http://www.che.com Chemical Engineering en-us 2013 Thu, 20 Jun 2013 1:51:27 EDT A move toward bio-based malic acid... Novozymes A/S (Copenhagen, Denmark; www.novozymes.com) has developed a strain of metabolically engineered Aspergillus oryzae fungus that is capable of producing the four-carbon, dicarboxylic acid compound malic acid. The chemical building block malic acid is used as a... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9637.html Sat, 1 Sep 2012 0:00:00 EDT Ajinomoto Co., Inc. (www.ajinomoto.com) and Bridgestone Corp. (Both Tokyo, Japan; www.bridgestone.com) have jointly developed a bio-based, high- cis-polyisoprene synthetic rubber. The two companies began an R&D cooperation in June 2011 to combine their know-how — Ajinomoto’s... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9529.html Wed, 1 Aug 2012 0:00:00 EDT A partnership between Australian research agency CSIRO (Melbourne, Australia; www.csiro.au) and Lonza Group Ltd. (Basel, Switzerland; www.lonza.com), aims to market new insect silk products globally. Potential applications of insect silk include composite fibers for the aviation and marine industries, and... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9367.html Fri, 1 Jun 2012 0:00:00 EDT Proterro Inc. (Princeton, N.J.; www. proterro.com) has demonstrated technology for directly producing sucrose as a feedstock for bio-based chemicals and biofuels that avoids the need for cellulosic biomass and energy crops. Using a genetically engineered strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria and a unique... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9369.html Fri, 1 Jun 2012 0:00:00 EDT New biocomposite plastics that combine soybean-meal protein with conventional plastic resins allow significantly lower use of petroleum-based chemicals in polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP) manufacturing. The new class of bioplastics incorporates soybean-meal protein, which is chemically bound to... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9158.html Sun, 1 Apr 2012 0:00:00 EDT The first commercial-scale biobutanol plant using the Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT) process is set to come online in mid-2012 at the former site of an ethanol facility in Minnesota. In late January, Gevo (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) was awarded a U.S. patent for the GIFT separation... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9037.html Thu, 1 Mar 2012 0:00:00 EST The first commercial-scale biobutanol plant using the Gevo Integrated Fermentation Technology (GIFT) process is set to come online in mid-2012 at the former site of an ethanol facility in Minnesota. In late January, Gevo (Englewood, Colo.; www.gevo.com) was awarded a U.S. patent for the GIFT separation... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/9166.html Thu, 1 Mar 2012 0:00:00 EST Using gene recombination technology, Toyota Motor Corp. (TMC; Toyota City, Japan: www2.toyota.co.jp/en) has developed a new strain of yeast that achieves one of the highest ethanol-fermentation density levels in the world — approximately 47 g/L with 87% yield (based on the feed sugar). In addition to... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/8769.html Thu, 1 Dec 2011 0:00:00 EST Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. (MHI; Tokyo, www.mhi.co.jp) says it has established technology to produce bioethanol for automobile use by using soft-cellulose, such as wheat straw and rice straw, as raw materials. MHI estimates the fuel cost for a full-scale production plant — accounting for the... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/8097.html Wed, 1 Jun 2011 0:00:00 EDT Spider silk has many unique properties that make it suitable for applications such as coatings and medical products. As a protein, the silk is remarkably stable and is only destroyed physically or digested and recycled by the spider. However, an industrially viable synthetic route to spider silk has eluded... http://www.che.com/chementator/biotechnology/7929.html Sun, 1 May 2011 0:00:00 EDT