NEC 2027

DSM CEO Wins George Washington Carver Award

Joanna Schroeder

Royal DSM Ceo Feike Sijbesma has received the George Washington Carver Award for Innovation in Industrial Biotechnology during BIO World Congress. In its 4th year, Sijbesma is being honored as a visionary leader of the bio-economy, an industry that the World Economic Forum projects will contribute nearly $250 billion to the world economy by 2020. Under his leadership, DSM has made several instrumental contributions in the development of industrial biotechnology that includes biochemicals, biofuels, health and nutrition and supporting sustainable development.

Sijbesma believes that over the next 100 years, the world will be shifting away from the Fossil Age into the third Green Industrial Age, an age based on not taking from the land, from developing feed, fuel and fiber from the land in a sustainable manner.

“The so-called fossil-age will make a shift to the bio-based economy. In two or three centuries from now, people will look back on our civilization as a merely brief moment in history where we in a period of just about 250 years shifted our total economy to coal, oil and gas,” said Sijbesma during his acceptance speech. “To make the shift back to living with, and especially off, nature, we need to start this shift now. We are at a turning point towards a next green industrial revolution to secure our feed and fuel needs in the future.”

Listen to my interview with Feike Sijbesma here: The Next Green Industrial Revolution Begins with Biotech

Sijbesma believes biotechnology holds the key to our future and will provide solutions for energy and food.Read More

advanced biofuels, Audio, BIO, biochemicals, biofuels, biomass, Biotech

GreenField Ethanol Launches G2 BioChem

Joanna Schroeder

The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing (BIO World Congress) kicked off this morning in Toronto, Canada with a bang. GreenField Ethanol, the largest producer of ethanol in Canada, announced the launch of G2 BioChem, a collaborative partnership that will validate and bring to commercialization GreenField’s innovative patented process technology. The partnership includes companies such as Novozymes and Andritz and the company has been given full support from a number of federal and Ontario programs including Sustainable Development Technology Canada (SDTC), Innovation Development Fund (IDF), Sustainable Chemistry Alliance (SCA) and Center for Research and Development in the Bio-economy (CRIBE).

“G2 BioChem’s technology is feedstock agnostic and optimizes next-generation ethanol yields using all available sugars,” began Barry Wortzman, President of G2 BioChem during the press conference. “Also, our process technology results in a low cost, per litre, which is essential to the viable commercialization of next generation ethanol.”

Listen to Barry Wortzman’s remarks during the press conference: Greenfield Ethanol Launches G2 BioChem

G2 BioChem’s research team has conducted thousands of trials and demonstrated success with various feedstocks including agricultural residues such as corn stover, corn cobs and bagasse as well as energy crops such as sorghum & miscanthus and woody biomass such as poplar.

“G2 BioChem’s advanced biofuels technology has the potential to fundamentally change the burgeoning renewable fuels and biochemical industries – while protecting our environment and boosting Ontario’s economy,” said Glen Murray, Minister, Ontario Research & Innovation. Ontario boosts the third largest biotech cluster in the world.

Listen to Glen Murray’s remarks during the press conference: Murray's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

The new collaboration was in part made possible from several industry partners including Novozymes. “As a collaborative partner, Novozymes’ goal is to enable and facilitate the realization of cellulosic ethanol production at commercial scale, as quickly as possible; and in our opinion, this technology is leading the way to accomplishing that objective,” said Cynthia Bryant, Global Business Development for Novozymes.

Listen to Cynthia Bryant’s remarks during the press conference: Bryant's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

Bertil Stromberg, VP, BioFuels for Andritz added, “Andritz is excited to be partnering on this initiative, and to contribute its expertise in process equipment technology for the commercial scale up of the process.”

Listen to Bertil Stromberg’s remarks during the press conference: Stromberg's Remarks during G2 BioChem Press Conference

Check back for audio from the announcement and click here to see photos from the 2011 BIO World Congress.

advanced biofuels, Audio, BIO, biofuels, Biotech, International

St. Louis Science Center Seeking Backyard Biofuels

Cindy Zimmerman

The next big thing in biofuels could be right in your own backyard.

stl science centerFor the second year, the Saint Louis Science Center is collaborating with the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in a research project that “has the potential to discover algae species located within the St. Louis metro area which may be used in cutting-edge biofuels research.”

According to the center’s Life Science Gallery Lead Beth Prakash, “Backyard Biofuels” is a citizen science project. “We are looking for a species of algae that has a naturally high oil content,” she says. “So the more oil an algae species contains, the more productive it will be at producing biofuels.”

