In Washington, Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) sent a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting clarification on its temporary policy for the manufacture of alcohol-based hand sanitizer products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The FDA released temporary guidance on March 27, 2020 regarding ethanol used for hand sanitizer production during […]
DigestConnect hosted a wildly popular webinar in late April with Clariant’s Head of Business Line, Biofuels & Derivatives at Clariant but there were so many fantastic audience questions we didn’t to, that we decided to follow up and put together The Digest’s Q&A with Clariant on the latest and greatest about cellulosic ethanol. In today’s […]
Suspended. Reminiscint of the ‘bad kid’ at school who was always getting in trouble, we are hearing the word ‘suspended’ over and over again in 2020. Calyxt isn’t any different. In their Q1 2020 investor call, they shared the latest financials and ‘suspended’ 2020 predictions. Check out this slide guide including commentary from their CEO, Jim Blome, […]
In Belgium, the Bio-based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU) has signed grant agreements with the projects selected for funding under the 2019 Call for proposals. The 22 new projects will receive financial support worth €106 million and bring the total of BBI JU grants to 123. A total of 218 beneficiaries from 27 EU Member […]
In California, Biofriendly Corporation and Dislub Equador Group announced the launch of DuraMais® brand gasoline and biodiesel, which utilizes Biofriendly’s Green Plus® energy transition fuel technology. “The emergence of DuraMais Gasoline in more than 400 Dislub Equador Group gas stations is an expression of the company’s ever-changing way, always for the better, said Director of […]
In Egypt, Egypt Today reports the Ministry of Petroleum, Mining, and Mineral Resources has undertaken a feasibility study for a proposed $110 million ethanol plant. The facility would use molasses as feedstock and discussions are currently underway with sugar producers to create MOUs for feedstock supply. Egypt is one of the few countries in the […]
In New Zealand, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) has awarded funding to Bragato Research Institute for a pilot study that explores transforming grape marc – the skins and seeds remaining after pressing – into hand sanitizer. The hand sanitizer from the study will be donated to Marlborough health workers and first responders. […]
In Canada, the shortage of medical grade masks worldwide has hobbled health care professionals responding to the novel coronavirus — highlighting the need for improving supply lines and manufacturing more masks locally. Researchers in the BioProducts Institute at the University of British Columbia have stepped up to the challenge, designing what could be the very […]
In Brazil, Platts reports that hydrous ethanol prices are recovering from the previous COVID-19 induced slump that coincided with the start of the sugarcane crush, rising 13% from the recent low on April 24. International prices for oil products have almost doubled in the past four weeks, so the increase in hydrous prices pales in […]
In Ohio, in the framework of Bio4Products, scientists at Hexion, a global leader for phenolic specialty resins, have succeeded in partially replacing fossil phenol with bio-based lignin in resins. Two applications seem very promising: insulating foams and molding compounds. Tests of the mechanical properties should ensure that the bio molding compound has the same performance […]
