Genera secures investment for its first facility to manufacture sustainable fibre products

By -


Type of post: NEWS IN BRIEF.

Last week, Genera announced it has secured more than 118 M$ in new investment for its first manufacturing facility to produce its Earthable® line of sustainable agricultural fibre products. With this new investment, the company will able to meet the increasing demand for its environmentally conscious solutions with a truly “farm-to-table” concept.
Press release: “Genera Secures Investment for Sustainable Packaging and Fiber Products Made From Grass”, 17/7/2019.

Figure 1. Moulded fibre products made by Genera (take from its website)

Location
Vonore (Tennessee, USA).
TennEra LLC, an affiliate of the University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) has leased its former biorefinery in Vonore to Genera for the development of the new manufacturing facility.
Feedstocks
Locally grown grasses and other agricultural crops.
Genera has already begun to work with local East Tennessee farmers to produce the feedstock and is actively seeking additional farm partners in the region.
Products
Compostable food service packaging products like plates, bowls and takeout containers.
In addition to making products that are a sustainable alternative to plastics, Genera’s Earthable® fibres are also used to produce a wide array of paper products.
Employment effect
80 new jobs.
The company will begin hiring in early 2020, including skilled operators and maintenance positions.
Even before the Vonore facility begins operations, overwhelming customer demand for its products has the company looking at options to increase production capacity at the Vonore facility potentially increasing total employment by 50%.
Financing
It was anchored by an equity investment from WindSail Capital Group, a growth capital investor specializing in sustainability and energy innovation. WindSail partnered with investors Coppermine Capital and Stairway Capital in the Genera financing.
Start-up
Genera’s fibre production facility is expected to be ready to deliver Earthable® products to the marketplace in 2020.

Popular Posts

Mini-plant for production of glucaric acid from glucose starts up successfully

By -
Image
Recent news about one of the DOE’s 12 Top Biobased Molecules. Rennovia Inc. and Johnson Matthey Process Technologies announced on July 16 that they have successfully started-up a mini-plant for production of glucaric acid from glucose using jointly developed technology. In March 2014, these companies embarked on a collaboration to develop, demonstrate and commercialize catalytic process technologies for the production of bio-based glucaric acid and adipic acid. Under the collaboration, Rennovia and JM Process Technologies work together in processes based on Rennovia’s technology for the catalytic aerobic oxidation of glucose to glucaric acid and the catalytic hydrogenation of glucaric acid to adipic acid. The final goal of the collaboration is to license a package enabling commercial production of these chemical products. The successful operation of this mini-plant is a major milestone in the journey to achieve this goal. The facility is located at the Johnson Matthey Process ...
Read more

Biorefinery models - Lignocellulosic biorefinery

By -
Image
Publication date: 25/04/2016 Last update: 25/04/2016 ABOUT THE SERIES OF POSTS “BIOREFINERY MODELS” This post belongs to a series called “ Biorefinery Models ”. This series is devoted to briefly describe the models or concepts of advanced biorefineries which have emerged in the last few years and that are rising currently. These models are simplified representations which enable us to understand in a simple way the structure and characteristics of a general biorefinery type. Some of these models refer to the type of feedstock while other focus on the technologies involved. A biorefinery may resemble these models or be the result of variations and combinations of them. It should be noted that although these paradigms are very useful and instructive, they show limitations in describing and classifying complex systems with high level of integration. In order to define and describe a specific complex case, the blog recommends use the classification proposed by IEA Bioenerg...
Read more

Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones

By -
Image
English version Sección: BIOCOMBUSTIBLES AVANZADOS Serie: HVO - Hidrotratamiento (HVO) – Conceptos, materias primas y especificaciones - Hidrotratamiento(HVO) – Ventajas sobre el biodiesel convencional y propiedades - Biorrefinerías de Aceites Vegetales Hidrotatados (HVO) – El auge del diésel renovable - Entradas: HVO                El acrónimo HVO significa en inglés “ Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrotratados”) o ” Hydrogenated Vegetable Oils ” (“Aceites Vegetales Hidrogenados”). Clave del proceso: Tratamiento con hidrógeno. En el proceso de producción de HVO, el hidrógeno se usa para eliminar el oxígeno de los triglicéridos produciendo una mezcla de parafinas lineales, CO 2 y agua. Posteriormente, el producto de la primera etapa se isomeriza, siempre en presencia de hidrógeno, para ramificar las cadenas lineales con el propósito de mejorar las propieda...
Read more

Biobased acrylic acid

By -
Image
Versión en Español Type of post: Fact sheet. Series: Biobased chemicals – Organic acids. Publication date: 05/05/2021. Last update: 05/05/2021. Description - Organic acid with 3 carbon atoms. - It is a clear, colourless, corrosive liquid with a characteristic acrid or tart smell. - Other names: prop-2-enoic acid. Applications - Formation of homopolymers or copolymers which are used in the manufacture of various adhesives, coatings, diapers, detergents, paints, plastics and textiles. The main use of crude acrylic acid is the generation of acrylate esters, followed by the production of polyacrylic acid, used mostly in superabsorbent polymers. - Chemical intermediate in multiple industrial processes. Conventional petrochemical route - Cracking of fossil naphtha to produce propylene / Oxidation of propylene. Main biobased routes - [3-HPA via] Fermentation of sugars to produce 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HPA) / Dehydration of 3-HPA. - [Biobased naphtha via] Cracking of biobased naphth...
Read more

Biofuels from algae

By -
Image
In my opinion, the production of biofuels and biobased chemicals from algae is one of the most fascinating topics in the sector of the biorefineries and it will be one of the niches of opportunity with highest potential in the medium and the long terms. This post pretend to be a very basic approach to the topic Algae-to-Biofuels through three general key points. Algae 1,2,3,4,5 Algae include a wide variety of photosynthetic organisms capable of transforming light, water and specific nutrients into products that can be used with commercial and industrial purposes. We can say that algae are sunlight-driven factories with potential to convert CO 2 into biofuels, high-value biochemical, food and feed. There are four algae cultivation technologies currently in use for commercial algae cultivation and proposed for algal biofuel production: extensive or open ponds, intensive or raceway ponds, closed photobioreactors in many designs and closed fermenter systems. Algal biof...
Read more