Last year, 169 algae collecting kits were returned to the Life Science Lab and from the samples they were able to isolate and test 105 individual algae strains, the results of which are posted on the Backyard Biofuels website. People can participate by picking up an algae collecting kit from the Life Science Lab at the Science Center and returning it in person, or mailing it in using special guidelines. The mail-in option is new this year and will help collect samples from a wider geographic area since the center receives visitors from all over the country.

Learn more about the program from Beth in this interview: Beth Prakash Interview

algae, Biodiesel, biofuels

Oil Prices Drop, Gas Prices Rise

Joanna Schroeder

It’s Friday and that means its time to fill the gas tank. Just in time for weekend fun, it always seems like gas prices go up. Here in California, prices are hovering near the $4.40 per gallon mark. But this week, oil prices dropped 15 percent from a two-year high of $114.83 on Monday and today prices closed at $97.18. Economists are predicting gas prices at the pump will fall and we’ll see a summer national average of $3.50, although last month the EIA predicted they would be closer to $3.79. But don’t hold your breath – prices won’t drop this weekend.

I’ve held this interview with Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis because I was waiting for prices to rise even higher (which they have). When we had this discussion, we were attending the event where BioProcess Algae commissioned its Grower Harvester bioreactors, the second phase in their commercialization strategy. The site is co-located with a first generation corn ethanol plant in Shenandoah, Iowa owned and operated by Green Plains Renewable Energy. This was the perfect backdrop to have the discussion about the role of biofuels in helping to lower prices at the pump.

Buis explained that for the past 40 years, our country has been addicted to foreign oil and the costs to our country have been astronomical. Every recession since World World II has been proceeded by high gas prices. As oil prices rise, it takes time for the increased price to be reflected at the pump. Yet we have a domestic solution available now – ethanol. “I don’t know how many times we have to have these wake-up calls, let’s move forward. We know we can do it. We’re sitting here at a plant today that’s living proof that we can create our own energy here in this country.”

Listen to my interview with Tom Buis here: Ethanol, Right Here, Right Now

Today, Buis said ethanol today is saving consumers at the low end 17 cents per gallon up to 50 cents per gallon on the high end. “If we shut off ethanol today, it would have a far greater impact than the turmoil in the Middle East or North Africa because we’re a bigger source,” said Buis. “Most people don’t understand that if the American ethanol industry were a country, we would be the second largest provider to the United States of transportation fuel. Second only to Canada. That would have a huge impact.”

One last fact. We spend $1 billion dollars a day to import foreign oil. This is more than $1,000 per year for every man, woman and child in this country. That means you.

Mull this over the next time you fill up.

algae, Audio, biofuels, Ethanol, Growth Energy, Opinion

Kautz Joins Dresser Wayne Team

Joanna Schroeder

Michelle Kautz has joined Dresser Wayne as the company’s new product manager, alternative energy. She will work with Scott Negley, the director of alternative energy and will be responsible for ensuring the commercial success of the company’s global ethanol and biodiesel products with a specific focus on capturing the business incentives for biofuels equipment. In her role, she will also work to identify and prioritize market opportunities and develop strategies based on emerging customer needs, competition and market trends.

Most recently, Kautz was with Protec Fuel Management where she served as the director of development. In addition, she has more than 10 years experience working in the ethanol industry in various roles with several ethanol advocacy groups including the National Ethanol Vehicle Coalition and Growth Energy.

Company Announcement

BIO World Congress Preview

Joanna Schroeder

The World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, hosted by BIO, is set to begin on Sunday, May 8, 2011 in Toronto. A record crowd is expected and the exhibitor hall is sold out. I’ll be on site to bring you breaking news and information about the latest biotechnology trends as they relate to biofuels and biochemicals. To get a preview of the conference, I spoke with Brent Erickson, executive vice president with BIO.

Erickson said that this conference is really dynamic on multiple levels. There are a series of plenary sessions as well as breakout sessions and workshops covering the gamut from advanced biofuels technology to algae and feedstock crops, as well as aviation fuels, renewable chemical platforms, and bi-based materials. Several events of special interest include the announcement of the George Washington Carver award and Greenfield Ethanol will be making an announcement about its cellulosic technology.

Listen to or download my interview with BIO’s Brent Erickson: BIO World Congress Preview

Two weeks ago, BIO released a white paper on policy and investments needed for the biotech industry. Erickson said these issues would be key during the World Congress. Government policy in the U.S. as well as Canada and globally will be entwined through many sessions. In addition, there will be a focus on the flow of venture capital and investment money into this space as Erickson said for many companies this is an important issue. He also said it is very heartening in this investment climate to see IPOs take place. The next IPO to take place is Solazyme.

I asked Erickson what companies or technologies he think will breakthrough over the next 6-18 months and he said what we’ll see are platforms breakthrough. He believes the biobutanol platform will take off as well as the succinic acid platform.

