List of Synthetic Fuel and Drop-in Biofuel Stocks
Synthetic fuel stocks are publicly traded companies creating transportation fuel from non-liquid feedstocks such as natural gas, coal, and municipal waste. Drop-in biofuel stocks are publicly traded companies creating transportation fuel from organic feedstock that can be used, transported, and stored by conventional petrofuel infrastructure. A synthetic fuel is a biofuel if it is made from organic feedstock. It is a drop-in fuel if it is compatible with the existing infrastructure for petroleum based fuels.
This post was last updated on 7/20/2022.
Amyris (AMRS)
Archaea Energy, Inc. (LFG)
BioAmber (BIOA)
Codexis (CDXS)
Darling Ingredients (DAR)
Gevo (GEVO)
Global Bioenergies (ALGBE.NX)
Neste, Inc. (NEF.F, NESTE.HE, NTOIF, NTOIY)
N-Viro International Corp. (NVIC)
Sasol Ltd. (SSL)
Velocys, PLC (VLS.L)
If...
Rentech’s Wood Saw Hits a Knot
by Debra Fiakas CFA Last week Rentech, Inc. (RTK: NYSE) revealed plans to idle its wood pellet production facility in Wawa, Ontario Canada. To operate efficiently the plant requires additional repairs and upgrades beyond the replacement of conveyors that was completed in Fall 2016. Beside the fact that the additional repairs were not included in the regular capital budget, Rentech management has apparently determined the expenditure is not economic given profits from Wawa. When Rentech reports financial results for the fourth quarter ending December 2016, shareholders will be treated to an asset impairment charge for the Wawa facility....
Senator Inhofe: 9x Cost for Biofuels Is Too Much, but 29x Was OK for...
Jim Lane Arch-critic of the cost of military biofuels Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe comes under scrutiny over earmarks for natural gas-based military fuels that cost 29 times more than conventional fuels. In Washington, the battle over advanced military biofuels took a turn for the bizarre this week, amidst revelations that a leading Senate sponsor of legislation to restrict Navy purchases of advanced biofuels, James Inhofe of Oklahoma, had previously secured earmarks for Syntroleum Corporation (SYNM) to produce natural gas-to-liquid alternative fuels which were priced 29 times higher than conventional fuels. Overall, Syntroleum reported receiving nearly $6...
Rentech Retrenches
by Debra Fiakas CFA Clean energy solution provider Rentech, Inc. (RTK: NYSE) is scheduled to report second quarter 2012 results the first week in August. Usually the seasonally strong period, this year the June quarter has shareholders sweating. That is because the warm weather conditions sent farmers out into fields earlier than usual to prepare fields. Orders for fertilizer products from Rentech’s East Dubuque, Iowa facility were coming even before the end of the March quarter. The net effect was to pull sales forward. The question now is whether June will now present...
The Best Peak Oil Investments, Part IV: Gas-, Biomass-, and Coal-to-Liquids
Tom Konrad CFA There are many proposed solutions to the liquid fuels scarcity caused be stagnating (and eventually falling) oil supplies combined with growing demand in emerging economies. Some will be good investments, others won't. Here is where I'm putting my money, and why. This fourth part takes a look at the possibility of converting coal, natural gas or Biomass into gasoline or diesel we can use in unmodified vehicles. In the first three parts of this series, I looked at various substitutes for oil based transportation fuels: Biofuels and Biochemicals Vehicle Electrification...
The Hydrogen Problem
Jim Lane HydroMan may do his hydrogen-shift thing via water, at will – but outside of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, we have some hydrogen issues. Psst! Like cutting out a fossil hydrogen dependency for many biofuels. But, new pathways ensure that the status hydroquo may not last for long. A numbers of readers responding to “Biofuels from a raging fireball” (on research work with the raging fireball, Pyrococchus furiosus, to make biofuels and renewable chemicals from hydrogen gas and CO2) raised the question, where is all the hydrogen going to...
The Low Sulfur Diesel Crisis of 2020 And How To Prevent It
“The global economy likely faces an economic crash of horrible proportions in 2020, not for want of a nail but want of low-sulfur diesel fuel,” writes renowned energy analyst Phil Verleger in a note this month titled “$200 Crude, the Economic Crisis of 2020, and Policies to Prevent Catastrophe”. Not good timing for a White House re-election effort if, as expected, the blame falls on lack of preparedness in the 2017-2020 run-up to the projected crisis..
It’s a dire scenario but there’s hard data behind it, and though few go as far as Verleger, almost every expert is warning of a...
Biofuel Industry Reacts To EPA New Renewable Fuel Standard
Yay or Nay for EPA? RFS Volumes out for 2020, Biodiesel for 2021 – What’s the reaction from industry?
by Jim Lane
What’s the reaction from industry? Coal for Christmas?
