What’s up with C5 and C6 sugars? Given that a significant portion of the several billion dollars spent on renewable fuels spending involves these molecules, it is not surprising that progress is fast and furious….
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Organic Acids: Key Facilitators of the Bio-economy
Organic Acids: Key Facilitators of the Bio-economy? Recent declines in oil prices and the failure of start-up biofuel processes to meet production cost targets have increased the interest in producing value added chemicals from biomass…
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Early-stage, Breakthrough Technologies: Biofuels, 10 of the Best
The concept of early stage, breakthrough biofuels technologies is a bit of an oxymoron. At an early stage how does one determine if it something is a “breakthrough” biofuels technology? This article, first published in…
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Combined Heat and Power
When we talk about a “combined heat & power” (CHP), often referred to as “Cogeneration” or “Cogen”, we are describing the practice of using fuel (or nuclear energy) to heat up a liquid, usually water,…
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Hazards and Operability (HAZOP)
What do HAZOP experts in the bioeconomy do? HAZOP (Hazards and Operability Study), a widely used process hazards analysis methodology, use professionally qualified team brainstorming to identify and resolve process safety hazards by considering unusual…
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Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS)
Congress created the Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS) Program to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and expand the nation’s renewable fuels sector while reducing reliance on imported oil. This program was authorized under the Energy Policy Act…
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What is TEA?
What is TEA in the renewable industries? Very simply, it is the acronym for techno-economic analysis. Bringing new technology to the market is a commitment. It’s expensive and normally takes quite some time. Uncertainty is…
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Hazard Mitigation
Like in most industries, safety hazard mitigation in the bioeconomy is a key component of every process hazard analysis of every project. This is most frequently done using HAZOP (Hazards and Operability) studies. HAZOP is…
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Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS)
What are Renewable Identification Numbers (RINS), and what does a RIN expert do? A Renewable Identification Number (or RIN) is a serial number assigned to the volume of a batch of biofuel for the purpose…
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Risk Management Compliance in Renewables
Renewable Risk Management and Process Safety are integral parts of the renewable energy industry. Process Safety Management (PSMS) refers to a set of interrelated approaches to managing hazards associated with the process industries and is…
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