Company initiatives
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DOE awards $18m grant to algae-based projects
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Let me post this before I leave for Montreal, Canada, today. The US Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced six projects that will receive up to $18 million in funding to reduce the modeled price of algae-based biofuels to less than $5 per gasoline gallon equivalent (gge) by 2019. Algal biomass can be converted to…
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CSIRO licenses Super High Oleic Safflower Oil
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When I was a reporter at the previously titled Chemical Market Reporter (now known as ICIS Chemical Business), I used to cover several specialty oilseeds markets such as safflower, camelina, high erucic rapeseed, castor, lesquerella, hemp, etc. I also covered the developing genetically modified oilseeds back then such as high oleic soybeans and canola. Oilseeds…
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More off-take bio deal with Vinmar
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Vinmar is on a roll when it comes to doing off-take supply deals in the renewables sector. After the BioAmber bio-succinic acid deal, Vinmar recently announced that it has signed a 20-year contract for 19 billion pounds of AirCarbon PHA from Newlight Technologies. The Vinmar contract provides for the sale of 100% of AirCarbon PHA…
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DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol tech in China
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DuPont announced a licensing deal with Jilin Province New Tianlong Industry Co. Ltd. (NTL) for the use of DuPont’s cellulosic ethanol technology and its Accelerase enzymes for the production of renewable biofuel from leftover biomass on Jilin Province’s corn farms. This project aims to develop China’s largest cellulosic ethanol manufacturing plant to be located in…
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Bio-succinic acid and PDO in polyols
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Before I forget this news that came in last month (all the news and information I get, I write it up on Tecnon OrbiChem’s Bio-materials newsletter first), the bio-based polyurethane sector is certainly getting a lot of buzz and developments especially with the use of bio-monomers such as succinic acid, bio-1,3 PDO, bio-BDO, etc.). I am…
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Genomatica gears for biomass feedstock
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The use of waste-based feedstock is an important milestone for the renewable chemicals industry as it will further emphasize the industry’s sustainability and hopefully will lessen the cost of production in the long run (although market economics dictate that nothing is free if there is demand for it). Genomatica recently announced that it made significant…
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Sprint to use wheat-straw paper for customer mailings
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In its latest effort to optimize paper use and reduce environmental impact, Sprint will pilot a new kind of forest friendly paper for customer mailings in the coming months. The paper, made of wheat-straw byproduct, is not noticeably different to the naked eye than wood-derived paper. However, it offers a new, sustainable alternative and potential…