In Illinois, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign’s Crops in silico (Cis) project has received a $5 million grant from the Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research (FFAR) to continue building a computational platform that integrates multiple models to study a whole plant virtually. Developing crops using traditional methods is research, labor and cost intensive. However, Cisallows researchers […]
In Finland, a researcher at the University of Finland has taken a first step towards creating a precise measuring device for radioactive methane. The new method is an optical one based on spectroscopy. Previously, radioactive methane has been measured with accelerator mass spectrometry, involving expensive and huge machines. Optical measuring could be a cheaper and […]
In Washington, Reuters reports that Brazil and the US haven’t made progress on negotiations regarding a renewal of the ethanol quota for US exports to Brazil that expires in a few months due to Washington’s lack of interest in negotiating further sugar market access in exchange. The Brazilian agriculture minister told Reuters in an interview […]
The pace of bioeconomy invention and change continues at a frenetic pace. Here are the top innovations for the week of March 21st In today’s Digest, plant and algae-based tuna, lignin plastic alternative, rice husks in architecture, seaweed T-shirt and lube, jute and kenaf composites — these and more, ready for you now at The […]
Industrial Microbes upgrades methane to various multi-carbon chemicals using synthetic biology. Noah Helman, CSO and Co-Founder of iMicrobes gave this illuminating overview of methane as a feedstock, the breakthrough in active MMO in E.coli that has allowed easier methane to methanol conversion, and more at ABLC Global 2018 in San Francisco
In Romania, Clariant is providing farmers in Oltenia with the opportunity to transform straw into an additional source of income. As part of the first official workshop organized by the company for farmers in the Oltenia region, the attendants had the opportunity to learn more about the sunliquid® plant being built by Clariant in Podari […]
In Germany, Evonik has launched a new fast and easy-to-use analytical service to test distiller’s dried grains with solubles (DDGS). Up to now, the industry has lacked reliable tests to judge the quality of corn DDGS during the process of raw material reception. Evonik’s new AMINORED 2.0 has been developed to close that gap and […]
In Nigeria, local press reports that the planned ethanol production facility in Ondo state is expected to come online soon, though a date for commissioning wasn’t reported. The article said the project came about following the governor’s trip to China last year, insinuating that the technology for the project could be Chinese. The plant is […]
In Brazil, Reuters reports that the question about the sugar-ethanol mix for the country’s sugar cane crush that kicks off on April 1 is the big question at the moment which will have direct impacts on ethanol prices, ethanol imports and sugar prices both locally and nationally. Some mills have already started crushing early ahead […]
In the UK, ICIS reports that the European glycerin market is unsure what impacts on the supply of non-GMO glycerin may result from the European Union’s agreement with Argentine to allow price and volume-capped biodiesel imports. With imports returning to the market, European production of biodiesel could drop and impact the availability of glycerin produced […]
