In Massachusetts, to try to expand biofuels’ potential impact, a team of MIT engineers has now found a way to expand the use of a wider range of nonfood feedstocks to produce such fuels. At the moment, feedstocks such as straw and woody plants are difficult to use for biofuel production because they first need to […]
In Brazil, Good Food Institute Brazil’s Biomas Project will allocate up to $27,500 (R$135,000) to each research project that transforms native Amazon and Cerrado plant species, such as babaçu and macaúba, into raw materials for the alternative protein industry. The deadline to apply is July 13. In Brazil, a new species of fauna and flora […]
In Colorado, NREL and Sempra Energy are now leveraging a decade of successful collaborative work to target global carbon neutrality. NREL and Sempra Energy’s cooperative, multiyear projects exploring low-carbon fuels and microgrid technology have reaped success—including some groundbreaking achievements. In 2013, Sempra Energy subsidiary San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E) and NREL established the […]
In Canada, researchers have found a way to stem the flow of municipal wastewater: by filtering the waste through the roots of willow trees. Experimenting with a plantation in Quebec, the scientists estimate that over 30 million liters of primary wastewater per hectare can be treated using ‘bio-refinery’ annually. Their results were published June 14 […]
In Delaware, in the quest to reduce carbon emissions into the atmosphere and curb climate change, University of Delaware researchers are turning to an interesting ally: bacteria that consume biomass sugars and CO2. With a $2.7 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E), researchers developing a system to produce […]
In Washington, cleaner-burning jet fuels made from sustainable sources can produce 50%-70% fewer ice crystal contrails at cruising altitude, reducing aviation’s impact on the environment, according to research conducted by NASA and the German Aerospace Center (DLR). Ice crystal contrail formations can linger in the upper atmosphere for hours and affect the way Earth is […]
In Washington, D.C., with support from the U.S. Department of Energy Bioenergy Technologies Office, National Renewable Energy Laboratory scientists unveiled a new analytical method to give companies an unprecedented level of ease and precision for measuring the amount of cellulose in their grain, an achievement that could help biorefineries expand production of low-carbon cellulosic ethanol. […]
In Illinois, for corn ethanol, most greenhouse gas emissions can be mapped to the fuel’s production, transportation, and combustion, but a large portion of the greenhouse gas calculation can be traced right back to the farm. Because of privacy concerns, however, scientists can’t access individual farm management decisions such as fertilizer type and rate. Nitrogen […]
In China, researchers at the Institute of Modern Physics (IMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have recently found that waste paper could be efficiently used for enzyme production by Trichoderma longiflorum. The study was published in Journal of Cleaner Production. Waste paper, a recyclable waste resource, has high potential for industry due to […]
In Canada, researchers from the University of Saskatchewan have demonstrated that biodiesel spills have fewer negative impacts on soil microbiology compared to fossil diesel spills. The study looked at two different kinds of soil that were contaminated with biodiesel or fossil diesel as well as a control area, looking at nitrogen content, total organic carbon […]
