Category: Top Stories

10,000 articles later, biofuels still rock as KiOR, Core, PetroAlgae, USDA, Boeing, ATA surge

10,000 articles later, biofuels still rock as KiOR, Core, PetroAlgae, USDA, Boeing, ATA surge

[ 0 ] July 27, 2010 |

In Florida, Biofuels Digest celebrates its third birthday today, and while a look back at the 10 Most Overlooked Stories of the Year is one of our annual offerings for “birthday week”, we are also reporting on a series of breakthroughs. In finance, upstream sustainable feedstock development, midstream next-generation bioprocessing, and downstream market development – […]

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The Mad Scramble over the Ethanol Tax Credit

The Mad Scramble over the Ethanol Tax Credit

[ 0 ] July 20, 2010 |

Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, the Environmental Working Group, the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the American Meat Institute, and several members of congress are among the main players in a drama unfolding this week on Capitol Hill, in a battle over the ethanol subsidy. It’s one of several battles over […]

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Big Story along the Big Muddy: Dynamic Fuels begins commissioning of 75 Mgy advanced biofuels project in Louisiana

Big Story along the Big Muddy: Dynamic Fuels begins commissioning of 75 Mgy advanced biofuels project in Louisiana

[ 0 ] July 16, 2010 |

It was a gigantic day yesterday for the biofuels industry, and the biggest news was saved for last, that Syntroleum and Tyson have completed construction, and commenced commissioning, of their 75 Mgy renewable diesel plant in Geismar, Louisiana. The Dynamic Fuels project becomes, by a factor of 18, the largest operating advanced biofuels plant in […]

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Zen and the Art of Biofuels Development

Zen and the Art of Biofuels Development

[ 0 ] July 13, 2010 |

Does LanzaTech represent a new way to extract value, or a new way to understand it? In recent weeks the Digest reported that Vinod Khosla, in a keynote at BIO, pooh-poohed a wide-assortment of technologies in biofuels with a special focus on critiquing the high cost of enzymes, while focusing his praise on fuels produced […]

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Amyris IPO looms: deal or no deal?

Amyris IPO looms: deal or no deal?

[ 0 ] July 5, 2010 |

In California, Amyris Biotechnologies is in the final stages leading to the pricing of its IPO, and just two questions remain, but they are big ones: 1. How will Amyris price if at all, and begin public trading. 2. Is it a safe buy, or a long shot? Here’s what the Digest’s editors and sources […]

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When Life Gives You Lemons…make ethyl acetate

When Life Gives You Lemons…make ethyl acetate

[ 0 ] June 30, 2010 |

In Washington, BIO’s World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing is underway, and by the time you are reading this, it may well be over. More than 700 industry professionals gathered this week to confer, argue, commiserate, brag, beg, spy, kvetch and inspire. Usually a few days at BIO feels like a stretch at Top […]

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With a Little Kelp from my Friends: Macroalgae projects, concepts bloom

With a Little Kelp from my Friends: Macroalgae projects, concepts bloom

[ 1 ] June 23, 2010 |

Of all the results in the recent Transformative Technologies reader poll, the most surprising by far is the support for seaweed-based biofuels technologies. The sector placed third among all transformative technology platforms, with 8.63 percent of the votes. It could be simply that “macroalgae” attracts votes in the way that “jatrophalgae” or “cornalgae” might have, […]

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The Song That Never Ends: the financing of Cellulosic Ethanol

The Song That Never Ends: the financing of Cellulosic Ethanol

June 22, 2010 |

“This is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends, some people started singing it, not knowing what it was, and they continued singing it forever just because this is the song that never ends, it goes on and on my friends…” It was the day upon which the secret of […]

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Portrait of a Transformative Technology: Qteros and its Q Microbe

Portrait of a Transformative Technology: Qteros and its Q Microbe

June 18, 2010 |

In Massachusetts, Qteros has been gaining heavy support in the Transformative Technologies poll – far more than you get from marshaling all the friends, Romans and countrymen associated with  a 50-person, early-stage company in the business of consolidated bioprocessing. In fact, I remarked to Qteros CEO John McCarthy that, had the company been renamed QAlgae, […]

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Shell takes stake in Virent; re-ups with Iogen through 2012; Shell and its Biofuels Babies in review

Shell takes stake in Virent; re-ups with Iogen through 2012; Shell and its Biofuels Babies in review

June 8, 2010 |

It was about a year ago that Shell jettisoned all of its wind, solar and geothermal desires and focused its renewable energy development strategy around biofuels. The second tangible fruit of that decision appeared this week with the news that it will re-invest in Iogen Energy, and has made a “significant incremental commitment” to fund […]

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