In India, the Deccan Herald newspaper reports researchers from the Indian Institute of Science have developed a process to produce cellulosic ethanol from crop waste. At lab scale, researchers managed to produce 36 liters of ethanol from rice paddy and 53 liters of ethanol from wheat straw. Both feedstocks are major challenges for the country’s […]
In Denmark, the European Investment Bank (EIB) has signed a $122 million loan with Novozymes. The financing will support the company’s R&D investment plans for the coming years, and will mainly benefit R&D activities for discovering and producing enzymes that can be used in both industrial and home activities, reducing the need for traditional chemical products. […]
In the United Arab Emirates, The National News reports that researchers from United Arab Emirates University extracted a large amount of biofuel from date seeds from palm trees which will help boost the biofuel industry in the country. About one million tons of date seeds are produced from 40 million palm trees across the Emirates, […]
In Louisiana, an energy storage and power generation system being designed at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette could make flying the friendly skies less harmful to the environment. Solid oxide fuel cells are “a key component” within that system, said Dr. Xiao-Dong Zhou. Their inclusion in the next generation of electric aircraft could cut […]
In Ireland, researchers from Trinity and TOTAL have designed, synthesized and tested new additives that increase fuel efficiency. Led by researchers in Trinity’s School of Physics, the Trinity researchers undertook the project as a result of an open competition by TOTAL, where their proposal welcomed several applications from research teams across the globe. The research […]
In Australia, a cropping trial is now in the ground at Katunga as a forerunner to a A$1 billion renewable fuel development. Investment company AgBioEn is planning a massive biofuel plant on a 40 ha former dairy farm, which will use agricultural waste. The company is looking for ways of generating the biomass as an energy source […]
In Colorado, two awards totaling nearly $10 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science Biological and Environmental Research (BER) program will support two research projects at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and partner laboratories that aim to analyze and reduce biosecurity risks of promising bioengineered organisms. Working under BER’s Secure Biosystems […]
In Australia, new research published in the ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering journal used renewable solvent Cyrene – produced by biotechnology company Circa Group from waste biomass – to extract two key phytonutrients, hesperidin and rutin, natural flavonoids being looked at to help tackle COVID-19, as it binds to the virus’ key proteins and counteracts […]
In Denmark, using an unusual, light-dependent enzyme and a newly discovered enzymatic mechanism, researchers from Aarhus University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology have enabled the biological synthesis of high-yield industry relevant production of climate neutral drop-in fuels from biowaste. A special light-dependent enzyme, which was first discovered about three years ago, is the focal point […]
In Texas, Texas A&M University researchers have uncovered an efficient way to use leftover sludge to make biodegradable plastics. In the September issue of the journal American Chemical Society (ACS) Omega, the researchers report that the bacterium Zobellella denitrificans ZD1, found in mangroves, can consume sludge and wastewater to produce polyhydroxybutyrate, a type of biopolymer that can be used […]
