Biofuels

Management shake-up en route to execution, profit Jim Lane The hammer drops in Emeryville. Company president Portela, CTO Renninger, general counsel Tompkins out; new CFO, reshuffle and promotions within. After an 90% stock plunge, Amyris responds. We look at the drama of who’s in and who’s out – but also beyond – to execution and profitable production. In California, Amyris (AMRS)  announced a major management reshuffle as the company contends with its ambitions for growth, difficulties in ramping up production to meet the goals originally set after its IPO, and a share price that has dropped...

Jim Lane Independence Day Celebration photo via BigStock  Yesterday, in the United States the bands and bunting were on display, because it was Independence Day. But is freedom really sustainable, without energy independence too? It would be a sweeter thing, political independence, if it were accompanied by more energy independence. For examples, choices at the pump that didn’t involve wealth transfers to people who oppose the principle of ballot boxes. But before there is energy independence, there has to be more freedom from the entropy that...

Jim Lane Solazyme steps up to slay the scale-up dragon. Will the company stay on its scale-up schedule, at the final step where Amyris, Gevo and KiOR ran into crushing delays? In California, Solazyme (SZYM) announced results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2013. The Results Q4 Revenue (vs Q4 2012): $11.3M (+34%) Q4 Net (vs Q4 2012): -$33.3M (+35%) 2013 Revenue (vs 2012): $39.8M (-10%) 2013 Net (vs 2012): -$116.4M (+40%) So widening losses, falling annual revenue. So, why the excitement amongst most of the analysts? 2013 Highlights Scale-up:...

Jim Lane The Lucas gusher at Spindletop Hill, South of Beaumont, TX. Jan 1, 1901.   500 ton per day wood biomass to biocrude plant commences oil production – the long wait for cellulosic biofuels at scale is over. “With a roar like a hundred express trains racing across the countryside, the well blew out, spewing oil in all directions.” Well, the startup of biocrude production at KiOR, Inc.’s (KIOR)Columbus plant arrived with less drama than the above-described gusher at Spindletop in 1901. And James Dean was nowhere to be...

Archer-Daniels-Midland Co. (ADM) said it will build an ethanol plant with 275-million gallon annual capacity in Cedar Rapids, Iowa as it looks to expand production of the alternative fuel. The expansion comes on top of ADM's plans to build a 275-million ethanol plant in Columbus, Nebraska.

Jim Lane Boom times for two-product strategies? Can feed markets offer relief for the challenges on the fuel side? The energy industry continues to feel the impact of falling energy prices. In Wednesday’s Top Story, we noted that the industry conversation has shifted from long-term fundamentals to a form of “oil price watching” not even the short-term fundamentals, but the kind of paralyzed ticker watching, waiting for the bottom, that comes during stock market crashes. “Barron’s says oil is going to $35bbl,” writes a trusted Digesterati. “The same guy who predicted the...

Jim Lane  What’s going on – aren’t biofuels supposed to be dead, and fracking changing everything forever in oil & gas? Yet, tough times for growth at the public oil companies, while bellwether renewable fuel equities are on the rise. Why aren’t results tracking the hype? It’s earnings season time to look away from the pundits, the fans, and the Las Vegas oddsmakers and look squarely at who made how much, where, when and why. And time to draw some conclusions and look ahead towards the 2014 calendar year. Neste Oil (NEF.F) Renewable diesel owner/operator...

by Debra Fiakas CFA The stark reality of basing their business model on a food commodity has been brought into sharp focus for ethanol producers.  The drought settling across the U.S. corn crop is helping drive up corn prices for hog producers, chicken farms and ethanol plants alike.  Investors who simply must have a position in ethanol might think the sugarcane-based ethanol producers could offer a safe haven against the supply and margin squeeze that is certain to hobble GreenPlains Renewable Energy (GPRE:  Nasdaq), Pacific Ethanol (PEIX:  Nasdaq) and Poet (private), among others relying on corn feedstock....

