Major Stories
The Case for E-fuels Use in Aviation
By Pete Rocha, LEC Partners Special to The Digest The aviation industry produces 2-3% of all CO2 emissions globally. This percentage will likely grow over time as the developing world becomes richer and the demand for air transportation increases. In the graphic below, we see that in passenger travel demand is expected to increase by […]
Semi-Sweet on GREET Street: US decision on SAF tax credits is bold for residues; tepid for grains, oilseeds
In Washington, the U.S. Department of the Treasury and Internal Revenue Service released guidance on the Sustainable Aviation Fuel Credit established by the Inflation Reduction Act. The Treasury Department’s guidance provides important clarity around eligibility for the SAF Credit. The credit incentivizes the production of SAF that achieves a lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions reduction of […]
ABLC Next 2024 announced: themes, topics, dates, sectors
In Florida, the Daily Digest announced that the Advanced Bioeconomy Leadership Conference on Next-Gen Projects & Technologies, ABLC NEXT 2024, will take place at the Hotel Nikko in San Francisco, October 23-25, 2024, as the industry undertakes more Networking for Net Zero. More than 600 delegates and 100 speakers are expected from more than 400 […]
The Turin Joint Statement on Sustainable Biofuels – the background
The Turin Joint Statement on Sustainable Biofuels has now been released, and is here. WHAT THE TURIN JOINT STATEMENT (TJS) IS The Turin Joint Statement seeks to focus attention on G7 Ministers (and be extension heads of state) regarding the need for sustainable biofuels to achieve climate goals such as Net Zero by 2050. The […]
The Turin Joint Statement on Sustainable Biofuels – the complete text
Turin, Italy — 28 April 2024 To Ministers of Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, USA, and European Commission We the undersigned, noting that, despite efforts to diversify energy sources, fossil fuels still meet 95% of the overall energy needs of the transport sector, which currently accounts for 26% of global final energy consumption and […]
8-Slide Guides
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Futuria Fuels
Futuria Fuels was founded by SHV Energy to lead the global advocacy of sustainable molecules, aiming to deliver viable sustainable fuel to off-grid customers. Through collaboration, we are building partnership and investment opportunities which will directly result in the defossilization of liquid gas for customers and suppliers. As a business unit of SHV Energy, Futuria […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Ensyn
Ensyn’s current focus is on low-carbon fuels, including low-carbon heating and cooling solutions for institutional and industrial customers and low-carbon feedstock solutions for petroleum refineries for the production of renewable transportation fuels. Ensyn Chairman Robert Graham presented these slides at ABLC 2024.
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to the National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative
The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has been catalyzing a surge in reports and plans relating to accelerating the transition to biotechnology — including the Bold Goals launched at ABLC 2024, the PCAST Biomanufacturing to Advance the Bioeconomy report; the Vision, Needs, and Proposed Actions for Data for the Bioeconomy Initiative; a […]
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to Cemvita
We’ve engineered microbes that turn the waste such as CO2 into helpful compounds, therefore closing the carbon/waste loop and address those recovery and production processes that, in current heavy industry, creates waste and emission outputs. Cemvita’s Pedro Barcia presented these slides on the company’s production of SAF feedstocks at ABLC 2024.
The Digest’s 2024 Multi-Slide Guide to NEXT Renewables
Haffner Energy’s expertise has been forged over more than 30 years of experience. 30 years’ experience designing, developing and bringing to market a pioneering, patented technology that produces clean fuels with a neutral-to-negative carbon footprint: biomass thermolysis. Company president Marcella Francho presented these slides at ABLC 2024 on the company’s technology journey and future prospects.
The Latest World News
Cemvita successfully produces HEFA from waste carbon sources with eye on SAF
In Texas, Cemvita announced a significant breakthrough enabling the company to produce substantial quantities of its Sustainable Oil from waste carbon sources. This landmark achievement marks a pivotal step forward in the production of low-carbon intensity feedstocks for HEFA sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), representing a significant opportunity to reduce carbon emissions and combat climate change. […]
TPG Rise Climate to acquire Olympus Terminals
In California, TPG Rise Climate, the dedicated climate investing strategy of TPG’s global impact investing platform TPG Rise, announced that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Olympus Terminals, a leading independent storage provider for renewable fuels and refined products in Southern California, majority owned by an affiliated investment fund of Davidson Kempner Capital […]
Gevo and ClearFlame Engine Technologies team up to authenticate biofuels’ CI
In Colorado, Gevo, Inc. along with its wholly owned subsidiary, Verity Holdings, LLC, and ClearFlame Engine Technologies, Inc., announced a collaboration to drive decarbonization traceability from field-to-fleet for the road freight transportation market in the United States, which consumes an estimated 29 billion gallons of fuel every year. Under this collaboration, the parties intend to […]
CMM lands $94M investment in its ethanol powered Platform Supply Vessels in Brazil
In Brazil, Compagnie Maritime Monegasque (CMM) announced the closing of up to $94 million in financing. The transaction was funded by Summit Ridge Capital Partners. Panorama Capital Partners sourced and advised on the transaction, and participated as a co-investor. This financing enables CMM to recompose its shareholder structure and to expand its fleet. As part […]
Virgin Atlantic shares results of 100% SAF transatlantic flight
In the UK, Virgin Atlantic has shared headline results from Flight100, the first transatlantic flight on 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF), proving not only that the SAF used for the flight is safe to use with existing infrastructure and delivers material reductions in CO2, but can also improve local air quality, contribute to a reduction […]
R&D News
University of Hawaiʻi researchers land grant to assess waste-based bioenergy sources
In Hawaiʻi, To help Hawaiʻi reach net-zero energy by 2045, two researchers at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa College of Tropical Agriculture and Human Resources (CTAHR) received a $150,000 Sun Grant Western Region grant to assess how bioenergy generated from bioresources such as agricultural residues and animal manures, via anaerobic digestion, could significantly contribute […]
