carbon fuels are integral to all carbon dioxide (CO2) mitigation strategies across the U.S. economy. And as scientists develop strategies, they are also creating tools to assess them. Now, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) […]
Policy & Policymakers
Italy’s Council of State rejects greenwashing claims for Eni’s Diesel+
In Italy, the Council of State has after 4 years rejected the accusation of the Competition and Market Guarantor Authority (AGCM) that claimed Eni had implemented an unfair commercial practice to the detriment of of consumers for the Eni Diesel+ fuel advertising campaign. The Council of State in fact fully accepted Eni’s appeal in the […]
USDA awards more than $43 million in grants through HBIIP
In Washington, in honor of Earth Day 2024, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced that the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is awarding more than $43 million in grants through HBIIP to business owners to increase the availability of domestic biofuels in 15 states and give Americans cleaner, more affordable fuel options. HBIIP provides […]
Alberta grants 12% tax credit to Imperial for renewable diesel facility
In Canada, Alberta’s government introduced the Agri-Processing Investment Tax Credit in spring 2023 to support economic growth and diversification. The tax credit is attracting large-scale investment in value-added manufacturing with Imperial’s C$720-million project to build the largest renewable diesel facility in Canada. When production begins in 2025, Imperial’s new facility will convert locally sourced biofeedstocks […]
Nigeria strikes deal with Shell to supply $3.8 billion methanol project
In Nigeria, Reuters reported that Nigeria has signed a deal for Shell to supply gas to its proposed $3.8 billion Brass methanol facility, resolving a major hurdle to a final investment decision on the project. Nigeria, which holds Africa’s largest natural gas reserves of more than 200 trillion cubic feet, has struggled to tap the […]
Representatives introduce bill to allow year-round E15 sales in 8 Midwestern states
In Washington, U.S. Representative Zach Nunn (IA-03) recently introduced bipartisan legislation to implement year-round E15 sales. The Year-Round E15 Act, which is co-led by U.S. Representatives Adrian Smith (NE-03), Nikki Budzinski (IL-13), Brad Finstad (MN-01), Eric Sorensen (IL-17), and Don Bacon (NE-02), would allow for sales of E15 in 2024 across eight Midwestern states. The bipartisan Year-Round E15 […]
Other Recent Articles
Solugen breaks ground on Bioforge facility
In Minnesota, Solugen broke ground on its new state-of-the-art biomanufacturing facility recently during a ceremony held in Marshall, Minn. The new facility is the result of a strategic partnership with ADM and aims to meet the increasing demand for sustainable solutions while bolstering domestic biomanufacturing capabilities. The 500,000-square-foot Bioforge™ Marshall is being constructed on a […]
CJ Biomaterials says PHA used in world’s first completely biodegradable plastic bottle cap
In Massachusetts, CJ Biomaterials, Inc, a division of South Korea-based CJ CheilJedang and a primary producer of polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) biopolymers, continues to expand the applications for its advanced PHA technology, announcing that their biopolymers are being used by California-based Beyond Plastic to develop the world’s first completely biodegradable plastic bottle cap. Derived from nature and […]
LanzaJet lands investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund
In Illinois, LanzaJet announced an investment from Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund. This investment from Microsoft enables LanzaJet to continue building its capability and capacity to deploy its sustainable fuels process technology globally. In addition, LanzaJet and Microsoft intend to explore how Microsoft can supply its data and artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to improve LanzaJet’s corporate […]
Indigo Ag and Red Trail Energy team up to source low carbon intensity corn
In Massachusetts, Indigo Ag and Red Trail Energy announced a collaboration to source low carbon intensity (CI) corn to support farmers using sustainable practices and benefit from emerging clean fuels market tax credit programs. Utilizing Indigo’s proven measurement, reporting and verification (MRV) and remote sensing capabilities, RTE will work with Indigo Ag to measure field level carbon […]
American Transportation Research Institute report shows benefits of renewable diesel in heavy vehicles
In Washington, American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) released a new report that analyzes the benefits of employing renewable diesel (RD) as an alternative to battery electric vehicle (BEV) trucks. This analysis is a follow-up to findings from past ATRI research on the topics of zero-emission vehicles and electric infrastructure challenges. In those past reports, ATRI […]
EPA approves blending up to 20% of Vertimass green gasoline
In California, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has approved registration for blending up to 20% of Vertimass green gasoline with conventional gasoline. This new renewable gasoline product, VertiGas20, is made from renewable ethanol by novel Vertimass Consolidated Alcohol Deoxygenation and Oligomerization (CADO) technology and can substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from existing cars […]
