Virent Named to 2022 List of Top 50 Hottest Projects in Advanced Bioeconomy

August 5, 2022, /3BL Media/ - Virent Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum, was recently recognized by biofuels publication The Digest for its innovation and achievements in biobased fuels, chemicals, and materials by emerging companies. At The Digest’s spring 2022 leadership conference, Virent’s demonstration plant was named No. 16 out of more than 10,000 eligible projects on its list for the Top 50 Hottest Projects in the Advanced Bioeconomy for 2022. The award this year focused on advanced bioeconomy manufacturing sites completed or in development, at pilot, demonstration, or commercial scale for intermediates or finished products.

Virent’s Eagle demonstration plant located in Madison, Wisconsin, has produced over 30,000 gallons of BioFormate® product. Virent’s BioForming® process converts aqueous carbohydrate solutions made from renewable feedstocks into mixtures of hydrocarbons, which are the same as those found in petroleum products today. These biobased materials can be dropped-in to existing infrastructure and used for the production of chemicals, gasoline, diesel, or jet fuel.

This product has been used in market demonstration volumes of both chemicals and fuels. This includes Synthesized Aromatic Kerosene (SAK) that was used for United’s recent historic commercial flight using 100% Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in one of its engines.

“This is a thrilling recognition of the Eagle demo plant by The Digest’s readers, among many other amazing projects, as Virent continues to promote BioFormate® technology and establish commercial readiness through this demonstration,” said Dave Kettner, President of Virent.