Algenol, GranBio, Cool Planet CEOs commit to ABLC 2014

Woods, Gradin, Janzen to address Winning Strategies for Reaching Scale and other topics at ABLC 2014.

In Florida, Biofuels Digest announced that Algenol CEO Paul Woods,GranBio CEO Bernardo Gradin and Cool Planet CEO Howard Janzen will present addresses on ABLC 2014’s opening morning — under the general theme of Hot Companies and Winning Strategies.

Algenol, GranBio, and Cool Planet were this past year voted the #25, #9, and #16 companies in the 50 Hottest Companies in Bioenergy, and all three CEOs rose to high positions in this year’s 100 Top People in the Bioeconomy.

Algenol has proceeded to demonstration scale with its low-cost, system for producing fuels and chemicals from modified algae — and recently revealed that it has reached 8,000 gallons per acre in continuous production at its South Florida demonstration farm.

GranBio expects mechanical completion at its first commercial cellulosic ethanol facility in Alagoas, Brazil — and has announced plans and financing for massive expansion of its technology in both Brazil and potentially the United States. The company last year took a 25% stake in American Process, which will provide industrial sugars for GranBio’s microorganisms to ferment.

Cool Planet is operating a small-scale demonstration of its technology and announced plans for a first commercial facility in Louisiana for its thermocatalytic technology that produces carbon-negative drop-in fuels and a biochar soil amendment.

“Those who have seen the CEOs in action,” commented Biofuels Digest editor Jim Lane. “have noted that they are all in the process of building quite strong management teams — seeing an emphasis in working with great people as well as technology as a key to success. In addition, they all have assembled the kind of financial backing that is the envy of the sector, making it infinitely easier for those teams to take their processes to scale.

“Taken as a group, they represent exciting new feedstocks like algae, transformative processing technologies, fascinating new end-products such as biochar. There’s fermentation, thermocatalytic — there are fuels, chemicals and biobased products in the mix. Not to mention a set of novel and compelling process designs.

“We’re lucky to have them all in one place, at one time, as we look at the latest global opportunities and trends, and start three days of real dialogue on the real issues.”

ABLC 2014 — a gathering of the leading advanced processing technologies, financiers, policymakers, media and suppliers — will be held April 21-23 in Washington DC. More than 100 CEOs are expected to be on the floor to network, build supply chains, and chart trends and opportunities for the upcoming year.

More about ABLC 2014 here.