In Zimbabwe, the local Financial Gazette newspaper reports that even though weather challenges prohibited the production and therefore blending of ethanol in 2017 as planned, the country still cut its fossil fuel import bill by about 2.65% at $26.5 million. The country imports more than $1 billion of fossil fuels annually. Green Field’s ethanol production […]
In Hong Kong, ASB Biodiesel was fined $15,000 for discharging wastewater last June into the community sewer that hadn’t been treated sufficiently to allow for disposal, the third time it has happened in three years. When local officials tested the wastewater discharged, all of the major water quality indicators including FOG, BOD, COD and others […]
In Brazil, Platts reports that hydrous ethanol prices continue to soar on lack of availability during the inter-harvest season, bringing the premium above raw sugar up along with it. The premium reached the highest seen in four years when Platts began tracking the premium. Last week saw the premium reach 4.5 cents per pound of […]
In Germany, Evonik and Siemens are planning to use electricity from renewable sources and bacteria to convert carbon dioxide (CO2) into specialty chemicals. The two companies are working on electrolysis and fermentation processes in a joint research project called Rheticus. The project was launched Jan. 18 and is due to run for two years. The […]
In California, Stanford scientists have found a new type of cellulose in bacteria with properties that could make it an improvement over traditional cellulose for fuels and other materials, or for better understanding and treating bacterial infections. They describe this modified cellulose, called pEtN, and its possible applications in the Jan. 18 issue of Science. […]
In India, the transportation minister has called on the automotive industry to pick up the pace in introducing biofuel-powered vehicles in an effort to support the underlying drive for reducing fossil fuel imports and replacing them with biofuels. He said that there is no timeline for the introduction of biofuel vehicles because sooner or later […]
By Alec A.K. Nielsen Originally published at asimov.io, republished with permission If you’re reading this, you’re probably biological. As you sit quietly, trillions of cells in your body are performing a frenetic dance of biochemical computation that makes your existence possible. Consider this: You were once a single cell – a fertilized egg. This single cell […]
Think of it. There’s the brain — with its trillion synapses, sensing, diagnosing, prescribing, responding, targeting. What if a human cell could be programmed to detect a disease, manufacture a drug and deliver it? As in no doctor, no skyrocketing drug cost, no delay, no hassle, no kidding. It would revolutionize medicine. But also, agriculture […]
Asimov has spun out of MIT aimed at detecting and responding to customer needs in applying biocircuit design to real-world opportunities. “It is literally a programming language for bacteria,” says Christopher Voigt, an MIT professor of biological engineering. “You use a text-based language, just like you’re programming a computer. Then you take that text and […]
Glucan Biorenewables is producing furan derivatives from biomass. The furfural platform will be used to launch other value-added co-products: 5-hydroxyl-methyl furfural (HMF) and downstream derivatives The company’s TriVersa Process meets the need for a renewable, environmentally friendly process to deconstruct aggregated agricultural residues created from existing 1st generation industries, into high-end chemicals and advanced materials. […]
