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 Southwest Airlines’s path to SAF
SAF plays an important role in the Southwest Airlines environmental sustainability plan and path to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050. By 2030, the airline plans to replace 10% of total jet fuel consumption with SAF. Southwest Airlines’ Elvis Ebikade gave this presentation at ABLC 2024 to outline the Southwest vision and progress.
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 Latest World News
SkyNRG and AEG Fuels supply SAF to Bombardier Business Aircraft demo fleet
In the Netherlands, SkyNRG and AEG Fuels completed the delivery of sustainable aviation biofuels for the Bombardier Business Aircraft demonstration fleet flying from KLM Jet Center in Amsterdam, Netherlands to the European Business Aviation Convention and Exhibition (EBACE) in Geneva, Switzerland. This is the first delivery of biofuel completed by AEG Fuels. Bombardier’s demonstration fleet, […]
CMA CGM and Bpifrance launch $214.5M funding to decarbonize French maritime sector
In France, CMA CGM and Bpifrance announced the operational launch of the EUR200 million endowment fund for the French maritime sector financed via Pulse, the CMA CGM Energies Fund. – EUR 130 million in grants, managed by Bpifrance on behalf of the endowment fund, for the maritime sector to finance French companies wishing to accelerate […]
Minnesota Pollution Control Agency fines POET Biorefining-Glenville for five years of air permit violations
In Minnesota, according to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency (MPCA) enforcement investigation, POET Biorefining-Glenville LLC violated several air permit conditions between 2018 and 2023 at its ethanol production facility in Albert Lea, Minn. Violations included emitting more particulate matter and volatile organic compounds than allowed by permit over the course of five years. An MPCA […]
India to allow 670,000 tons of Heavy B-molasses be diverted to ethanol
In India, the Economic Times newspaper reports the Indian government will allow 670,000 metric tons of Heavy B-molasses to be diverted to ethanol production following a ban, lifting of the ban, and then putting the ban back in place on sugarcane-based feedstocks due to expected lower cane production this season. Mills have been holding on […]
Swedish consortium launches feasibility study to establish hydrogen and biofuels value chain
In Sweden, Boliden, Nevel, Skellefteå Kraft and Sveaskog have signed a letter of intent on a feasibility study to establish a value chain for hydrogen and biofuels in Västerbotten. In the extension, the goal is, among other things, to enable the phasing out of fossil fuel that is currently used in processes at the Rönnskär […]
R&D News
University of Kentucky researchers launch MSW to SAF project
In Kentucky, the University of Kentucky has launched a pioneering research initiative that seeks to turn everyday trash into high-quality sustainable aviation fuels (SAF). Titled “Surface Enhanced Smart Preprocessing of Municipal Solid Wastes for Year-Round Supply of Conversion-Ready Feedstocks,” the study aims to address excessive landfill waste. The project is a collaborative effort involving a […]
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 […]
Policy & Policymakers
Colaition calls for Farm to Fly to be included in upcoming Farm Bill
In Washington, amid the ongoing negotiations surrounding the Farm Bill, industry stakeholders representing nearly the entire supply chain for Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) – including seven major airlines – called on Agriculture Committee leaders in the House and Senate to boost the role of American farms in fueling low-carbon aviation. “SAF, which can be produced from renewable […]
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 […]
Other Recent Articles
Anew Climate and BrightSide Solutions combine into Anew Canada Low Carbon Fuels
In Canada, Anew Climate, LLC, and BrightSide Solutions, Inc jointly announced a transformative rebranding of BrightSide Solutions as Anew Canada Low Carbon Fuels, Inc. This strategic evolution follows Anew’s acquisition of BrightSide in mid-2022, marking a pivotal moment in the company’s trajectory. Since the acquisition, Anew Canada LCF has accelerated its leadership position in the […]
Peninsula launches dedicated sustainable fuel tranker for Western Mediterranean distribution
In Spain, Peninsula announced the introduction of the Aalborg, an IMO II chemical tanker dedicated to sustainable fuel distribution in the Western Mediterranean. The Aalborg is capable of supplying 100% biofuels (B100), in contrast to traditional fuel barges that cannot exceed 25% bio component. The vessel supplies FAME (Fatty Acid Methyl Esters) produced from vegetable […]
Hiringa launches hydrogen refueling network in New Zealand
In New Zealand, green hydrogen company Hiringa Energy, together with its investors and partners, has launched what it claims to be Australasia’s first zero-emission green hydrogen refueling network, Hiringa Refuelling New Zealand (HRNZ). The network has been established in partnership with New Zealand’s independent fuel supplier, Waitomo Group, and TR Group, Australasia’s largest heavy vehicle […]
Hanwha Ocean, Amogy and Hanwha Aerospace partner to develop ammonia-to-power technology
In South Korea, Hanwha Ocean, Amogy and Hanwha Aerospace announced a partnership aimed at accelerating the decarbonization of the maritime industry through the deployment of Amogy’s zero-emission ammonia-to-power technology for ammonia-powered vessels. Hanwha Ocean has signed a contract to purchase Amogy’s ammonia-to-electrical power system including Hanwha Aerospace’s hydrogen fuel cell system. The three companies will […]
Plug reaches nameplate capacity at its hydrogen plants in Georgia and Tennessee.
In New Jersey, Plug Power said it has reached nameplate capacity at the company’s hydrogen plants in Georgia and Tennessee. “With this increased supply from our hydrogen production network, Plug will benefit from a lower cost of hydrogen, a crucial step in the company’s roadmap to achieve profitable growth. This is headlined by the company’s […]
Indian Biogas Association partners with HAI to promote hydrogen
In India, The Economic Times reported that Indian Biogas Association (IBA) has partnered with Hydrogen Association of India (HAI) to promote bio-based energy solutions with a special emphasis on green and blue hydrogen. IBA Chairman Gaurav Kedia said: “IBA and HAI have signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) aimed at promoting the production of green […]
