They Said it, They Showed It: Heard on the Floor at ABLC Next 2023

They Said it at ABLC

Henrik Pedersen, Topsoe: “Make every carbon molecule count.”
Vicki Thompson, Idaho National Lab, “You can’t just put a corn stalk in your fuel tank.”
Christian Librera, UPM: “The US is about incentive and innovation; Europe has become a place of penalty and regulation.”
Brain Foody, Iogen, “Scale up is where everything goes wrong, but you have to make everything go exactly right.”

They Showed itat ABLC

Brentan Alexander, Synonym – the rise of biomanufacturing

Jim Andersen, LanzaJet – the emergence of ATJ sustainable aviation fuel, at scale

John Bissell, Origin Materials – the emergence of carbon-negative materials

Gillian Harrison, Whitefox – the emergence of new economic powerhouses

Ravindra Utgikar, Praj – the emergence of the Global Biofuels Alliance

Most Intriguing New Product

Lambskin without the Lamb. Gozen Bioworks is a biomaterials company that has created the world’s strongest and softest bio-based animal-free leather to date. Their latest product (Xylozen) is twice as strong as animal leather, impossibly thin, and soft enough to replace lambskin in luxury tiers.

Best New Partnership

Ensyn, Linde, LanzaTech — Ensyn makes a pump-able liquid for gasification from residues, Linde technology converts to syngas, LanzaTech converts syngas into fuels and chemicals.

Most Promising New Product

It’s Early days for a Los Alamos National Lab-developed bio-based polycyclic alkane molecules — yet, the results to date, including a a sustainable fuel with a 12% higher energy content than Jet-A, which fuels modern commercial airliners, is a game-changer if it proves stable enough, and scalable.

Best Take-Down: Gevo’s Beat Down of Direct Air Capture

Gevo CEO Pat Gruber offered a devastating critique of the shortfalls of Direct Air Capture technology while, at the same time

Passages

ABLC delegates were shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of the popular Mark Richters, who headed the commercial team at BTG Bioliquids. Our hearts go out to the Richters family and everyone at BTG.

Meanwhile, ABLC Next was buzzing as numerous reports surfaced that Fulcrum BioEnergy had — depending on the source, a) ceased operations, or b) defaulted on their debt. It’s a sad day for the bioeconomy — Fulcrum is a company many have looked to for many years as a leader in converting municipal solid waste to low carbon fuels.