In Mississippi, Greater Grenada Partnership and Ecostrat announced the issue of an investment grade BDO Zone ‘A’ Rating for Woody Biomass, extending a 75-mile drive distance from Duck Hill, MS. Grenada’s BDO Zone ‘A’ rating denotes high prospective viability of feedstock supply chain and infrastructure, and low expectations of default risk in the Zone. The region features strong capabilities to accommodate new biobased plant operations, supported by a legacy of private forest ownership and forest operations that contribute to the local bioeconomy. Two prime greenfield sites ideal for biobased ..read more

Recently, we reported that researchers at the University of Tartu are undertaking a project to engineer gas-fermenting acetogens to more efficiently  fuels and chemicals, and create nearly 750 modified bacterial strains and consolidate the collected data as well as existing similar information about acetogens in a public knowledgebase. If you have gleaned from earlier editions of The Digest that acetogens can make the useful chemical acetate from waste carbon and green hydrogen, you’ve remembered it well. If recall is sketchy, may I recommend All Your Acetogen Are Belong to Us: The Diges ..read more

In this presentation by Advanced Biofuels Association president Mike McAdams, we learn about matching policy with real-world reality using the basic tool box of tax credits, grants, loans, mandates and the RFS. We see policy issues such as “numbers don’t reflect reality,” available feedstocks are threatened, and there is over reliance in policy on technologies that are unproven and more expensive ..read more

In New Zealand, a two-year research project has shed light on the promising opportunities for regional New Zealand to adopt short rotation forestry (SRF) for bioenergy production. The findings show that leveraging short rotation forestry will not only diversify regional economies, but also contribute to sustainable land management and generate environmental benefits as New Zealand looks for ways to transition to a circular bioeconomy and meet its net-zero emissions targets by 2050. A key outcome from Scion’s research is a ‘how to’ guide for short rotation forestry targeting landowners, forest ..read more

The new Billion Ton Study is out and Oak Ridge’s Matt Langholtz has the highlights in this ABLC 2024 presentation. He noted that the bioeconomy currently provides 340 million tons biomass; that currently available resources can double biomass in the near term; that a mature market induces another 440-800 million tons of biomass depending on yield assumptions, and that emerging resources can supply another 250 million tons ..read more

A government-led, multi-stakeholder initiative aimed to promote international coordination on the sustainable low-carbon bioeconomy. The BioFuture Platform aims to promote technology cooperation and constructive policies; to forge consensus on biomass sustainability, availability and governance (sustainability workstream); and, to develop supportive financing mechanisms. Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s  Keith L. Kline presented these slides on behalf of the CEM Biofuture Initiative ..read more

In Ireland, Munster Technological University will lead a new first-of-its-kind decentralized green biorefinery demonstration initiative funded under the Circular Bio-based Europe Joint Undertaking (CBE JU). The €8.7 million “Rural BioReFarmeries” project will advance the development of farm-centered bioeconomy approaches through the deployment of green biorefineries across grassland regions of Europe. Two primary green biorefinery and anaerobic digestion demonstration sites in Ireland and Denmark will optimize the conversion of grasses, clover and green biomass residues sourced from local ..read more

Gasification of biomass continues to be an area of high challenge and high opportunity in the bioeconomy as the industry searches for a reliable system for handling wastes and residues (not nicely cut woodchips) at commercial-scale, for feeding into high pressure reactors. Problems such as arching and ratholing have impacted the success rates of feed systems. In this presentation from Jayant Khambekar, we are introduced to Jenike & Johansen’s Jen-Zero System, providing reliable flow without pre-treatment. Dr. Khambekar presented these slides at ABLC 2024 ..read more

Virent has two hot technology pathways for the bioeconomy — Sugars to Aromatics – S2A, which Virent, Marathon and Johnson Matthey (JM) are working together on commercializing globally. And, Ethanol to Aromatics – E2A, producing the same products as S2A, plus hydrogen and LPG, currently at demonstration scale. Virent CEO Dave Kettner presented these slides on Virent’s promise and progress on these pathways ..read more

Here, Greg Jaffe, senior adviser to the Secretary of Agriculture, highlights recent actions at the USDA on behalf of the bioeconomy. Specifically, highlighting the new USDA report on building a resilient bioeconomy supply chain. What’s in the report? An assessment of biomass availability and current uses. Factors affecting biomass supply chain systems: climate change, food security, environmental justice, biomass availability, infrastructure, workforce, policy, geopolitical challenges, trade risk. Recommendations for research, development and demonstration, investments, and policies that could ..read more