In Spain, the Institute for Advanced Architecture of Catalonia has 3D printed a structure using natural materials including dirt, aloe, egg whites, and enzymes. Dubbed TOVA, the prototype structure is zero-waste and only sources materials from within a 50-meter radius. “3D printing or additive manufacturing is a great example of km zero construction, as the […]
The Energy Independence and Security Act is sixteen years old this year, going on seventeen, and when I think the industry that has sprung up to deliver the advanced fuels contemplated by the Bush Administration, I think of the old lyric from The Sound of Music: You are sixteen going on seventeen Baby, it’s time […]
In the United Kingdom, Eco Green Living is selling compostable diapers made from bamboo. Developed in partnership with Eco Boom, the company hopes the nappies help address the almost 3 billion disposable diapers that are thrown out in the UK annually. Conventional plastic diapers can take up to 500 years to break down, releasing greenhouse […]
Maybe it’s because Thanksgiving is right around the corner, but this week’s innovations are heavy on food with a protein innovation contest crowning MycoTechnology for their mushroom-based protein production, a whopping $7 million raised for a 3D-printed cultured meat startup to commercialize its meat bioprinter, a “metabolized restaurant” concept with food produced using bacteria through […]
In New York, startup Thousand Fell has stepped into the eco-friendly sneaker fray with a 100% recyclable shoe that boasts numerous renewable components, including aloe vera, coconut husks, sugarcane and palm leaf fibers. A biobased resin for corn waste is used as coating, and the foam cushion is made from castor bean oil. Other materials […]
If you’ve not heard, NuGenTec is looking for Distillers to help supply Ethanol for Hand Sanitizers in California! We have two automated bottling lines waiting for ethanol to produce 8oz and 16oz gel type hand sanitizers, they write. You can learn more here. And as we reported this morning, Aemetis is one of those companies […]
In Abu Dhabi, food and beverage company Agthia Group PJSC is set to launch the Middle East’s first plant-based water bottle made from corn sugar with caps made from sugarcane, and can biodegrade within 80 days. And lots of new biobased packaging solutions are coming out of the Sustainable Packaging Coalition’s Protective Packaging Design Challenge […]
The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of January 16th. In today’s Digest, Porsche hemp race car, cigarette butt bricks, biobased boo-boo bandages, flax phone cases, bursting balloon bubbles — these and more, ready for you now at The Digest online. #1 […]
by Antoine Schellinger Special to The Digest In what has now become the final RFS2 issued policy under Scott Pruitt, there is no change from the policy established in the proposed and final 2018 Renewable Volume Obligation (RVO). The use of cellulosic waiver authority still dominates the rationale. EPA still back calculating (“implied volume requirement”) […]
A reader asks a fundamental question worth investigating. The Digest looks at how it all shakes out, value-wise. A question from the Digesterati: “Since biomass is ~40% oxygen and the principle of green chemistry is atom conservation, how will we achieve $3/gge biofuel as drop-in hydrocarbon without using all of the oxygen? Yield from biomass to […]
