Transform methane into low-cost plastics, chemicals, fuels? Yep, there’s an app for that too.

Is it bio?

Is a company bio-based if it uses organic molecules like methane or carbon dioxide instead of using a substrate like biomass (itself made from the same underlying molecules like CO2 and water)?

For many observers, the answer is a resounding “no”. For them, the “real” renewable companies are those who use biomass – wood, crops, crop residues, animal residue, even municipal solid waste. Even, better, those that use a biological process to unlock renewable sugars from biomass.

A ton of companies fit into the bio-bio category: POET-DSM, Abengoa, DuPont, Beta Renewables, GranBio, Gevo, Solazyme, Amyris, just to name a few.

But there are many companies, widely considered as “biofuels or biobased-product companies” that use inorganic processes to create fuel or chemicals from biomass. Enerkem, Cool Planet, KiOR are among them.

But to others, the dividing line is drawn based on the process, rather than the feedstock — a company that uses a biobased process is making a biobased product, even if it is not using biomass and the actual content is not a renewable. Calysta, LanzaTech, Joule, Coskata fit into this category. In some cases, the line here is blurred because companies that make products from methane via natural gas, could equally use biomethane from renewable resources.

“It’s economics: that’s what matters,” said Shaw. “Other companies generally form a syngas, carbon monoxide and hydrogen. It’s not economic to start with biomass. It is also not economic to start with a gas, and then reform it into syngas, and then reform it into a product, when you can skip over a step and use a methanotroph to make the product directly from natural gas.

“Here’s where bio fits,” Shaw said. “Biology allows you to do oxidation chemistry in a controlled manner that you can economically achieve through traditional processes. Here you get a controlled release at a rate you can work with more effectively.”

In today’s Digest, we explore the the deal as seen by the partners, feedstock diversification, the 5-year goal, what Alan Shaw learned from the Shell-Codexis relationship, and the bottom line — by following the page links below.