Global pure-play agriculture company Corteva Inc. announced a collaboration with bp on the companies’ shared intent to form a crop-based biofuel feedstock joint venture (JV). The JV envisaged by Corteva and bp would produce and deliver crop-based biofuel feedstocks to help meet the anticipated growth in demand for sustainable aviation... Read more →

Alfa Laval has secured two contracts worth 350 million SEK (US$32 million) to supply HVO pre-treatment technology to Europe’s largest biofuel facility. The facility, a joint venture between Cepsa Bioenergia San Roque S.L. (CSBR), and Bio-Oils Energy, part of the Apical Group, will produce 500,000 tonnes of sustainable aviation fuel... Read more →

An Australian-led scientific breakthrough to increase oil yield from plants will help advance the production and use of biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel. Developed over a decade by scientists from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, the technology was acquired by Australian agricultural innovation company Nufarm. Oils from plants are... Read more →

A multi-country, government-led initiative dedicated to advancing the global transition to a sustainable, bio-based economy, unveiled a new Global Biomass Resource Assessment, providing data on current and future sustainable biomass supplies around the world. The results from this new global sustainable supply assessment will allow scientists, policymakers, and industry leaders... Read more →

Comstock Inc. executed a binding agreement between Comstock Fuels Corporation and SACL Pte. Limited, a Singapore-based renewable fuel project developer, engaged in the delivery of several biofuel production facilities and hybrid renewable energy projects under which Comstock Fuels agreed to grant SACL an exclusive marketing agreement for Comstock Fuels’ advanced... Read more →

Rio Tinto will develop Pongamia seed farms in Australia as part of a new biofuels pilot. The project will explore the potential of Pongamia seed oil as a feedstock for renewable diesel. The pilot aims to determine if Pongamia seed oil can contribute to Rio Tinto’s renewable diesel needs while... Read more →

An interagency team led by the US Department of Energy (DOE), US Department of Agriculture (USDA), and US Department of Transportation’s (DOT’s) Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has released the Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Grand Challenge: Metrics Dashboard Fact Sheet. The Metrics Dashboard Fact Sheet summarizes actions and progress to help... Read more →

Blue Biofuels has successfully produced cellulosic ethanol in high yields from multiple biomass feedstocks using its proprietary Cellulose-to-Sugar (CTS) technology. This achievement is the result of processing biomass from king grass, sugar cane bagasse, and corn stover on the company’s upscaled CTS pilot line. The sugars produced from the CTS... Read more →

Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), Canada’s premier nuclear science and technology laboratory, in partnership with Expander Energy Inc., FuelCell Energy, Nuclear Promise X, and St Marys Cement, have been awarded C$4.9 million (US$3.6 million) from Natural Resources Canada’s Clean Fuels Fund (CFF) and Energy Innovation Program (EIP) to support two new... Read more →

Honeywell and Repsol will collaborate to create new production pathways for biofuels and circular materials. The two will also explore the possible integration of these methods into Repsol’s existing facilities. The companies plan to scale and to commercialize Honeywell’s technologies, which use various wastes like fats, oils, greases, biomass and... Read more →

DG Fuels, a US-owned sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) company, in cooperation with the Nebraska BioEconomy, has selected Phelps County, Nebraska, for its first Midwest production facility. The plant will produce 193 million gallons of zero- or low-CO2 lifecycle emissions SAF per year and meet ASTM fuel standards. Production is expected... Read more →

A new study shows feedstocks produced within the US are on track to support domestic production of an additional 1.4 billion gallons of renewable diesel and biodiesel, also known as biomass-based diesel (BBD), by 2030. Commissioned by the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) and conducted by S&P Global Commodity Insights,... Read more →

Shell Nederland Raffinaderij B.V., a subsidiary of Shell plc, will pause on-site construction work at its 820,000 tonnes a year biofuels facility at the Shell Energy and Chemicals Park Rotterdam in the Netherlands to address project delivery and ensure future competitiveness given current market conditions. As a result, contractor numbers... Read more →

MAIRE S.p.A. announced that NEXTCHEM (Sustainable Technology Solutions BU), through its subsidiary MyRechemical, has signed a licensing contract with DG Fuels Louisiana, LCC in relation to its proprietary NX Circular gasification technology. The DG plant, expected to be operational in 2028, will produce 450 million liters per year of SAF... Read more →

Rio Tinto will invest US$143 million (A$215 million) to develop a research and development facility in Western Australia to further assess the effectiveness of its low-carbon ironmaking process, BioIron, to support decarbonizing the global steel value chain. (Earlier post.) The development of the BioIron Research and Development Facility in the... Read more →

BASF applies a biomass balance approach to replace fossil resources at the beginning of the production process with certified biowaste raw materials which are attributed to the products. The mass balanced products are certified according to ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) PLUS standards. In addition, BASF is using electricity... Read more →

