Chevron follows the money, bats down climate bill
In a not so surprising turn of events, Chevron’s CEO heir apparent, John Watson, spoke out against U.S. climate change legislation — offering the party line argument that increasing regulation will jack up energy prices and let the air out of our barely buoyant economy. His is just one voice in a chorus of fossil fuel executives opposing the Kerry-Boxer bill pending in the Senate.
But what makes his voice interesting is how hard Chevron has… Continue Reading
Chevron chips in $25M for biofuel company LS9
LS9, perhaps the company to watch synthesizing biofuels and chemicals from organic feedstocks like switchgrass, has brought in $25 million in a new round of capital from Chevron Technology Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures.
This is the second big win, the South San Francisco company has had recently. In May, it also landed a deal with corporate giant Procter & Gamble to make consumer chemicals from renewable and sustainable sources. Right now, its… Continue Reading
LanzaTech churns steel factory emissions into fuel
Biofuel companies are gaining momentum — with the market fixing its eyes on the conversion of corn and other agricultural stocks into ethanol. But another area of the business seems to be heating up: turning trash into transportation fuel. Last week, Fulcrum BioEnergy demonstrated its technology squeezing ethanol from municipal garbage. Today, New Zealand-based LanzaTech says it can do the same from waste gases released by steel factories.
Founded in 2005, the company has proved that… Continue Reading
Amyris takes $24.7M for renewable biofuels
Amyris Biotechnologies, one of the best-funded companies deriving biofuels from synthetic microorganisms, has raised $24.75 million of a targeted $62 million third round of venture financing, according to a regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Emeryville, Calif. company has raised an impressive $120 million before now.
Both Khosla Ventures and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers have invested in Amyris — also setting it apart as one of the companies to watch in the… Continue Reading
Athenix raises $10M for biofuels and specialty chemicals
Athenix, a Research Triangle Park, North Carolina-based maker of processes and products for agricultural and bioenergy applications, has raked in $10 million from existing investors Hunt Ventures, Intersouth Partners and Polaris Venture Partners, reports PEHub.
The company sells genes and enzymes that can be used to convert biomass sources, such as corn stover, straw and various agricultural by-products into cellulosic ethanol. It has also developed a process to efficiently extract and ferment sugars from cellulose and… Continue Reading
LanzaTech taps carbon monoxide emissions to produce ethanol
At first glance, LanzaTech’s plan to use bacterial fermentation to convert waste gas emissions into bio-ethanol doesn’t seem all that different from the waste-to-biofuel processes developed by other startups, like SequesCO and GreenFuel Technologies.
Trap a large quantity of emissions from a power plant, pipe them to algae or bacteria contained in either a pond or bioreactor, add a few nutrients and voila! You now have a ready supply of biofuels. Unlike its competitors, however, Auckland,… Continue Reading
SequesCO combines CO2 sequestration with biofuel production
Sequesco joins a growing list of startups that are using synthetic biology to custom-produce advanced biofuels. But unlike competitors LS9 and Amyris, which are engineering microbes to make hydrocarbon-based fuels from various plant biomass sources, it uses waste carbon dioxide as its primary feedstock.
The idea is to pump CO2 from large emitters like coal plants or biorefineries into the firm’s bioreactors, in which large colonies of bacteria would use the greenhouse gas and a nutrient… Continue Reading
Gevo raises another $17M for synthetic biofuels
Gevo, the Pasadena, Calif., based developer of synthetic biofuels just wrapped up a $17 million third round of funding. New investors Burrill & Co. and Malaysian Life Sciences Capital Fund joined cleantech regulars Khosla Ventures and Virgin Green Fund; the biofuel start-up has already raised over $30 million since the beginning of last year.
Like competitors LS9, OPX Biotechnologies and Amyris (see our prior coverage here, here and here), Gevo is trying to change the face… Continue Reading
Amyris joins forces with Crystalsev to produce sugary fuels
A combination of rising food prices and environmental concerns has helped spark a backlash against biofuels. Once viewed as a key component of any successful climate mitigation strategy, biofuels — particularly those derived from food crops, such as corn ethanol — have seen their popularity wane in recent months as scientists and policymakers alike have come to realize that their costs may far outstrip their perceived benefits.
Brazil has arguably become the poster child for biofuel… Continue Reading
LS9 takes $3M loan for biofuel plant equipment
LS9, a synthetic biology startup that’s modifying microbes to churn out biofuels, has taken on a $3 million loan toward the construction of a pilot production plant, according to VentureWire.
The loan was provided by Leader Ventures. LS9 has also taken about $20 million to date in two rounds of venture capital.
LS9 takes $15M to synthesize petroleum alternative
LS9, a Silicon Valley startup that hopes its technology may one day help replace petroleum, has taken $15 million more in funding.
The San Carlos, Calif. company uses synthetic biology to modify microorganisms in order to produce high-energy fuels, including to power cars (see our previous coverage).
According to the company’s own projections, it is two to three years from commercializing and selling a synthetic fuel. LS9 recently recruited president Robert Walsh, who brings several decades of… Continue Reading
LS9 says it has produced petroleum-like cleaner fuel
LS9, a San Carlos, Calif. company, says it has developed a petroleum-like fuel made out of renewable sugars, pointing the way to a potentially more efficient type of clean alternative to dirty crude oil.
Executives of the Silicon Valley company tell the Wall Street Journal they have produced hydrocarbon from sugar by mixing it with a microbe they’ve developed.
Unlike ethanol or biodiesel products being developed by a growing roster of other companies, this substance is… Continue Reading
Craig Venter wants to patent some life forms
Craig Venter, the controversial entrepreneur who led the private-sector effort to sequence the human genome, is now seeking a patent for a “minimal genome,” a type of synthetic biology aimed at creating life forms, or living “machines.”
It may even be used for creating ethanol or other biofuels, something that several other companies are working on.
The US patent application (see the application here), filed by Hamilton Smith and colleagues at the J. Craig Venter Institute… Continue Reading
LS9, biofuel company, raises $5M
LS9, a biofuel company based in San Carlos, Calif., has raised $5 million in a first round of funding from Khosla Ventures and Flagship Ventures, Venturewire reports today (subscription only).
We mentioned the LS9 backing last week, but the amount of backing wasn’t specified. The company develops biofuels that are similar to petroleum.
LS9 and Gevo latest biofuel companies, backed by Khosla Ventures
LS9 and Gevo are the two latest biofuel start-ups in Silicon Valley backed by venture capital firm Khosla Ventures.
LS9, of San Carlos, was first mentioned by the Mercury News after it launched recently. It is using synthetic biology to produce proprietary biofuels that resemble petroleum — but which are designed to be “renewable, clean, domestically produced, and cost competitive.”
It was founded in 2005 by Khosla Ventures, Flagship Ventures, along with two scientists, Chris Somerville,… Continue Reading