Features
Sustainable aviation fuels are here. Who is using them?
In 2019, worldwide commercial airlines consumed 98 billion gallons of fuel, amounting to 2.4 percent of global emissions. When the pandemic hit, air travel aviation emissions dipped temporarily to their lowest level since 1997. Over the coming decades, however, passenger…
The Biggest Bio-Textile Investments Of 2022 (So Far)
The last ten months has seen bio-based fashion startups sustain its investment bonanza of 2021, when three of the top four biomaterial funding runs went to vegan textile producers.
Insect-killing fungi can wean agriculture off fossil synthetics
An estimated 20 – 40 percent of crop yield are lost to pests each year. Although synthetic insect-killing formulas have been the go-to solution since the 1960s, their dangers for human and ecosystem health are pushing some agtech companies to…
Biden’s $2 Billion Bioeconomy Plan Puts Biomanufacturing At Heart Of Federal Policy
On September 12, Joe Biden signed an executive order to inject $2 billion into the US bioeconomy. The National Biotechnology and Biomanufacturing Initiative bids to bolster US capacity in high-value high-tech goods made from biological resources, such as alternative proteins,…
Can bio-based agtech feed the world? These microbial start-ups say yes
Achieving sustainable food production for a growing world population will be one of the greatest challenges of the coming century. A fundamental part of this will be reducing our dependence on synthetic, fossil-based fertilisers and pesticides.
Recycling startups tackle cotton’s environmental toll
Cotton is one of the world’s most popular and oldest biomaterials, accounting for around a quarter of all textile production. Yet its future as a cheap clothing staple is now in question as overproduction fuels environmental breakdown.