I’m planning to be more active this year in posting on the blog, after a few years of only sporadic activity. So I’ve also taken this opportunity to rename the blog to reflect what will be its broader focus.
I began the blog way back in 2010, as I was beginning to explore the need for my expertise in what was then the growing field of biofuels: the production of renewable transportation fuels using biological methods and technologies. Given my background in molecular biology and biotechnology, and the particular experience I have had with some of the U.S. regulations that were beginning to apply to certain biofuel production technologies, I directed the blog’s early focus on those uses of genetic engineering and other advanced biotechnology techniques to the production of fuels, hence the blog’s original name “Advanced Biotechnology for Biofuels“. Many of the earliest posts on the blog highlighted the companies that were (at that time) using such techniques either to improve plant-based feedstocks for fuel production or to develop microbial-based strategies for the manufacture of ethanol, diesel and other transportation fuels.
Over the years, as my circumstances allowed, I continued to post, mostly sticking pretty close to my main area of expertise with regulatory matters such as the U.S. EPA’s biotechnology regulations under TSCA, but as the industry itself matured and changed to shift its focus away from fuels and more towards higher-margin products such as industrial chemicals and specialty ingredients such as flavors, cosmetics and food additives, my client base and the blog widened their focus as well. Most of the more exciting new companies and technologies in the space known as “industrial biotechnology” are developing these types of products, and the balance of my work shifted towards helping bio-baed chemical companies achieve regulatory approvals for their products and technologies. Over time, the contents of the blog began to reflect this as well, with posts touching on topics such as animal and human food ingredients, alternative (cultivated or plant-based) meats, and other specialty products.
As 2023 has begun, I expect to again be able to devote the time to more frequent, and more varied posts on the blog. In doing so, I felt that a change in the blog’s name was long overdue, to make clear that its focus was broader than simply biofuels or renewable fuels. Hence the new name “Bio-Based Chemicals and Fuels: Business, Policy and Regulation“. I’ll continue to comment on U.S. and industrial biotechnology regulatory matters, but I also hope to post on other topics relating to the innovative uses of biology for the development of beneficial products in the so-called bio-based economy, including technologies that many expect will lead to reductions in fossil fuel use as the world struggles to address the threat of climate change.
D. Glass Associates, Inc. is a consulting company specializing in government and regulatory support for renewable fuels and industrial biotechnology. David Glass, Ph.D. is a veteran of over thirty-five years in the biotechnology industry, with expertise in industrial biotechnology regulatory affairs, U.S. and international renewable fuels regulation, patents, technology licensing, and market and technology assessments. He has extensive experience with the biotechnology regulations of the U.S. EPA and other agencies, and has coordinated or assisted in the preparation and submission of 18 successful Microbial Commercial Activity Notices and several other biotechnology submissions in the U.S. and other countries. Dr. Glass holds a B.S. in Biological Sciences from Cornell University and a Ph.D. in Biochemical Sciences from Princeton University.
Bio-Based Chemicals and Fuels: Business, Policy and Regulation 