Green Chemicals Blog
ethanol
Enerkem and partners to build waste-based methanol plant in Canada
It has been a while since the blog has an update on how Enerkem has been doing. This month, Enerkem, with a group of strategic partners, that include major investor Shell, along with Suncor and Proman, Hydro-Québec supplying green hydrogen and oxygen, and with the support of the Québec and Canadian governments, announced a plan … Continue reading
PNNL offers Special Exploratory License Agreement
From time to time, I covered several R&D news coming from the US Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). One of these was the partnership between LanzaTech and PNNL on their ethanol-to-fuel technology R&D, which I believed, started in 2010. PNNL also has a chemocatalytic technology to convert ethanol to butadiene in a … Continue reading
New York Biofuel Plant Supplies Ethanol for Sanitizer
Western New York Energy (WNYE), New York’s only operational ethanol facility, is supplying corporations across the Northeast and Canada with ethanol to produce 80% antiseptic alcohol sanitizer amidst the COVID pandemic. The WNY Energy facility is locally owned and can produce up to 150,000 gallons per day of tech-grade ethanol for industrial purposes such as … Continue reading
Growing bio-based solvent market
While the bio-based solvent market might have a set-back with the closing of Green Biologics bio-based n-butanol facility in Little Falls, Minnesota (I wrote a more comprehensive report about this in Tecnon OrbiChem’s July Biomaterials issue), consumers for these specialty chemicals continue to look for safer and less carbon emitter alternatives. Braskem announced last month … Continue reading
Attis Industries look for lignin applications
Milton, Georgia-based Attis Industries, Inc. launched a video series that will offer investors and interested parties additional information on the technologies and bio-based products offered under its Innovations division. In the video, the company discussed the current inefficiencies in biomass processing and how it is taking the next steps to double the biofuel output from … Continue reading
Godavari restarts bio-based acetic acid production
India-based Godavari Biorefineries Ltd. (GBL) will be restarting its production of bio-based acetic acid at its Sakarwadi facility in Maharashtra from August 2018 using molasses-based ethanol for feedstock. GBL noted strong demand from customers as they expressed the need for renewable raw materials adhering to the green chemistry principles. GBL said it has received interest … Continue reading
Butamax prepares for bio-isobutanol commercialization
I have often heard the market potential for bio-isobutanol but the problem is, it’s expensive and Gevo seems to be the only producer in town. Maybe this will change as Butamax Advanced Biofuels LLC, a 50/50 joint venture between BP and DuPont, recently announced plans to finally produce bio-isobutanol with its acquisition of Nesika Energy, LLC and … Continue reading
Helm signs off-take ethyl acetate supply with Greenyug
Germany-based chemical distributor, Helm AG has signed an off-take agreement for the purchase and sale of bio-based ethyl acetate produced at Greenyug’s planned ethyl acetate facility in Columbus, Nebraska, which will be owned and operated by Greenyug’s subsidiary, Prairie Catalytic LLC. The production facility is going to be located next to Archer Daniels Midland’s (ADM) … Continue reading
LEAF opens new yeast facility and launches new product
Leaf – Lesaffre Advanced Fermentations has inaugurated its the new Lesaffre Yeast Corporation drying facility in Headland, Alabama, last week, which is reportedly the company’s first yeast drying facility in the United States. The drying facility is located in Headland, Alabama where Lesaffre and Red Star Yeast operate a cream yeast facility since the 1990’s. … Continue reading
Green Biologics starts biochem shipments
UK-based Green Biologics recently announced that it has begun commercial shipments of bio-based n-butanol and acetone from its first manufacturing facility in Little Falls, Minnesota. The company retrofitted a 21 million gal/year corn ethanol plant, which the company acquired from Central MN Ethanol Cooperative LLC. The site, now called Central MN Renewables (CMR) commenced construction … Continue reading