Microbiologist Thomas Jeffries has spent a quarter of a century poking and prodding a yeast called Pichia stipitis to enhance its cellulose fermenting prowess. The yeast made science headlines when its genome sequence revealed the secrets of its ethanol-producing process.
Ethanol production is now important enough to conscript the services of the world's fastest supercomputers. These machines at the San Diego Supercomputer Center and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are allowing the interaction between cellulases and cellulose to be seen with the power of a trillion minds.
By Samuel Rosenbloom
May 22, 2007
Ethanol and biofuels in general have come under criticism from many sides lately, but when industry leaders gathered in Florida for the fourth annual World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioprocessing, the focus was on how the industry could transform the world.
Blazing trails in a fast-moving industry is a daunting task for even the most robust ethanol producers. First National Investment Banking helps producers position their companies to take advantage of changes in the ethanol industry, which some believe could be headed for a wave of consolidations.
To help meet the objectives outlined in President George W. Bush's "Twenty in Ten" initiative the U.S. DOE awarded grants to six companies to commercially develop their cellulosic ethanol technologies. EPM outlines each of the selected companies and their plans for the second-generation ethanol future.
Responding to the high demand for qualified ethanol plant operators, the National Corn-to-Ethanol Research Center at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville offers a consolidated training program that provides participants with an overview of the entire ethanol production process in five days. The program has received excellent reviews and increased interest.
The story of Poet, an ethanol industry powerhouse formerly known as Broin Companies, is much like the story of the ethanol industry. It began on a family farm and grew into a diversified corporation. Now, with a new name and ownership reorganization, it begins a new chapter in biorefining.
U.S. ethanol industry has great potential to expand outside this country
By Sean Broderick, Commodity Specialists Company
April 23, 2007
Volatility appears to be the pattern
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