In Illinois, a project looking to convert pig manure and food waste into biobased binding material for road construction and roofing shingles has won a prestigious pitch competition. Conceived by Yuanhui Zhang, a University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign professor and founder of the Environment-Enhancing Energy Laboratory, the project will receive $2.5 million from the USDA’s […]
In Illinois, Chicago-based ClearFlame Engine Technologies has raised $30 million in Series B funding to bring to market innovative solutions that power heavy-duty engines with clean, renewable fuels and create a viable business solution to reduce carbon and soot. The latest investments were led by Mercuria Energy Group, with Mercuria and Breakthrough Energy Ventures both […]
In Illinois, next time you drive past farms or prairies and ponds on a rural road, look around. They are a rich source of biomass. That includes corn, soybeans, sugar cane, switchgrass, algae and other plant matter. These carbon-rich materials can be converted to liquid fuels and chemicals with many possible applications. There is enough […]
In Illinois, in an effort to rally businesses and consumers, United launched the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund SM, a first-of-its-kind investment vehicle designed to support start-ups focused on decarbonizing air travel by accelerating the research, production and technologies associated with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The fund starts with more than $100 million in […]
In Illinois, Bloomberg reports that Baker & O’Brien Inc. has undertaken a study for the oil lobby that says Midwest drivers could see an increase of 12 cents per gallon at the pump by going to year-round E15 due to the infrastructure investments required for the higher blend, compared to the 2 cents per gallon […]
In Illinois, a common environmental bacterium, Comamonas testosteroni, could someday become nature’s plastic recycling center. While most bacteria prefer to eat sugars, C. testosteroni, instead, has a natural appetite for complex waste from plants and plastics. In a new Northwestern University-led study, researchers have, for the first time, deciphered the metabolic mechanisms that enable C. […]
In Illinois, LanzaTech Global, Inc., formerly known as AMCI Acquisition Corp. II (“AMCI”), announced the completion of its previously announced business combination between AMCI and LanzaTech NZ, Inc., an innovative carbon capture and transformation company that converts waste carbon into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging and other products that people use in their […]
In Illinois, United Airlines, Tallgrass, and Green Plains Inc. announced a new joint venture – Blue Blade Energy – to develop and then commercialize a novel Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) technology that uses ethanol as its feedstock. If the technology is successful, Blue Blade is expected to proceed with the construction of a pilot facility […]
In Illinois, the Quad City Times newspaper reports that Navigator CO2 Ventures filed a motion last week to withdraw its application with the Illinois Commerce Commission for a 250-mile portion of its proposed Heartland Greenway CO2 pipeline. The company isn’t withdrawing from the project altogether, it just plans to refile in February an additional lateral […]
In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have successfully demonstrated precision gene editing in miscanthus, a promising perennial crop for sustainable bioenergy production. Biologists edited the genomes of three miscanthus species using CRISPR/Cas9 — a far more targeted and efficient way to develop new varieties than prior methods. The results will accelerate […]
