In North America, a coalition of biobased investors and capital market participants has announced it will deploy $1 billion in capital to support infrastructure and manufacturing within designated Bioeconomy Development Opportunity Zones. BDO zones are located in areas of the United States and Canada that have access to large amounts of surplus biomass and infrastructure […]
In Japan, Ink World reports that Germany-based BASF and Japan-based Idemitsu Kosan will close the 1,4-Butanediol (BDO) plant in Japan as of December 2020 and end their joint venture thereafter due to a declining BDO market size in Japan and “significant overcapacities in Asia due to recent investments into new coal-based BDO production sites.” BDO […]
Bioengineering…it doesn’t sound very magical but it is full of mystery and potential waiting to be unlocked, much like Harry Potter’s character. In the early books and movies, Harry is young, mysterious, smart, and you just know he is capable of something great and destined for amazing things. We feel the same about bioengineering and […]
In California, a US Navy research team at China Lake led by Ben Harvey reported that 2,3-Butanediol, which has received a significant amount of interest based on the ability to generate it at much higher titer than n-butanol owing tothe relatively low toxicity of 2,3-BD to the producing organism, “can be converted to butenes over bifunctional […]
In Austria, as part of the major British project, BDI – BioEnergy International AG has been commissioned with implementation of the next phase of construction. Within seven months of project starting on the BDI “High-FFA Esterification Unit”, Argent Energy Limited (Motherwell, Scotland, a subsidiary of John Swire and Sons Ltd.) commissioned the second phase. With […]
In California and Singapore, Royal DSM and Genomatica announced that DSM confirmed BDO made with Genomatica’s process had excellent purity and shows equivalent performance as fossil-based BDO. DSM plans to use BDO made with Genomatica’s bio-based process technology in its Arnitel products. Used as a raw material, BDO made from Genomatica’s process is able to […]
In Italy and California, Novamont and Genomatica have signed a definitive agreement establishing a JV for the first industrial plant in Europe producing butanediol. Under the agreement, Novamont is converting an existing facility in Adria, Italy to use Genomatica’s BDO process. Novamont is financing the plant conversion and will operate the plant, which is expected […]
In California, Genomatica announced that it has successfully produced Bio-BDO from its first demonstration-scale fermentation, on schedule. The fermentation was performed in a 13,000 liter tank in Decatur, Ill., at the facility of partner Tate & Lyle. This achievement comes just three months after the partnership agreement was announced. Continued success during the demonstration-scale stage […]
In California, Genomatica and Tate & Lyle signed a joint development agreement for the demonstration-scale production of Genomatica’s Bio-BDO (1,4-butanediol). BDO, an intermediate chemical with a $4 billion market worldwide, is used to make spandex, automotive plastics, running shoes, and insulation. Under the agreement, Tate & Lyle will dedicate a demonstration-scale production facility in Decatur, […]