Purdue-USDA researchers create new web-based regulatory gene discovery tool for plants
In Indiana, researchers interested in improving a given trait in plants can now identify the genes that regulate the trait’s expression without doing any experiments. Purdue researchers and 10 co-authors published the details of the new web-based regulatory gene discovery tool in the April 23 issue of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A […]
NREL selected as part of $1.6 million funding to explore potential of geologic hydrogen
In Washington DC, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) said it was recently selected as one of 16 teams to research enhanced production of geologic hydrogen by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) program. Led by Texas Tech University with partners from NREL, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Rio Tinto, and […]
UNL researchers crack algae genomic code
In Nebraska, plant life first emerged on land about 550 million years ago, and an international research team co-led by the University of Nebraska–Lincoln has cracked the genomic code of its humble beginnings, which made possible all other terrestrial life on Earth, including humans. The team — about 50 scientists in eight countries – has generated […]
ETH Zurich researchers engineer bacteria to use methanol to produce products
In Switzerland, researchers at ETH Zurich have engineered bacteria in the laboratory to efficiently use methanol. The metabolism of these bacteria can now be tapped into to produce valuable products currently made by the chemical industry from fossil fuels. Bacteria that feed on methanol, known as methylotrophs, are at the centre of these efforts. Containing […]
Policy & Policymakers
US ethanol coalition seeks to intervene in legal challenge against ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation
In Washington, leaders of the U.S. ethanol industry are seeking to intervene in a legal challenge of the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, which effectively bans the use of renewable, crop-based biofuels like corn ethanol as a feedstock for decarbonizing the aviation sector. Collaborating in the intervention are Growth Energy, the Renewable Fuels Association, U.S. Grains Council, […]
Global Biofuel Alliance agrees workplan despite still not having charter
In India, the Business Standard newspaper reports the Global Biofuel Alliance agreed its workplan along the sidelines of the G20 meeting in Brazil last month despite being without a charter. The alliance plans to review the strategy in July when it next gathers. The worksteams include assessing country landscapes, drafting policy frameworks, and conducting biofuel […]
CBE JU announces funds for biobased projects in Europe
In Belgium, Circular Bio-based Europe (CBE JU), co-funded by the European Union, published its 2024 call for project proposals. A total of $228 million will be dedicated to advancing competitive circular biobased industries in Europe across 18 topics, CBE JU said. CBE JU noted that its main objectives are to accelerate the innovation process and […]
Spanish regulators approve rules to make biomethane grid connection easier
In Spain, the National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has approved the resolution (RDC/DE/004/22 ) that will simplify the procedures for biomethane producers to connect their facilities to the gas network in an agile, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. During 2023, the 9 plants connected to the system produced 243 GWh, 40% more than in 2022. Currently, […]
European Commission awards $768M to seven renewable hydrogen projects
In Belgium, the European Commission is awarding nearly €720 million to seven renewable hydrogen projects in Europe, selected through the first competitive bidding process under the European Hydrogen Bank. The funds for this auction come from the revenues of the EU Emissions Trading System. The winning bidders will produce renewable hydrogen in Europe and will […]
Other Recent Articles
Cooperfarms seeking BNDES financing for cereal-based ethanol production in Bahia
In Brazil, last week the manager of the Industrial Committee of the Rural Producers Cooperative (Cooperfarms) filed with the National Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), in Rio de Janeiro/RJ, a project proposal to build a corn and sorghum ethanol plant in western Bahia, initiated by the cooperative. The expectation is that the construction […]
IUCN Oil Crops Taskforce report highlights sustainability concerns of vegetable oils
In Switzerland, a new report from the IUCN Oil Crops Taskforce assesses the future environmental, economic and social impact of the production, trade and the consumption of vegetable oils. The report, published by IUCN in collaboration with the Sustainable Nutrition Scientific Board, found that growing demand for vegetable oils could translate into the conversion of natural areas into […]
Cemvita now producing sustainable oils for SAF from waste carbon sources
In Texas, Cemvita said it can now produce substantial quantities of its Sustainable Oil from waste carbon sources. Cemvita’s optimized microorganisms are rich in oil and undergo a series of processing steps to extract it. Through applied research and innovation in bioprocess technology, this developed process has produced high-yield extraction of the oil from the […]
Gevo says its SAF is well-positioned in light of new guidance from Treasury Department
In Colorado, Gevo has issued a response to the recently unveiled version of the Argonne National Laboratory Greenhouse Gases, Regulated Emissions, and Energy use in Technologies (GREET) method and model for carbon accounting. The firm noted that this model will be utilized for lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions calculations under the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) Section […]
Honeywell sees Brazil as a very attractive country to produce SAF
In Brazil, Folha de Pernambuco reported that Honeywell sees Brazil as a country with a lot of assets to lead the technological development of SAF. The availability of inputs, from agriculture, and knowledge in ethanol production are the country’s main assets in this field, said José Fernandes, president of Honeywell for Latin America. According to […]
U.S. ethanol and SAF industry leaders seek to intervene in legal challenge to EU SAF regulation
In Washington DC, the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA) reported that leaders of the U.S. ethanol industry are seeking to intervene in a legal challenge of the ReFuelEU Aviation Regulation, which effectively bans the use of renewable, crop-based biofuels like corn ethanol as a feedstock for decarbonizing the aviation sector. Collaborating in the intervention are the […]