Should Santa bring coal for EPA’s stocking this year? Do the biofuels and agriculture industries think the EPA just put coal in their stocking? Is it thumbs up or thumbs down from biofuel industry advocates on last week’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency renewable fuel volumes? What about the exempted volumes?
The Ruling – Rotten or Respectable?
First, a bit on the EPA ruling that establishes the required renewable volumes under the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) program for...
The Return of Advanced Biofuels
by Jim Lane
For several years now we have seen a significant number of players pivoting from biofuels towards smaller but higher-value markets in chemicals, nutrition, nutraceuticals, pharma, materials, flavorings, fragrances, cosmetics and more. We’ve reported on the proliferation of applications both in the Digest and in What’s Nuu? and indeed there’s been so much that’s Nuu, it’s been dizzying at times with all the spinning and twirling.
Capital costs and policy uncertainty have played their part, but the foot on the pedal for many has been oil prices. The scale of operations to compete with oil prices in the 2014-2017 period...
Milestone for Gas-to-Liquids Fuel Plant
Syntroleum Corp (SYNM) commemorated the successful production of more than 140,000 gallons of ultra-clean fuels at its gas-to-liquid (GTL) fuels plant at Port of Catoosa, Oklahoma. The plant also manufactured 60,000 gallons of additional products, such as syncrude. Gathered to mark the occasion were representatives from Syntroleum, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Marathon Oil Company and Integrated Concepts and Research Corporation (ICRC).
Betting On Renewable Diesel: Valero or Darling?
Valero Energy (VLO: NYSE) recently disclosed ongoing discussions to expand its renewable diesel production to a second plant that would be built and managed by its Diamond Green Diesel joint venture with Darling Ingredients (DAR: NYSE).
The proposed plant that would be located in Port Arthur, Texas and turn out 400 million gallons of renewable diesel and 40 million gallons of naptha per year. As a food by-products processor Darling has easy access to low-cost used cooking oils and animals fats that serves as the feed stock for Diamond Green’s renewable diesel production.
Valero management has cited increasing global demand for low- to no-carbon...
Aviation Biofuel Overview
by Debra Fiakas, CFA
The aviation industry contributes about $2.7 trillion to the world’s gross domestic product. It may seem like a big number, but that is only 3.6% of the world’s wealth. Aviation may be a minor player in terms of creating wealth, it is a big culprit in climate change. Flying around the world accounts for as much as 9% of humankind’s climate change impact. Indeed, compared to other modes of transportation, flight has the greatest climate impact.
The negative impact of carbon emitted by aircraft is made even worse by the fact that the emissions point is mostly at cruising altitudes high...
REG Enters Renewable Diesel With Syntroleum Purchase
Jim Lane In Oklahoma, and Iowa, Renewable Energy Group (REG; NASD:REGI) announced that it would acquire substantially all of the assets of Syntroleum Corporation (NASD:SYNM), and assume substantially all of the material liabilities of Syntroleum, for 3,796,000 shares of REG common stock worth $40.08 million at today’s market close. The purchase price subject to reduction in the event that the aggregate market value of the REG common stock to be issued would exceed $49 million or if the cash transferred to REG is less than $3.2 million). “This will help us grow our advanced biofuel business, enhance our intellectual...
Velocys: A Key To Advanced Biofuels At Scale
Jim Lane Four new technologies approach scaled operations, all with one element in common – Velocys (VLS.L) technology on the back-end. Why Velocys, why now? The Digest investigates. In Oklahoma, Southeast Oregon, Eastern Ohio, and a site near London we’re about to see the commercial-scale debut of Velocys technology, a smaller scale gas-to-liquids processing technology that converts natural gas or biomass into premium liquid products, such as diesel and jet fuel. In this case, specifically designed for smaller scales, resulting in standardized modular plants that are economic, easier to ship and faster to install, at lower risk,...
The Future of Alternative Fuels: Coal-to-Liquids
Last week I wrote a post about the future of ethanol. In it, I promised a sister piece on the future of coal-to-liquids (CTL). This comes a bit later than initially promised…I apologize to those who had been holding their breaths. I already wrote a post discussing the future of CTL not very long ago. I’m thus not going to repeat myself here, but rather supplement that post with some new info. CTL In The News As stated at the outset of the ethanol article, what drove me to write a series of posts on alternative...
Aviation Biofuels: The Year of the Tree
by Jim Lane
When the world’s leaders for sustainable aviation fuels have a general meeting the week before the COP24 global climate sessions (this year in Poland), you can bet that the focus will be breaking the “You Can Have Two out of Three Conundrum” of aviation fuels. Which is to say: affordable, available at scale, and sustainable, pick any two of the three.
Fossil fuels are (usually) affordable and always available at scale. Sustainable jet fuels that are available at scale have generally not been affordable to date, and affordable sustainable fuels have been mostly explored at bench scale, so...
