Processing
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Bio-butadiene R&D steps up
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I am about to fly to Caserta, Italy, to visit GF Biochemicals’ new levulinic acid plant, which started production in July. I will blog more about my trip later this week and will also tweet while at the site (hopefully my wifi is working). By the way, GF Biochemicals recently bagged the John Sime award…
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Rivertop starts commercial glucarates production
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Montana, US-based Rivertop Renewables recently announced the start-up of commercial manufacturing of the company’s glucarate-based products through its partnership with DTI, a custom manufacturer of fine and specialty chemical products based in Danville, Virginia. Rivertop said this will be the first of several planned production facilities for its patented technology. With successful commissioning and initial…
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Plaxica gets patents for its Optipure® Technology
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I’m off for a day to attend the Geekiest place on Earth in the next four days, the New York Comic Con! Too bad I can’t use my press pass here but maybe I’ll introduce them to the magic and wonders of renewable/green chemistry. In the meantime, let me post this brief news from Plaxica.…
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MBI bags biomass pretreatment patent
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I have been learning more about pre-treatment processing for biomass as I don’t really cover much about this area. My interview with MBI (Michigan Biotechnology Institute) made me aware of the problems concerning the use of cellulosic feedstock for biofuel and bio-based chemicals application as the pretreatment process is a costly undertaking for companies to…
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Recent biorefinery deals
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Abengoa has been selected by Fulcrum BioEnergy to build its first biorefinery, worth $200m, to be located in the Tahoe-Reno Industrial Center, Nevada (USA). The facility will use gasification technology to convert municipal solid waste (MSW) into syncrude that will be upgraded into jet fuel. Abengoa will be responsible for the turnkey execution of the…
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Rennovia, Johnson Matthey in catalyst R&D
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Specialty renewable chemicals developer, Rennovia Inc., has entered a joint development agreement with engineering and process technology firm, Johnson Matthey, for the co-development and manufacture of catalysts to be used in the scale-up and commercialization of Rennovia’s process for the production of bio-based glucaric acid and adipic acid. This agreement, for the co-development and manufacture of catalysts, builds upon…
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Gevo earnings call anticipation
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If you read some of the message boards about the Gevo stocks, you can see questions hanging in the air on where this company is heading this year as investors anticipate Gevo’s announcement of its 4Q and 2014 annual financial results on March 26. Based on this stock chart, it has been a very difficult few years…
