Category: Top Stories

Amyris’s sugarcane-based squalane improves CBD efficacy by 10-40x

Amyris’s sugarcane-based squalane improves CBD efficacy by 10-40x

March 8, 2020 |

No need to rub it in as hard when you use Amyris’s sugarcane squalane as a carrier oil for CBD compared to other carrier oils like jojoba oil, sunflower oil, MCT (medium-chain triglycerides), and hemp seed oil into human skin. With an increased efficacy of CBD by 10-40X, Amyris’s carrier oil helps get the good […]

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Finnair, Neste partner to reduce CO2 footprint of flying with sustainable aviation fuels

Finnair, Neste partner to reduce CO2 footprint of flying with sustainable aviation fuels

March 5, 2020 |

In Finland, Finnair and Neste inked a new agreement which will gradually and considerably increase Finnair’s use of sustainable aviation fuel in its operations. The new partnership will be a key contributing factor in Finnair’s long-term target of carbon neutrality. Sustainable aviation fuels are a key part of the long-term solution for reducing the CO2 […]

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Seaweed-lined to-go containers, Pepsi’s molded pulp 6-pack rings, Hydrogen-powered Arctic Station, “Infinite” toothbrush, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of March 5th

Seaweed-lined to-go containers, Pepsi’s molded pulp 6-pack rings, Hydrogen-powered Arctic Station, “Infinite” toothbrush, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of March 5th

March 5, 2020 |

Sit back and just imagine, hanging out at the new International Arctic Station that runs on solar, wind, and hydrogen power, sipping on a Pepsi 6-pack that came in molded pulp rings, eating lunch from a seaweed lined food container, wearing your cool Skechers kicks made with tire king Goodyear’s soybean oil-based rubber technology, then […]

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The Technology UnStack: Culture Bio’s $15M Series A confirms a shift in biotechnology R&D

The Technology UnStack: Culture Bio’s $15M Series A confirms a shift in biotechnology R&D

March 4, 2020 |

In California, Culture Biosciences, the South San Francisco biotech company making biomanufacturing a digital experience, announced today a Series A financing of $15M, led by Cultivian Sandbox Ventures with participation from The Production Board and existing investors Verily Life Sciences, Section 32, YCombinator, and E14 Fund. Dan Phillips, Managing Director at Cultivian Sandbox, and David […]

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MIND THE GAP: Letter from Europe

MIND THE GAP: Letter from Europe

March 3, 2020 |

If you have not followed the Alternative and Renewable Fuels Forum, bookmark this, and today I’ll give you some of the flavor of this group with 110 members — project owners and developers, policy experts, technologists, automotive manufacturers, oil companies, airlines. I think of them as the ARTFL Dodgers for their skill at navigating the […]

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Anellotech’s technology converts Lay’s potato chip bag into key chemical required for plastic bottles

Anellotech’s technology converts Lay’s potato chip bag into key chemical required for plastic bottles

March 1, 2020 |

Anellotech’s technology converts Lay’s potato chip bag into key chemical required for plastic bottles In New York, Anellotech just proved that you can transform even an empty potato chip bag into something valuable. Anellotech successfully converted a Lay’s Barbeque Potato Chip (PepsiCo) bag into para-xylene, the primary chemical used to make virgin PET for beverage […]

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The Competitive Edge: AmericaBio

The Competitive Edge: AmericaBio

February 27, 2020 |

Q: What was the reason for founding your organization – what was the open niche you saw that could be addressed with a new product or service? What was the problem, or gap, or opportunity? Our company develops technologies for the deconstruction of forest and also agricultural biomass for sugars that are used for production […]

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Beans grown with urine and Martian soil, new cosmetic ingredient produced by fermentation, plant-based superglue, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of February 27th

Beans grown with urine and Martian soil, new cosmetic ingredient produced by fermentation, plant-based superglue, and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of February 27th

February 26, 2020 |

What a weird week – yummy string beans fertilized with human urine in the form of struvite and cultivated using artificial Martian and lunar soil, making Marvin the Martian hungry for some beans. If that’s too gross for you though, how about superglue made from plant-derived cellulose nanocrystals and water? Or a new cosmetic active […]

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The Jenny Craig Problem and the Theory of Carbon Offsets

The Jenny Craig Problem and the Theory of Carbon Offsets

February 24, 2020 |

Decarbonization is all the rage again – you can almost set your watch by the response of corporates to climate protests. There’s been a rash of announcements that ‘we’re doing something’, and lately the trend has been to announce a plan to be net zero carbon by 2030, 2040, 2050, take your pick. Almost invariably, […]

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USDA targets 30% biofuels by 2050

USDA targets 30% biofuels by 2050

February 23, 2020 |

In Washington, D.C., U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue announced the Agriculture Innovation Agenda, specifically, focusing on stimulating innovation so that American agriculture can achieve the goal of increasing production by 40% while cutting the environmental footprint of U.S. agriculture in half by 2050. Part of this plan is to achieve market-driven blend rates of […]

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