The new biomass heating and power station of the Zweckverband Restmuellheizkraftwerk Boeblingen (RBB) in the German Land of Baden-Wuerttemberg has now started regular operations, using finely chopped material to generate energy in a manner which is most compatible with protection of the environment.

Verenium Corporation, a pioneer in the development of next-generation cellulosic ethanol and high-performance specialty enzymes, and international energy company BP announced that their jointly-owned, commercial cellulosic ethanol project, located in Highlands County, Florida, has been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy to enter the due diligence phase of its Title XVII Loan Guarantee Program.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has signed an agreement with Avantium to enable the sale and delivery of an Avantium Flowrence(TM) parallel fixed bed reactor system. The Flowrence(TM) will allow PNNL to accelerate its catalyst research for infrastructure compatible biofuels and bioproducts.

Solo Cup Company today announced the introduction of Bare™ by Solo® compostable plates made with sugarcane. The ivory-colored plates feature an on-trend, square design that offers a stylish alternative to traditional round single-use dinnerware.

Metabolix announced today that Telles, the joint venture between Metabolix, Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLX) and Archer Daniels Midland Company that produces Mirel™ bioplastics, has developed its next generation of injection molding bioplastic, Mirel P1003, in a collaborative effort with Nypro, a leading global precision plastics molder.

As predicted, the official buzzword of the National Restaurant Association’s annual convention in Chicago last month was “survival” – as owners from the nation’s beleaguered 945,000 restaurants huddled and shared cost-cutting and revenue-generating ideas in their first important industrial gathering since the economic crash. Not predicted, by many, was that these ideas included a flood of “green” products and “greenish gadgets” that ranged from biodegradable tableware and paper straws to high-tech waste food digesters that compost solids and – believe it or not – things like water-free urinals and solar collectors to save utility costs!

Feedstock supply and logistics, among the chief challenges to commercializing the production of biofuels from new feedstocks, will be a key focus of a new division at POET, the company announced today.

Today at the Fuel Ethanol Workshop, Inbicon CEO Niels Henriksen introduced a new 20-million-gallon-a-year engineering model designed to demonstrate the Inbicon Biomass Refinery in North America. For the Danish bio-technology group, "this marks a major step along a practical pathway to cellulosic biomass conversion and commercial production of The New Ethanol," says Henriksen.