April 25, 2016
BY Erin Krueger
ACE Group launches dedicated environmental policy for renewable energy
ACE Group has launched ACE Renewable Energy Environmental Protection, the first dedicated environmental policy for companies in the renewable energy industry in the U.K. and Ireland, as ACE continues to invest in its environmental risk capabilities. ACE Renewable Energy Environmental Protection covers the full spectrum of environmental risks faced by renewable energy companies, providing seamless coverage. It is available to energy producers in every renewable sector, including solar, onshore and offshore wind, tidal, hydro, waste-to-energy, biofuel and landfill gas extraction.
Deinove awarded patents
Deinove recently announced it has received 10 new patent grant agreements. Patent family PF7: “Bacteria and uses thereof” received an initial agreement for issuance by the U.S. Patent Office. The patent protects the production of compounds such as ethanol, proteins, enzymes, or drugs from Deinococcus bacteria. The company has also obtained new grant agreements for five families of patents already issued in other geographical areas. The Deinove patent portfolio now includes 19 patent families protecting its technology platforms, development of selection methods for a wide variety of Deinococcus and related bacteria, their use in the production processes of various biobased products of interest, and their industrial applications.
JBEI announces new leadership in fuels synthesis division
The Department of Energy’s Joint Bioenergy Institute has announced Aindrila Mukhopadhyay will step into the role of vice president of the Fuels Synthesis Division. Mukhopadhyay, who joined Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in 2003, will continue to serve as director of JBEI’s Host Engineering group and as interim division director of LBNL’s Biological Systems and Engineering in the Biosciences Area. She leads a team responsible for the study of signaling and stress response in both environmental and engineered organisms. Her research focus at JBEI is the development of robust microbial strains that show high tolerance and productivity during biofuels and chemicals production. Her team has conducted many discovery, strain engineering and systems biology studies to explore the causes of growth inhibition and low productivity, and has developed strategies to improve these phenotypes. With her team, she has published numerous research papers on this topic, and holds patents on the use and optimization of cellular transport system to improve tolerance to final products as well as improve intake of carbon sources. Taek Soon Lee has been named deputy vice president of the Fuels Synthesis Division, a position previously held by Mukhopadhyay. Lee joined Jay Keasling’s group at UC Berkeley and LBNL as a postdoctoral researcher in 2006, and since 2008 Lee has served as director of metabolic engineering in the Fuels Synthesis Division at JBEI. His research group focuses on the identification of potential drop-in biofuels and building and optimizing the metabolic pathways to produce these target fuels in microbes.
PanAridus awarded patent
PanAridus LLC, an Arizona-based guayule producer, recently announced the U.S. Patent Office granted the company its 10th patent, the first in the industry for guayule harvesting. PanAridus already holds nine patents for guayule plants, which yield a polymer nearly identical to tropically grown natural rubber.
Novozymes announces new corporate structure
Novozymes has announced the formation of three divisions: Household Care and Technical Industries, Agriculture and Bioenergy, and Food and Beverages. The organizational change aims to enhance the company’s ability to deliver more innovation to customers with more speed and commercial impact. Each division will be led by a newly named executive vice president. They are: Agriculture and Bioenergy, Tina Sejersgård Fanø, formerly vice president of sales; Household Care and Technical Industries, Anders Lund, formerly vice president of sales; and Food and Beverages, Andrew Fordyce, formerly vice president of Business Operations.
The divisions will be supported by one central Research, Innovation and Supply organization led by Thomas Videbæk, chief operating officer and executive vice president. Benny D. Loft, chief financial officer and executive vice president, is head of Corporate Functions, and Peder Holk Nielsen will continue as CEO and president.
European Biogas Association elects leadership
The European Biogas Association has announced the reelection of Jan Štambaský of the Czech Biogas Association as president and Harm Grobrügge of the German Biogas Association and Franz Kirchmeyr of the Austrian Compost & Biogas Association as vice presidents. Stefano Bozzetto of the Italian Biogas Association, David Collins of the Renewable Energy Association-Biogas Group, Attila Kovacs of the Hungarian Biogas Association and Anderson Mathiasson of Swedish Gas Association will serve as board members. In addition, Susanna Pflüger has been appointed secretary general.
JetBlue joins RSB
JetBlue Airways has joined The Roundtable on Sustainable Biomaterials. As the first U.S. airline member, JetBlue joins 100 other like-minded organizations in creating a market and standard for sustainable biomass and biobased products. The RSB is an independent and global multistakeholder coalition that works to promote the sustainability of biomaterials. JetBlue will participate in discussions relating to the aviation sector.
WSM announces WSM BioPrep
West Salem Machinery Co. has announced the WSM BioPrep Organics Processing System, a complete high-capacity system to convert green waste, food waste, and mixed organics into high-quality feedstock for compost and anaerobic digestion conversion systems. The system includes bulk receiving and metering infeed, shredding, conveying, metal removal or detection, light fraction separation, screening, sorting, and grinding—the full set of tools to allow effective processing of incoming materials at rates up to 100 tons per hour.
Morbark announces acquisition
Morbark LLC has been acquired by an affiliate of Stellex Capital Management. The acquisition is focused on providing growth capital and resources to significantly expand the company in the future.
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