Author Archive: Jim Lane

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Natural oil metathesis: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Elevance Renewable Sciences

Natural oil metathesis: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Elevance Renewable Sciences

November 30, 2017 |

Elevance Renewable Sciences is a world leader in natural oil metathesis, with a commercial-scale biorefinery in Gresik, Indonesia and a group of collaborators including Stepan, P&G, Wilmar, Materia and Clariant. In 2015, the company introduced Elevance Clean 1200, what it describes as “a superior-performing degreasing and VOC-exempt solvent that outperforms traditional and bio-based solvents for […]

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SCOTUS watch: can tribunals replace juries in nixing patents?

SCOTUS watch: can tribunals replace juries in nixing patents?

November 29, 2017 |

By Lisa V. Mueller, Partner, Industry Group Chair, Life Sciences, Michael, Best & Friedrich Special to The Digest On November 27, 2017, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in Oil States Energy Services LLC. v. Greene’s Energy Group. It’s no “ho-hum” case. If you or your company has any issued patents or is worried […]

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CRISPR’s impact on diesel is now

CRISPR’s impact on diesel is now

November 29, 2017 |

CRISPR technology will ultimately impact what we eat, wear, and how we maintain our health — and it just crashed successfully into the big party known as the Advanced Transportation revolution. Specifically, a new path to producing fuel molecules that replace diesel. For some time we have seen tremendous activity around the development of CRISPR […]

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Now deploying at commercial scale: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Clariant’s sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology

Now deploying at commercial scale: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Clariant’s sunliquid cellulosic ethanol technology

November 29, 2017 |

Clariant’s sunliquid technology for the conversion of lignocellulosic biomass into sugars, followed by fermentation to cellulosic ethanol, is flexible to be used to convert different feedstocks on a regional basis, for example corn stover in North America, bagasse in South America or wheat straw in Europe and can be adapted to various plant concepts. The […]

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Provivi and the insect love story that never happens

Provivi and the insect love story that never happens

November 28, 2017 |

You known the basic pitch for dating sites from the relentless advertising of sites from eHarmony to FarmersOnly.com: that technology can make the world a better place by bringing couples together. But what about the opposite? Could a biotechnology succeed in reducing pests and the resultant damage to crops they bring — by making it […]

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From Conventional to Advantaged: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Aemetis

From Conventional to Advantaged: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Aemetis

November 28, 2017 |

Aemetis owns and operates 110 million gallons per year of ethanol and biodiesel facilities in the US and India, and is upgrading the plants using patented technology to produce lower carbon, higher value advanced biofuels and chemicals using lower cost, non-food energy sources and feedstocks. CEO Eric McAfee gave this illuminating overview of the company’s most […]

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10 bioeconomy bellwethers: earnings season reveals choppy waters in Q3 2017, bullish outlook for 2018

10 bioeconomy bellwethers: earnings season reveals choppy waters in Q3 2017, bullish outlook for 2018

November 27, 2017 |

The holiday season has arrived and earnings season too — and here are the highlights for 10 bellwether bioeconomy publicly-traded stocks. Aemetis – ethanol prices dive, but cellulosic on the way Avantium – IPO completed, Synvia next, then Zambezi BioAmber – “bumpy road continues”; cost focus, Sarnia expansion Calyxt – on track for soybean commercial […]

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Lead, Squabble or Waffle Away: Shuffling the Deck on Global Bioenergy

Lead, Squabble or Waffle Away: Shuffling the Deck on Global Bioenergy

November 27, 2017 |

By Gerard Ostheimer and Douglas L. Faulkner Special to The Digest While Washington squabbles and Brussels waffles on renewable fuels policy, the rest of the world is eager to grow an advanced bioeconomy to meet urgent needs for energy security, green growth and rural development. In the U.S., fighting between Big Ag and Big Oil […]

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From algae blooms to algae oil: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Manta Biofuel

From algae blooms to algae oil: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to Manta Biofuel

November 27, 2017 |

The promise is this: Manta could one day skim algae right off of the Chesapeake Bay and convert it into oil, simultaneously cleaning up deadly algae blooms and providing the precursor for clean, renewable fuels. Manta licensed its harvesting technology from the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science, where company co-founder Ryan Powell invented it […]

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Speed, baby, speed: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to DMC

Speed, baby, speed: The Digest’s 2017 Multi-Slide Guide to DMC

November 22, 2017 |

DMC’s technology enables reproducibility and robustness to scale; Production of a diversity of targets using a single bioprocess; HTS approaches that translate to full scale performance — and the company says, “50X improvement in speed and cost of product development.” The business model? Specialty chemicals, nutrition products, and pharmaceuticals, with a focus on partner agreements to quickly generate revenue […]

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