Category: Top Stories

Synova and the pursuit of clean, green and lean

Synova and the pursuit of clean, green and lean

October 10, 2017 |

A newer technology Synova Power has arrived with the promise of clean, green, lean stream of pipeline-quality natural gas from biomass. There have been so many claims of “lean and green” over the years, we had better make some quick distinctions to highlight why this is a technology to watch. Lean, green or clean? Lean […]

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Engage the hyper-drive: Synbio’s fastest are going faster, bigger as Kytopen, Ginkgo, Twist Biosciences, Arzeda, TeselaGen feel the need for speed

Engage the hyper-drive: Synbio’s fastest are going faster, bigger as Kytopen, Ginkgo, Twist Biosciences, Arzeda, TeselaGen feel the need for speed

October 9, 2017 |

ENGAGE THE HYPER-DRIVE. Is everyone’s organism for making fuels, chemicals, materials, foods, flavors, fragrances and therapeutics — beautifully and slowly — heading for rapid obsolescence? “Everyone wants to make it faster,” notes Kytopen co-founder Cullen Buie. “Over the past 18 months, we discovered there’s a huge market for speed.” That’s one of the reasons why, […]

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No boredom for sorghum – Sorghum reaches stardom status with huge $16 million grant

No boredom for sorghum – Sorghum reaches stardom status with huge $16 million grant

October 8, 2017 |

Sweet sorghum stardom! In possibly one of the largest government grants given to anyone for research on a single feedstock, the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center is receiving a 5-year $16 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for research on the model grass green foxtail (Setaria viridis), to speed up the development […]

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Where are the algae fuel gallons? Bioreactors on a chip touted as a way forward

Where are the algae fuel gallons? Bioreactors on a chip touted as a way forward

October 5, 2017 |

One of the themes that has been racing around the industry in the past week has been the suggestion that bioreactors on a chip are renewing promises for algal biofuels. A development of interest in algae strain screening tech That hopes have been revived along those lines is not entirely surprising, given that Cornell University […]

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8 fast flyers chosen for Top Cat: the big attack on biomass catalysis begins

8 fast flyers chosen for Top Cat: the big attack on biomass catalysis begins

October 4, 2017 |

Somewhere in the files of the Department of Energy it is called the Chemical Catalysis for Bioenergy Consortium. Inside the halls of National Labs, they call it ChemCatBio. But it’s Top Cat — the gunslingers and mavericks of biomass catalysis. They’re on a mission to bring forward commercial bioenergy applications two times faster and at […]

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A Blustery Day in the Bioeconomy’s Billion Acre Wood: The Latest from EPA, POET, Fuels America, Calyxt, Eligo Bioscience, Queensland, Gevo, Virgin, and Unilever

A Blustery Day in the Bioeconomy’s Billion Acre Wood: The Latest from EPA, POET, Fuels America, Calyxt, Eligo Bioscience, Queensland, Gevo, Virgin, and Unilever

October 3, 2017 |

British author AA Milne is in the news this week with the impending release of “Goodbye Christopher Robin,” which brings to mind “Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day”. It’s been bluster and bother and in the bioeconomy this week, all right, and significant players are feeling downright Eeyoreish and we’ll get to that. But some […]

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Data surprise: Biofuels still beating electrics on cost, emissions

Data surprise: Biofuels still beating electrics on cost, emissions

October 2, 2017 |

Electrics are improving on emissions and cost, but not enough to make driving an electric car the smart choice for consumers looking to save time and reduce environmental impacts. According to a new analysis, biofuels still reign. If you’re driving an electric car, you’re driving the grid, and the grid isn’t all that green, yet. […]

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Top 10 wood waste projects – Not letting waste go to waste

Top 10 wood waste projects – Not letting waste go to waste

September 30, 2017 |

Wood waste is all around and ever increasing. As much as it pains tree huggers, we chop down trees to use them for buildings, paper, and seemingly everything in between. While some scientists say we have to cut down some trees in order to save them, others say we cut down too much. Regardless of […]

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Fast Risers: Top 12 Deals of the Season, as advanced bio investment sizzles

Fast Risers: Top 12 Deals of the Season, as advanced bio investment sizzles

September 28, 2017 |

Summer has now given way to fall — and what was supposed to be biotechnology’s sleepiest season turned out to be a monster, and fascinating too. Here are the top 12 companies raising capital and making huge deals and advances this season. #12. Descartes Labs. In August, we reported that Descartes Labs raised $30M in […]

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2017’s Agriculture Revolution is gaining pace, getting faster

2017’s Agriculture Revolution is gaining pace, getting faster

September 27, 2017 |

1917 was the time of 10 Days that Shook the World and the Russian Revolution. Today, things are moving even faster than back then — and the field of operations has shifted from that dreadful revolution in the streets to revolution in the fields and labs. Agriculture, that is — our original industry, is being turned […]

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