Category: Top Stories

Avantium secures $27.5M funding for FDCA flagship plant

Avantium secures $27.5M funding for FDCA flagship plant

November 30, 2019 |

In the Netherlands, Avantium secured a significant financial milestone of €25 million (about USD $27.5 million) in its mission to fund its FDCA flagship plant. Thanks to this grant, Avantium are well on the road to make plant-based FDCA (furandicarboxylic acid) and PEF (polyethylene furanoate) commercially available and represents an important financing milestone for Avantium. […]

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The Competitive Edge: Treemera GmbH

The Competitive Edge: Treemera GmbH

November 28, 2019 |

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? In 2011 we saw a need for an inexpensive process to manufacture furandicarboxylic acid (FDCA). The goal was to develop […]

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New PHA pathway, stroodles noodle straws, bamboo poutine, seaweed bioplastic, rice husk travel mugs and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of November 28th

New PHA pathway, stroodles noodle straws, bamboo poutine, seaweed bioplastic, rice husk travel mugs and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of November 28th

November 27, 2019 |

“I can’t cook a Thanksgiving dinner. All I can make is cold cereal and maybe toast.” — Charlie Brown It’s Thanksgiving in the U.S. today and many are gathering around the table, chatting about the latest news, like the new Air Protein – air-based food – and whether it will be served alongside…or instead of…the […]

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Verdict’s in for Vertimass: Yep, it’s commercially viable

Verdict’s in for Vertimass: Yep, it’s commercially viable

November 26, 2019 |

From California the jury’s come in for Vertimass. We received word of a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, which summarizes key attributes of Vertimass’ unique technology for the conversion of alcohols into hydrocarbons which are compatible for blending with jet, gasoline, and diesel fuels. […]

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The Values Chain: An inquiry into how we create and capture value when we innovate

The Values Chain: An inquiry into how we create and capture value when we innovate

November 26, 2019 |

A note to my readers: a few weeks back, I was asked to give some remarks at a private meeting of venture capitalists and technology pioneers on the future of wellness, nutrition, agriculture, biotechnology and innovation. I decided to focus on the capture of value, and tell this story of a Values Chain that I […]

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NuSeed acquires Agrisoma carinata assets

NuSeed acquires Agrisoma carinata assets

November 25, 2019 |

In Louisiana, longtime industry executive Glenn Johnston said that NuSeed has acquired the carinata assets of Canadian agricultural pioneer Agrisoma. Johnston was speaking at the IATA Sustainable Aviation Fuels Symposium in New Orleans and confirmed that five Agrisoma staff members have joined NuSeed, with the asset acquisition. Terms of the acquisition have not been disclosed. […]

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Nothing is made out of thin air…until now.  Air Protein introduces world’s first air-based food

Nothing is made out of thin air…until now. Air Protein introduces world’s first air-based food

November 24, 2019 |

Air Protein introduces world’s first air-based food It sounds like a magic trick…the magician pulls a quarter from behind your ear, seemingly out of thin air. So is it magic? Or is it just a bunch of hot air? We are told to chew with our mouths closed, not just because it’s proper manners, but […]

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Functional fungus, Amyris’s secret new nutritional ingredient, bioplastics for auto applications, first-ever hydrogen powered train and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of November 22nd

Functional fungus, Amyris’s secret new nutritional ingredient, bioplastics for auto applications, first-ever hydrogen powered train and more: The Digest’s Top 10 Innovations for the week of November 22nd

November 21, 2019 |

Christmas decorations are showing up in all the stores already so The Digest figures it’s not too early to talk about the holidays…so forget about the coal powered Polar Express this winter, as the first-ever contract in the U.S. to supply a hydrogen-powered train is actually happening! Also, what’s Packman got to do with this […]

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Direct Air Capture:  The Key To Reversing Climate Change

Direct Air Capture: The Key To Reversing Climate Change

November 20, 2019 |

By Dr. Graciela Chichilnisky, co-founder and CEO of Global Thermostat and co-author of Reversing Climate Change, and Professor of Economics and Mathematical Statistics at Columbia University. Special to The Digest The pace of global climate change is accelerating. So is our understanding of what it takes to avert catastrophic climate change. The world’s power plant […]

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The Kodak Moment: The world’s airlines consider their low-carbon options in an era of flight-shaming

The Kodak Moment: The world’s airlines consider their low-carbon options in an era of flight-shaming

November 19, 2019 |

“If we had no winter, the spring would not be so pleasant: if we did not sometimes taste of adversity, prosperity would not be so welcome.” — Anne Dudley Bradstreet For the airlines, which met this past week in New Orleans for the Sustainable Aviation Fuels Symposium, it’s a Kodak Moment. As in the moment when Kodak […]

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