To enable greater reliance on renewable biomass resources for power generation, combination approaches such as co-firing of high percentages of biomass with coal offer unique advantages, but also significant challenges.

A comprehensive review of the strategies currently available and in development to improve the characteristics of biomass is presented in Industrial Biotechnology, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. The article is available free online at the Industrial Biotechnology website.

"Comprehensive and precise characterization of biomass feedstock is important for the development of biotechnology approaches to bioenergy and bioproducts development," says Larry Walker, PhD, Co-Editor-in-Chief and Professor, Biological and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY.

Jaya ShankarTumuluru and colleagues, Idaho National Laboratory (Idaho Falls), describe and compare formulation, pretreatment, and densification options intended to overcome issues related to physical and chemical composition and storage of biomass and the logistics for successful co-firing of <40% mixtures with coal.

The Review is entitled "Formulation, Pretreatment, and Densification Options to Improve Biomass Specifications for Co-Firing High Percentages with Coal."

The current issue of Industrial Biotechnology also features a Commentary by Rina Singh, PhD, Senior Policy Director in the Industrial Biotechnology section at the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO) on "The National Bioeconomy Blueprint: Meeting Grand Challenges," followed by highlights of the Blueprint.

Gauri Dhavan, Irene Hudson, and J. Peter Fasse, attorneys at Fish and Richardson PC (Boston, MA and New York, NY) take an in-depth look at the impact for the industrial biotechnology community of the Supreme Court's recent decision on patent eligibility of method claims in the Mayo Collaborative Services v. Prometheus Laboratories, Inc. case in the article "Patent Eligibility of Method Claims: What Is the Impact of the Supreme Court's Prometheus Decision?"

A new feature in Industrial Biotechnology, entitled Catalyzing Innovation, in this issue focuses on the application of zinc finger nuclease technology in the aquaculture food industry. Xavier Lauth, John Buchanan, and Keith Hansen, Center for Aquaculture Technologies (San Diego, CA) and Sigma Life Science (St. Louis, MO), describe this innovative technology in the article "Efficient Targeted Genome Editing for Finfish Aquaculture and Other Industries."