Renmatix has announced a $14 million investment led by Bill Gates. The company has developed a process called Plantrose that produces cellulosic sugars that can be used to produce bioproducts such as biofuels and biochemcals. The monies raised will be used, in part, to commercialize Plantrose through license sales. “To effectively address climate change, we need to develop an energy …
Advanced Biofuels USA Wins Beets to BioJet Grant
Advanced Biofuels USA has received a grant to conduct a feasibility study of producing biojet fuel from Maryland grown energy beets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allocated $16,893 for the study that will review the technical, economic aspects and co-product opportunities of a project in development by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) along with Purdue University …
New Holland’s Big Baler for Big #Biomass Energy
Several years ago the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published the Billion Ton biomass report and recently made an updated version available. The study shows that there is more than 1 billion tons of biomass available to be used for bio-products including biofuels. For many years, New Holland has been committed to growers who harvest biomass and when the …
AST Awarded Biomass Extraction Patent
American Science and Technology (AST) has been awarded a patent for the system and method the company developed for the extraction of chemicals from lignocellulosic biomass. The company says their system reduces the costs of Organosolv processing and helps to make biochemicals from biomass more economically viable. Led by Dr. Ali Manesh and group of researchers and engineers at AST, …
Will Pursuing #Bioenergy Require Trade-offs?
Will pursuing bioenergy require trade-offs? This question served as the basis from research out of North Carolina State University (NC State) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) that finds that choosing how to meet bioenergy goals means making trade-offs about the impact on ecosystems and wildlife. The study primarily focused on the southeastern U.S. but the researchers believe the results …
Funds Available for #Biomass Powered Biorefineries
The USDA is helping biorefineries go even greener. The USDA Rural Business Cooperative Service, a division within the USDA, has allocated funds through the Repowering Assistance Program, to assist renewable fuel facilities convert away from fossil-fuel based heat and/or power to renewable biomass power. Applications are being accepted from July 25, 2016 until October 24, 2016 and only facilities in …
AI Bio Funds $13M for #Biomass-Based Bioproducts
Alberta Innovates Bio Solutions (AI Bio) has announced the funding for 61 projects to develop bioproducts from biomass resources. Totaling nearly $13 million, the monies will help support Alberta agriculture through the development of local feedstocks, such as forestry waste, to develop renewable products including replacements for fossil-fuel derived materials. The funds are also helping to diversify and strengthen the …
Texas A&M AgriLife Receives $2.5M DOE Grant
Researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife Research have received a $2.5 million grant to conduct a three-year study to find ways to use a biorefinery waste to make new products. Dr. Joshua Yuan, a biotechnologist, is the lead scientist on the project that will primarily focus on ways to make plastic materials from the lignin waste. “In the biorefinery field, we …
DOE Invests in Algae
The U.S. Department of Energy has made it’s latest investment in the development of algae as a feedstock to produce advanced biofuels and bioproducts. The focus of the money is for companies who are working to overcome the barrier of high production costs through improvements in algal biomass yields. The DOE says the three companies who received funding will develop …
DOE Releases 2016 Billion Ton Report
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) along with Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have released its 2016 Billon-Ton Report. The study found that within 25 years, the U.S. could produce enough biomass to support a bioeconomy including renewable aquatic and terrestrial biomass resources. The report also found that by 2040, the country could sustainably produce at least one billion tons …