Researchers in China have developed a strategy for the production of furoin and furil, high-value C10 fuel precursors, by upgrading biomass-based furfural. A paper on their work is published in the journal Fuel. Yuan et al. Furfural is known to be one of the promising lignocellulosic biomass-derived platform molecules. Given... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) announced the MACRO: Mixed Algae Conversion Research Opportunity funding opportunity announcement (DE-FOA-0003274). The FOA will award up to $18.8 million to address research and development (R&D) challenges in converting algae, such... Read more →

Start-up Terragia Biofuel raised a $6-million seed round led by Engine Ventures and Energy Impact Partners (EIP). The company will use the capital to commercialize its novel biology-based approach to converting cellulosic biomass into ethanol and other products, expand its employee headcount and initiate partnerships with major biofuel producers. Terragia... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) released the 2023 Billion-Ton Report (BT23), which shows that the US could sustainably triple its production of biomass to more than 1 billion tons per year. The report—the fourth in a series of assessments of potential biomass resources in the United States since 2005—finds... Read more →

The US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy released a Funding Opportunity Announcement (DE-FOA-0003178) for up to $9.4 million for the development of advanced biofuels. This investment through a new agreement between EPA and DOE is funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and will support high-impact... Read more →

The US Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) and Office of Fossil Energy and Carbon Management (FECM) intend to issue funding (DE-FOA-0003276) to support research and development projects for converting algae and other wet waste feedstocks to low-carbon fuels, chemicals and agricultural products. The intended Mixed Algae Conversion Research... Read more →

Biologists at the US Department of Energy’s (DOE) Brookhaven National Laboratory have demonstrated a new way to boost the oil content of plant leaves and seeds. As described in an open-access paper in the journal New Phytologist, the scientists identified and successfully altered key portions of a protein that protects... Read more →

Sumitomo Corporation of America (SCOA), a subsidiary of Sumitomo Corporation, has entered into a Joint Development Agreement for the Louisiana Green Fuels (LGF) project with Strategic Biofuels (SBF), the developer behind LGF. SCOA will take an anchor position and lead the formation of a Japanese-based investment consortium aimed at funding... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) announced $29 million in funding to drive research, development, and demonstration (RD&D) of low carbon intensity, purpose-grown energy crops critical to accelerating a clean energy economy. (DE-FOA-0003209) The Regional Resource Hubs for Purpose-Grown Energy Crops funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will advance a... Read more →

France-based industrial biotechnology company Global Bioenergies (earlier post) has signed a new development contract with Shell Global Solutions (Deutschland) GmbH (“Shell”) further to develop low- carbon road fuels. While the previous phases of the collaboration, starting at the end of 2022, were dedicated to exploring different potential options based on... Read more →

Researchers from the University of São Paulo and Universidad de Jaén in Brazil have shown that hydrogen can be produced from vine shoots—the main waste generated during vine pruning in viticulture, with up to 2 tons generated per hectare annually. Their work evaluates, for the first time, the possibility of... Read more →

Researchers with the US Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have defined quantitatively the relative positioning and arrangement of the polymers in Populus wood and to create a computer model that details the findings. The research into solving this macromolecular puzzle, which appears in an open-access paper... Read more →

Mercedes-Benz HPC North America LLC and Simon, a global provider of premier shopping, dining, entertainment and mixed-use destinations, announced a strategic relationship that will result in expanding the Mercedes-Benz Charging Network to Simon locations. Key initiatives will include: Deployment of Mercedes-Benz branded EV fast chargers at no less than 55... Read more →

The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Visolis, a sustainable technology company, will collaborate to produce isoprene through the upcycling of biobased materials. This collaboration is supported by a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant awarded to Visolis earlier this year. Isoprene, an important precursor for some types of synthetic... Read more →

Honeywell and GranBio Technologies will combine Honeywell’s ethanol-to-jet (ETJ) technology (earlier post) with GranBio’s cellulosic ethanol AVAP technology to produce carbon-neutral sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) from biomass residues at GranBio’s forthcoming US demonstration plant. GranBio’s patented AVAP process converts biomass, including forest and agricultural residues, to pure low-cost, low-carbon-intensity sugars,... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) is awarding $16.7 million in funding to five projects to advance the production of affordable biofuels and biochemicals that will significantly reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Located in four states, these selected projects support the development of high-impact technologies that convert domestic biomass and... Read more →

ADM and Syngenta Group, one of the world’s biggest agricultural technology companies, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to collaborate in scaling research and commercialization of low carbon-intensity next-generation oilseeds and improved varieties to help meet skyrocketing demand for biofuels and other sustainably-sourced products. The MoU envisions a collaboration in... Read more →

Airbus has become a strategic partner with DG Fuels (DGF), an emerging producer of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). DGF’s fuel production system is based entirely on cellulosic waste products, such as wood waste from the logging industry, and renewable energy sources, such as wind and solar power. The partnership with... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) Bioenergy Technologies Office (BETO) awarded $18.6 million in funding to eight university and industry projects to develop biomass feedstocks to produce affordable biofuels and bioproducts that reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The selected projects support DOE’s investment in the development and production of biofuels... Read more →