Be sure to follow conference conference right here beginning on Monday.

algae, Audio, BIO, biochemicals, biofuels, bioplastics, Biotech, conferences

BioAmber Raises $45M to Grow Succinic Acid Platform

Joanna Schroeder

BioAmber Inc. has raised $45 million dollars in Series B financing with the monies used to accelerate the commercialization of succinic acid and modified PBS including the construction of a plant in North America. The round was led by NAXOS Capital Partners who helped to secure a new investor, Mitsui & Co. a Japanese trading company. The round was co-led by BioAmber’s largest shareholder, Sofinnova Partners, a leading European venture capital firm.

The money will also fund ongoing development work in the field of succinic acid. According to the company, this work includes work pertaining to the second generation organism being developed with Cargill, the technology licensed from DuPont that converts succinic acid to 1,4-butanediol (BDO), the novel purification process developed and scaled up with MATRIC, and the use of non-food feedstocks to produce biobased succinic acid.

“We were impressed by BioAmber’s management team, breadth of strategic partnerships and business model and we are very pleased to be the lead investor in this round,” said Carole Piwnica, Managing Partner of NAXOS and newly elected Vice-Chairman of BioAmber’s Board of Directors.

Jean-Francois Huc, CEO of BioAmber added, “We are proud to welcome NAXOS, which brings extensive industry experience, and Mitsui & Co., which has a global presence in biobased chemicals, and we are thankful for Sofinnova’s unwavering support. With our strong investor base and unrivaled partnerships, we are poised for rapid growth and long term market leadership.”

biochemicals, biomass, Biotech

Dyadic Netherlands Enters Research Agreement

Joanna Schroeder

Dyadic Netherlands, a subsidiary of Dyadic International, a company developing enzyme and protein products for several industries including the biofuels industry, has announced that they have entered into a research agreement with Sanofi Pasteur, the vaccines division of sanofi-aventis Group, and EnGen Bio, Inc. As part of the agreement, Sanofi Pasteur will fund collaborative research at Dyadic Netherland’s research and development facility in Wageningen, The Netherlands, which will utilize Dyadic’s proprietary and patented C1 Platform Technology for certain vaccine applications.

Dyadic Netherland’s General Manager, Dr. ir. Wim van der Wilden will guide the research with collaboration from Dr. Mark Alfenito, the President and CEO of EnGen Bio, an early stage biopharmaceutical company based in Redwood City, California. The research is anticipated to be completed in six to twelve months. All other terms of the research collaboration are confidential.

Mark Emalfarb, President and CEO of Dyadic added, “We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work with Sanofi Pasteur and EnGen Bio to further demonstrate the utility of our C1 technology for certain vaccine applications.

biofuels, Biotech, Company Announcement

Hertz Expands Solar Program

Joanna Schroeder

Hertz Corporation is expanding its solar program with the installation of solar electric systems at several new locations. The most recent installation was completed at a Hertz Rental Corporation (HERC) facility in Commerce City, Colorado. The completion of this project makes them the first rental car company in the country to install a solar power facility.

The project is a part of Hertz’s initiative to install solar electric systems across the U.S. Earlier this year, Hertz announced they would be completing the installation of solar electric systems at 16 Hertz facilities throughout the country spanning. As the program continues, solar electric systems will be installed in these locations: Tucson, AZ; Augusta, GA; Bogart, GA; Norcross, GA; Boston, MA; Baltimore, MD; Newark, NJ; and Harrisburg, PA.

Electricity, Energy, Solar

First Flex Fuel Pump Opens in Pennsylvania

Joanna Schroeder

Pennsylvania is the home of its first flex fuel pump. Rhoads Energy worked with Growth Energy to install the pump at its station located at 2176 Paxton Street, Harrisburg, PA. The pump was installed with assistance provided from Growth Energy’s 2010 E85 and Flex Fuel Pump Program.

“Providing consumers with greater access to ethanol will help reduce our dependence on foreign oil and strengthen our energy security. Growth Energy is pleased to have been able to assist in Rhoads Energy in their efforts and we hope that this Flex Fuel pump will be the first of many in the great state of Pennsylvania,” said Growth Energy CEO Tom Buis.

Earlier today a ribbon-cutting ceremony took place with the Harrisburg Chamber of Commerce. The event celebrated both the availability of the flex fuel pump as well as various enhancements and upgrades to the station itself during recent months.

“We greatly appreciate the support Growth Energy provided during installation of Pennsylvania’s very first Flex Fuel pump, which is located only two miles from the State Capitol,” said Michael DeBerdine, President and CEO of Rhoads Energy. “In addition to the grant, their team offered guidance that proved invaluable as we navigated the process.”

You can see a complete list of E85 and flex fuel pumps across the country by visiting www.E85Refueling.com.

biofuels, E85, Ethanol, Growth Energy