Despite the sluggish economy, select advanced bioproducts companies are still receiving funding. EdeniQ has announced that they have secured over $30 million in capital in the form of an equity investment and debt facility. The funds will be used to continue development of its technology to convert sugars to biomaterials such as biochemicals and biofuels. The investment was led by …
Driving The Bioeconomy Highway
The National Bioeconomy Blueprint was recently released by the Obama Administration. The report outlines the steps that agencies need to take to drive the bioeconomy highway. The Administration recognized the growing sector has a priority due to its potential for growth and job creation. The bioeconomy will also help drive new sources of bioenergy, improve the agricultural industry, change the …
Virdia Opens New Pilot Facility
A new cellulosic demonstration facility has opened in Danville, Virginia. Virdia, a company focused on developing cellulosic sugars, located the facility on the campus for the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research (IALR). The facility will prove out Virdia’s CASE process in pilot scale and the resulting cellulosic sugars and lignin will be designed for use in commercial applications. Philippe …
Sweetwater Energy & BioGasol Partner for Bioproducts
Rochester, New York based Sweetwater Energy and BioGasol ApS, a Danish biotechnology company, have entered into a strategic partnership to improve sugar extraction from biomass. Sweetwater is a cellulosic sugar manufacturer and will use BioGasol’s pretreatment technology, Carbofrac, as part of an overall technological solution to increase the amount of sugar extracted from plant-based feedstocks. “We’re very excited about this …
Quick Brief Delves Into Bio-Industry Sustainability
How do we make the biofuels and bioproduct industry sustainable? This question is answered in the lastest “quick brief” published by Advanced Biofuels USA. According to the paper, the key is the development of low cost, decentralized biomass to biofuel production systems that can economically increase the travel distance of biomass. It is also important to make biomass available year …
Clean Green Minnesota Bean Appears at State Fair
The American Lung Association in Minnesota presented “The Clean, Green Minnesota Bean” over the weekend during the Minnesota State Fair. Randy Hilliard with the Agricultural Utilization Research Institute (AURI) gave a presentation to the fairgoers from the Sustainability Stage of the Eco Experience Building. The topic? Soybeans. Hilliard discussed the market for plastics, fabrics, cleaners and other bio-based materials, all …
Arabian American Development Inks Deal with Gevo
Gevo has inked a deal with Arabian American Development Co. to build a hydrocarbon processing demonstration plant at its South Hampton Resources, Inc. subsidiary located in Silsbee, Texas. Arabian will also provide toll-processing services that will result in the processing of up to 10,000 gallons of isobutanol per month into a variety of renewable hydrocarbon biomaterials including jet fuel, isooctane …
Biofuel IPOs On The Rise
The biofuels industry is making a come-back with several successful IPOs (initial public offering) over the past few months. Today, KiOR announced its initial public offering of 10,000,000 shares of Class A common stock at $15 per share. The company raised nearly $138 million of proceeds from the IPO which occurred on June 24. Other successful IPO’s include the much-awaited …
Algae to Omega Chooses LumiGrow
Algae to Omega, an algae company focused on producing algae crops in vertical indoor farms, has chosen LumiGrow to provide its lighting solutions for its facility in Oakland Park, Florida. The LED efficient lights are being utilized to increase algae crop yield. The algae is used for high-value products including cosmetics, fish meal and nutritional supplements. During the day the …
Turning Glycerin to Soap Could Add Profits
A byproduct of the biodiesel production process is crude glycerin. The boon of the biodiesel industry has helped to create a glycerin glut and many biodiesel producers are having to dispose of the product rather than sell it. However, Diesello Verde S.A., based in Costa Rica, has developed technology that could provide biodiesel producers with a new revenue stream for …