A team from Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ (Leipzig, Germany) has shown the scale-up of the production of aviation drop-in fuel-like mixtures (mainly n-decane) that are obtained by Kolbe electrolysis of medium-chain carboxylic acids (n-hexanoic acid), which can be derived from biomass. A paper on their work appears in... Read more →

Marathon Petroleum Corporation selected Topsoe as the technology provider for renewable fuels production at the Martinez Renewable Fuels Facility in California. The facility, part of Marathon’s 50/50 joint venture with Neste, utilizes Topsoe’s HydroFlex technology to convert bio-feedstock into renewable diesel. The continued partnership between Topsoe and Marathon builds upon... Read more →

Bentley has installed a 1,200-liter biofuel tank at its Crewe factory after successful performance trials of biogasoline—Sustain by Coryton—at Goodwood Festival of Speed. Bentley ran its six-strong fleet at Goodwood using the fuel and successfully completed all 32 hill-climbs. The 750PS, W12-engined Batur fueled with the second-gen biofuel completed a... Read more →

SunGas Renewables Inc. announced the formation of Beaver Lake Renewable Energy, LLC (BLRE), which will construct a new green methanol production facility in Central Louisiana. A wholly-owned subsidiary of SunGas Renewables, BLRE is expected to generate from the facility nearly 400,000 metric tons of green methanol per year for marine... Read more →

Uniper and Sasol ecoFT (a division of Sasol) will enter the next phase of the SkyFuelH2 project for production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in Långsele, Sollefteå, Sweden. The plant is subject to a final investment decision in the future. Uniper and Sasol ecoFT have jointly applied for funding from... Read more →

BMW Group Plant Dingolfing will use heat produced from regional biomass and its own waste wood to meet about 50% of its process hot water requirements from 2025 onwards. The company has signed a supply contract to this effect for just under 100,000 MWh of thermal energy per year with... Read more →

Origin Materials, a carbon negative materials company (earlier post), has begun startup of Origin 1, the first commercial CMF plant, located in Sarnia, Ontario, in-line with prior guidance. The plant represents a significant scale-up of Origin’s technology platform for converting sustainable wood residues into versatile intermediate chemicals. The Origin platform... Read more →

Animal fats and used cooking oil are increasingly joining the likes of lithium, cobalt and copper as energy transitional materials where supply constraints are of growing concern, according to a new analysis of trade flows by S&P Global Commodity Insights Agribusiness Consulting group. The analysis, entitled Biofuel Feedstock Trade Flows:... Read more →

Dow and New Energy Blue announced a long-term supply agreement in North America in which New Energy Blue will create bio-based ethylene from renewable agricultural residues. Dow expects to purchase this bio-based ethylene, reducing carbon emissions from plastic production, and using it in recyclable applications across transportation, footwear, and packaging.... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) launched the Clean Fuels & Products Shot, a new initiative that aims to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) from carbon-based fuels and products significantly. This is the seventh DOE Energy Earthshot, which focuses on reducing carbon emissions from the fuel and chemical industry through... Read more →

Oleo-X, a producer of premium renewable fuel feedstocks, launched its renewable diesel (RD) and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) feedstock merchant pretreatment facility. In addition to the facility launch, Oleo-X announced the appointment of longtime airline fuel executive Sergio Correa as Chief Executive Officer. Located in Pascagoula, Mississippi, Oleo-X’s facility has... Read more →

The Department of Energy announced $14 million in funding (DE-FOA-0002946) to support and to optimize the production of affordable biofuels and biochemicals while significantly reducing carbon emissions. The Topic Areas in the 2023 Conversion Research and Development (R&D) funding opportunity seek to address the following R&D needs: R&D on gasification... Read more →

The US Department of Energy (DOE) will award $590 million to renew its four existing Bioenergy Research Centers (BRCs). This funding will help support the Department’s research into the next generation of sustainable, cost-effective bioproducts and bioenergy from domestic biomass resources. Each of the four centers, led by a National... Read more →

Strategic Biofuels has selected Johnson Matthey’s (JM’s) Fischer Tropsch (FT) CANS technology—co-developed with bp—for its Louisiana Green Fuels project (LGF) in Caldwell Parish, Louisiana. Located on a 327-acre site at the Port of Columbia, the LGF plant plans to convert 1 million tons of forestry waste feedstock into cleaner-burning renewable... Read more →

The US Department of Energy announced $25.5 million in funding to enable the sustainable use of domestic biomass and waste resources, such as agricultural residues and algae, to produce low-carbon biofuels and bioproducts. The “Reducing Agricultural Carbon Intensity and Protecting Algal Crops” funding opportunity (RACIPAC) (DE-FOA-0002910) will improve the production... Read more →