By Mark Warner, PE, Founder, Warner Advisors LLC Special to the Digest Accurate cost forecasting for first-of-a-kind biorefineries is both challenging and necessary to achieve commercial success. At its genesis is model development, which enables the brilliant concepts produced in the lab, and pairs them with reality of building commercial scale technology. Insights from both the benchtop […]
In Wisconsin, a study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center compared two processes for producing biofuels from corn stover: biological conversion to ethanol (BCE) and catalytic conversion to alkenes (CCA) and found that carbon efficiency isn’t the only factor for determining promising strategies for the production of […]
In Norway, the Norwegian government increased its grants towards renewable energy from NOK 570 million (about $69 million) in 2018 to more than NOK 1 billion ($121.6 million) in 2019. In addition, they are stepping up their support to Norfund’s (Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries) investments in renewable energy. This is in line with […]
In Washington, D.C., ethanol production averaged 1.011 million barrels per day (b/d)—or 42.46 million gallons daily, with weekly output contracting to 29,000 b/d for a 25-week low, according to government data released and analyzed by the Renewable Fuels Association. The four-week average for ethanol production sank to the lowest point in 23 weeks at 1.026 […]
In Virginia, the Outdoor Power Equipment Institute issued a statement in response to President Trump’s recent announcement of expanding the sale of E15 year-round advising consumers and professional users of outdoor power equipment to ‘Look Before You Pump,’ saying it can damage or destroy equipment that isn’t designed, built or warranted to run on E15 […]
In Brazil, the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES) approved R$50 million (approximately $13.5 million) financing for Companhia Agrícola Usina Jacarezinho to enable the company to improve its capacity and keep the approximately 1,800 employees throughout 2019. Usina Jacarezinho has an industrial unit with processing capacity of 2.6 million tons of sugarcane, located […]
In Australia, about 3,000 plants of blue agave, the base ingredient for tequila, are now growing not in Mexico, but in Far North Queensland as part of a biomass refinery project to provide a sugar mill with power year-round. MSF Sugar has another 45,000 plants in the nursery and is planning on having 50,000 plants […]
In North Carolina, GESS International announced plans for a $35 million biogas plant in Robeson County, which has been hard hit by Hurricane Florence. The plant is expected to eventually employ around three dozen people. Home to more than 7 million hogs, North Carolina is the second largest pork producing state in the country. Eastern […]
In the United Kingdom, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is preparing to finance 10 or 15 bioenergy projects in the Ukraine over the next year. The projects will have a combined value of about 80 million Euros, or nearly $100 million. The program will be financed by the Global Environment Facility and the […]
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 […]
