The question is being raised all over Silicon Valley — and increasingly around the world — if biotechnology is essentially a branch of information technology. 3D printing is one of those technologies that tests the boundaries between the digital and the physical worlds. Consider the images above you. On the upper left, an algorithm. On the […]
In the UK, chemists at the University of Bristol have made the first steps towards making sustainable petrol using beer as a key ingredient. Scientists from the University of Bristol’s School of Chemistry have been working for several years to develop technology that will convert widely-available ethanol into butanol. This has already been demonstrated in […]
In Japan, Sekisui Chemical and LanzaTech, have successfully demonstrated the production of ethanol from unsorted municipal solid waste — which can be used directly as a fuel or as a precursor to butadiene (a key raw material in the production of synthetic fibers and rubber), isopropanol, and isoprene — which themselves are used to make […]
Sekisui Chemicals, LanzaTech break-through in MSW-to-ethanol demonstration Today we return to the subject of landfill, or as we like to think of it, the Island of Misfit Feedstocks. We’ll continue the storyline with a welcome technology breakthrough, and begin with the observation that of all the things that people throw into a landfill, no one […]
In Washington, the US International Trade Commission voted 4-0 in favor of the National Biodiesel Board Fair Trade Coalition’s position that the industry has suffered because of unfairly subsidized imports of biodiesel from Argentina and Indonesia. This affirmative vote on injury, coupled with last month’s final countervailing duties determination by the Commerce Department, paves the way for […]
In Brazil, the ANP energy agency said October’s hydrous ethanol demand jumped 15% on the year to 1.37 billion liters, the highest since December 2015. Hydrous ethanol remains comfortably below the 70% parity mark at 68.5% in October thanks to the new ex-refinery pricing policy for gasoline established in July that as of the end […]
In the Philippines, a local entrepreneur has won several awards for the fuel additives he developed from used cooking oil that improves performance by rearranging the molecular structure of diesel, gasoline and motor oil. The product, called EFQ fuel and oil additive, is said to improve fuel combustion efficiency and reduce emissions. The inventor began […]
In California, Toyota Motor North America, Inc. will build the world’s first megawatt-scale carbonate fuel cell power generation plant with a hydrogen fueling station to support its operations at the Port of Long Beach. Announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show, the Tri-Gen facility will use bio-waste sourced from California agricultural waste to generate water, […]
In Florida, LanzaTech, Novozymes, Amyris, DSM, Enerkem, POET, BASF, Genomatica and Avantium have taken the lead in early voting in the 50 Hottest Companies in the Advanced Bioeconomy ballot. The Digest released the early-voting totals from Subscriber Voting — which do not yet include Invited International Selector votes. This week’s summary includes phioto and other bonus votes which […]
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s chief scientific in-house research agency. ARS conducts research to develop and transfer solutions to agricultural problems of high national priority and provide information access and dissemination to: Ensure high-quality, safe food, and other agricultural products; Assess the nutritional needs of Americans; Sustain a competitive agricultural economy; […]
