Category: Top Stories

Competitive Edge: Scipio Biofuels

Competitive Edge: Scipio Biofuels

August 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? Scipio Biofuels was founded to use the company’s innovative algaculture technology to do its part to alleviate the effects of […]

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Flax fiber seats for race car, shrimp shell and coffee ground leather, Checkerspot raises $36M and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of August 27th

Flax fiber seats for race car, shrimp shell and coffee ground leather, Checkerspot raises $36M and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of August 27th

August 26, 2020 |

The race for biobased innovations is on! But first, take a seat like Formula One racing major McLaren is doing – on lightweight flax fiber composite seats which provide the requisite strength and low weight for a race car while creating 75% less carbon dioxide to make. While your at it, put on a cool […]

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ESG Investing and the Bioeconomy: Part 1 – Impact and ESG Investing Through the Financier’s Eyes

ESG Investing and the Bioeconomy: Part 1 – Impact and ESG Investing Through the Financier’s Eyes

August 25, 2020 |

By Cynthia Thyfault, Global Biofuture Solutions, Founder and CEO and Gerard J. Ostheimer, PhD., Co-Founder and CSO Special to The Digest Due to a wide range of global challenges including climate change, environmental sustainability, social inequality, and the need for ethical corporate governance, ESG investing and reporting has become the “new normal” for investment firms, […]

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Till, Baby, Till – $13M DOE grant advances new high-value feedstock, pennycress

Till, Baby, Till – $13M DOE grant advances new high-value feedstock, pennycress

August 24, 2020 |

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a five-year, $13 million grant to a nationwide research project to genetically strengthen Thlaspi arvense, commonly known as pennycress, for use in sustainable energy efforts. CoverCress is an unfunded co-participant in this work, and you can see CoverCress CEO Jerry Steiner’s overview of that technology here. […]

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Captain Canola – Yield10 Biosciences one step closer to canola feedstock superhero

Captain Canola – Yield10 Biosciences one step closer to canola feedstock superhero

August 23, 2020 |

News just in from Yield10 Bioscience, Inc., a Massachusetts-based agricultural bioscience company, that they have obtained a positive response from USDA-APHIS’s Biotechnology Regulatory Services (BRS) for its CRISPR genome-edited trait C3007 in canola plant lines developed for increased oil content and now have plans for U.S. field tests in 2021. In today’s Digest, how does […]

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Gevo’s historic $900 million offtake deal with Trafigura Group

Gevo’s historic $900 million offtake deal with Trafigura Group

August 20, 2020 |

In Colorado, Gevo entered into a long term, take or pay Renewable Hydrocarbons Purchase and Sale Agreement with Trafigura Group, the largest contract in Gevo’s history. Trafigura is one of the world’s leading independent commodity trading companies with over $171B and over $54B in revenue and assets, respectively. Under this contract Trafigura is expected to […]

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Crabs curbing COVID, 3D printed biopolymers, fermentation-based production for cannabinoids and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of August 21st

Crabs curbing COVID, 3D printed biopolymers, fermentation-based production for cannabinoids and more: The Digest’s Top 8 Innovations for the week of August 21st

August 20, 2020 |

We’ve seen the disposable face masks tossed on the floor, but what if they were biodegradable and non-toxic? That’s what one Bangladeshi scientist is tackling with mask material developed from cellulose extracted from jute fiber and chitosan, a material found in shellfish shells. Speaking of marine life and the sea, there’s also a new 3-D […]

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Celebrating National Aviation Day and how Sustainable Aviation Fuel is tied to future sustainability, and success, of the enterprise

Celebrating National Aviation Day and how Sustainable Aviation Fuel is tied to future sustainability, and success, of the enterprise

August 19, 2020 |

By Steve Csonka, Executive Director of CAAFI, the Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative Special to The Digest Today is National Aviation Day in the U.S., a recognition instituted by FDR in 1939, honoring the birthday of Orville Wright, but also creating awareness of, and celebrating the progress and vision associated with, the aviation industry.  Today […]

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‘Oil Man’ Reflects on Biofuels

‘Oil Man’ Reflects on Biofuels

August 18, 2020 |

By Larry Sullivan, Lee Enterprises Consulting, Inc. Special to The Digest A few, not many, myself included, enjoyed a substantial career in oil and gas before joining the bioeconomy. Oil and gas feature much in the way of international travel, long hours in isolated locations, work on drilling rigs in dangerous countries, and some excellent […]

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Circular scale: T2C finds a path to feedstock-scaled renewable diesel from biogas

Circular scale: T2C finds a path to feedstock-scaled renewable diesel from biogas

August 17, 2020 |

A new technology has arrived in South Florida for the conversion of biogas to diesel fuels. If you thought of this as a biogas-to-paraffins technology, that would be fine, too. But it’s not strictly a methane-to-paraffins technology, because this technology from T2C also utilizes the CO2 stream found in biogas. The biggest problem, in terms […]

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