Jim Lane Gevo a winner? Not the issue, says Butamax, as the Capulets and Montagues get it on again. It’s a tennis match in which the score is never love. Scene: Verona. A public place. The Prince: Three civil brawls, bred of an airy word, 
By thee, old Butamax, and Gevo, Have thrice disturb’d the quiet of our streets, 
And made the Digest’s ancient citizens
 setteth aside required reading of matters thermochem and RFS, to hear again, and again, and thence again your claims and counterclaims and all the pleadings that issueth, containing more commas than...

by Debra Fiakas CFA The previous post “Solazyme's Detours on the Way to Algae Biofuel” began a discussion of Solazyme, Inc. (SZYM:  Nasdaq), a self-described “oil developer” targeting three commercial markets that are known heavy oil users:  chemical and fuel, nutrition and skin care.  Solazyme touts its ability to serve customers with oils tailored to their specific needs, creating a paradigm shift from the status quo where formulators and manufacturers must design around the limitations of conventional oils. Solazyme is attempting to harness the oil producing capability of microalgae -  the most diminutive...

Jim Lane Following just one day after a big win in the Supreme Court and a corporate update last week, Gevo (GEVO) announced that it intends to offer and sell, subject to market and other conditions, common stock units. Each common stock unit will consist of one share of common stock, Series A warrants to purchase a certain number of shares of common stock and Series B warrants to purchase a certain number of shares of common stock. The units are to be sold by Gevo subject to market and other conditions in an underwritten public offering. Update!...

by Debra Fiakas CFA Kior's Columbus Facility Last week cellulosic ethanol producer Kior, Inc. (KIOR:  Nasdaq)reported its strongest quarter production and financial results since the company first started commercial operations at its Columbus, Mississippi facility.  Kior turned out 323,841 gallons of ethanol fuel in the three months ending September 2013, bringing total production for the year to 508,975 gallons.  Along with the third quarter report, management did a bit of boasting over record production of 167,087 gallons in the month of October.  That represents a 2.0...

They are hoopin’ it up in Ames, Iowa these days.  Local producer Renewable Energy Group (REGI:  Nasdaq) completed the acquisition of Dynamic Fuels, Inc., one of the first renewable diesel biorefineries in the country.  The Dynamic Fuels facility located in Geismar, Louisiana has 75 million gallon annual nameplate production capacity. Renewable Energy Group (REG) already had eight other fully operational biorefineries with a nameplate production capacity near 250 million gallons per year.  REG also has a demonstration plant in Oklahoma for renewable chemicals. It was a two-part deal.  First REG struck a deal with for most of the...

Jim Lane Elephant herd running photo via Bigstock 28 big balance sheets deploying capital into commercial-scale advanced biofuels. Who’s writing the checks, and for what, and when? It’s become an article of faith among the unenlightened that advanced biofuels are always five years away, and the chief investors are the US Department of Energy and a gaggle of key Obama campaign donors. The Wall Street Journal, last December, opined: “Congress subsidized a product that didn’t exist, mandated its purchase though it still didn’t exist,...

Jim Lane In this two-part series, we look at the IPO market for industrial biotech stocks. Today, we look at 10 companies in the IPO queue right now. Who’s been revising their prospectus, and what does that mean? In Part II of our series, we look today at Ceres, Myriant, PetroAlgae (PALG.PK), BioAmber, Elevance, Genomatica, Enerkem, Mascoma, and Fulcrum Bioenergy. In Part I, yesterday, we looked at the performance of the six IPOs to date in the aftermarket, and at important changes in Coskata’s recent filings. Ceres: delaying its IPO Headline news from the world of...

Jim Lane One of biofuels’ hottest companies aims to accelerate path to break-even; is a shortfall in gallons produced in Q2 meaningful? In Texas, KiOR (KIOR) reported a Q2 loss of $38.5M, compared to a Q1 loss of $31.3M. on revenues of $239K, up from $71K in Q1. Net loss for the second quarter of 2012 totaled $23.0 million, or $0.22 per share. The biggest news coming out of the quarterly results is that the company is looking at an additional 500 dry ton/day facility, dubbed “Columbus II”, as an intermediate step between now and building its...