Amyris and the challenges of scaling biofuels production
Adam Lesser- Tuesday, May 15, 2012
- Join the Discussion
The disclosure on last week’s earning call from Amyris that it was shuttering or scaling down production at two of its three facilities, effectively putting off major biofuels production for another two to three years, is not altogether surprising. Once technology risk is surmounted in the lab and a feedstock can be converted into a [...] Subscribe now or sign in to view this Weekly Update »
Curated Links
-
Head of US nuclear safety agency to step down
Accused of intimidating behavior toward his staff, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission Chairman Gregory Jaczko is stepping down.
Submitted by Adam Lesser
-
Super VC Mike Moritz diagnosed with rare medical condition, steps back
Legendary Sequoia Capital head Mike Moritz has an incurable medical condition that will move him to Chairman of the leading firm.
Submitted by Adam Lesser
-
GridNavigator crunches data to forecast energy use
Grid Navigator gives building managers more precise weather forecasting so that they can adjust their own power use, presumably helping them shave electricity use down by working with their heating and cooling units.
Submitted by Adam Lesser
-
Silicon Labs to buy Ember for $72M for Internet of things
Silicon Labs is betting the the Zigbee low power wireless standard will be instrumental in the development of the Internet of Things.
Submitted by Adam Lesser
From Finding a cost-effective solar source
21%Percent that the solar market increased in the third quarter of 2011
From Amyris and the challenges of scaling biofuels production
$2Cost of Amyris’ share today, down from its $16 per share IPO price
Adam Lesser is a reporter and analyst with a focus on renewable energy, clean data centers, the intersection of computing power and energy usage and semiconductors. Prior to joining GigaOM Pro he worked as an assignment editor for NBC News and at the Weiss Lab at UCLA. Follow Adam’s updates at @adamdlesser.
Today in
Green IT
Trouble in battery land
Lithium-ion battery maker A123 Systems, which makes the battery pack for the Fisker Karma, raised $50 million on Saturday so that it could live another day. I’ve been concerned about A123 since last year, mostly because I thought it was heading for a nasty cash crunch that would lead to customer defections as it had trouble getting business from customers who would fear it wasn’t going to be around much longer. The $50 million raise isn’t making me feel much better about A123 as the payback mechanism is either cash or stock, 26 payments over the next year. This sets up a scenario where A123 makes payments in shares because it’s short on cash, and those shares end up being dumped on the market, further depressing the stock which trades at about 83 cents. Which means this is likely to be the last capital raise for A123 if there isn’t a significant new customer that props up its share price, making it possible to raise more money. It’ll just be too hard to raise money with the valuation so low. A123 got a $249 million federal loan guarantee and I’m sure there’s one man in Washington who’s hoping that if A123 goes under, it waits to do so until after the election.
Green IT Curator
As a person who shares a car with my siblings, I believe its only a matter of time until people trust one another enough to make companies offering this service lower their prices. Greed will not be good if these companies decide to keep their prices high after various other companies decide to start similar ventures.
