Category: Top Stories

Liberals sweep in Canadian elections: are renewables back?

Liberals sweep in Canadian elections: are renewables back?

October 20, 2015 |

Liberals sweep to victory in Canada; Trudeau to become Prime Minister, pledging sharp increases in infrastructure investment and a renewed focus on clean technology.  In Canada, the Liberal party, under the leadership of 43-year old Justin Trudeau, swept to victory in the Canadian federal elections. As of 6am Eastern time, the Liberals have won 184 seats — 14 […]

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The airlines: who’s doing what in aviation biofuels?

The airlines: who’s doing what in aviation biofuels?

October 19, 2015 |

Who’s a Major Player, who’s a Pioneer, who’s committed, who’s monitoring the space as a stakeholder? We look at 45 airlines and their efforts in bringing low-carbon fuels to the marketplace.   What are airlines and jet manufacturers doing to foster aviation biofuels? Quite a bit — in some cases,  just about all they can given the rough shape […]

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That was then, this is now: 10 Signature biofuels projects for 2015-16, and where they are

That was then, this is now: 10 Signature biofuels projects for 2015-16, and where they are

October 18, 2015 |

All have soaring ambitions, some will be realized on schedule, some later, some probably not now or possibly ever. Where are 10 key projects that were announced in recent years for deployment in 2015-16. What’s happening and what happened? We’re looking today at status on 10 projects from DuPont Industrial Biosciences, GranBio, Summit Group, Global […]

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Seeking take-off and off-take: Why do some renewable technologies soar and others stall?

Seeking take-off and off-take: Why do some renewable technologies soar and others stall?

October 15, 2015 |

The high-octane idea that inexplicably struggles, the mid-grade idea that rocks. Here, we look at the critical success factors that provide tail-winds for some technologies and head-winds for others. Sometimes we all look at classes of technologies and alternative energy types — solar, renewable diesel, wind, geothermal, cellulosic ethanol, drop-in fuels and more — and wonder, […]

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Diamond in the rough: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to Cobalt’s technology

Diamond in the rough: The Digest’s 2015 8-Slide Guide to Cobalt’s technology

October 14, 2015 |

Cobalt Technologies was commercializing cellulosic biobutanol, a versatile platform molecule for the renewable chemicals and fuels. The Company’s technology efficiently converts diverse non-food feedstocks – initially, lignocellulosic extracts from woody biomass and sugar cane bagasse – into biobutanol. Cobalt offered complete systems for sugar mill, pulp and paper, and biomass power facility retrofits with a […]

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GranBio, Solvay JV acquires Cobalt Technologies’ assets

GranBio, Solvay JV acquires Cobalt Technologies’ assets

October 14, 2015 |

Price undisclosed. So Cobalt’s array of microbes and know-how finds a new home. What will happen with the technology? What happened with Cobalt? The Digest investigates. We can now affirmatively report that SGBio, a joint venture between the Solvay Group and GranBio, has acquired assets from Cobalt  including the bank of microorganisms and intellectual property […]

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8 Top Ways around the Big, Bad Oxygen Problem in Biofuels

8 Top Ways around the Big, Bad Oxygen Problem in Biofuels

October 13, 2015 |

Oxygen is colorless, odorless, and try to get through an hour without some. But in the Advanced Bioeconomy, oxygen is not your friend — it could be an existential threat.  In today’s Part II, another 4 workarounds. Part I of this story can be found here. In the advanced bioeconomy, the Big, Bad Barrier is the Oxygen Problem. That […]

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8 Ways around the Big, Bad Oxygen Problem in the Advanced Bioeconomy

8 Ways around the Big, Bad Oxygen Problem in the Advanced Bioeconomy

October 12, 2015 |

In the terrestrial world, oxygen is colorless, odorless, and try to get through an hour without some. In the Bioeconomy Cinematic Universe, oxygen is harder than steel, heavier than a black hole, and higher than the Himalayas. Here’s the why and what’s being done about it. At some stage during any conference on energy transportation, someone will […]

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No Rich White Guy Left Behind: The Selling of Electric Cars as Zero Emission Vehicles

No Rich White Guy Left Behind: The Selling of Electric Cars as Zero Emission Vehicles

October 11, 2015 |

Electric cars and their $1600 cost per ton for CO2 reduction. And, yep, you’re paying for it.  Electric cars have environmental benefits, no doubt about it, and anyone who drives one is making a contribution to a cleaner world. That’s the good news. But, “Zero emission vehicle”? Wrong, unless you agree with the guy who just […]

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17 Pyromaniax changing the energy landscape

17 Pyromaniax changing the energy landscape

October 8, 2015 |

Add organic stuff, mix, add heat, add pressure.  Britain’s not been historically celebrated for its chefs, but here come the pyromaniax and their transformative pyrolysis technologies. The Digest investigates.  In a 2012 Daily Mail (UK) poll, the British identified the “bacon sandwich” and “roast dinners” as the two things they themselves loved the most about the […]

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