In the UK, researchers have developed a cheap and simple way of creating biofuel and fertilizer from seaweed, whilst removing plastic from the oceans and cleaning up tourist beaches in the Caribbean and Central America. Partly fueled by fertilizers washing into the sea from farming in the Americas, the foul-smelling Sargassum seaweed devastates the tourism […]
In the Netherlands, many ships use heavy fuel oils that contain large amounts of sulphur and nitrogen leading to the emission of greenhouse gases and other damaging substances. The TU/e-led consortium IDEALFUEL seeks to address this issue by developing new, efficient and low-cost methods to produce low-sulphur heavy fuel oils from wood-based non-food biomass. The […]
In Wisconsin, researchers at the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center at the University of Wisconsin–Madison developed a method to combine traits from up to six different yeast species in a single hybrid strain — a yeast that could carry more tools for a specific job, such as producing biofuels. The idea is to combine as […]
In Minnesota, University of Minnesota researchers have now developed a tool that makes it possible to mutate a single gene at a time — opening the door not only to a better understanding of evolution, but also better ways to modify the genes of microbes to give them the ability to mass-produce molecules, such as […]
In Texas, 3D Print reports a master’s student has submitted a concept to the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture that is getting a lot of attention: algae-based ink to 3D print habitats for living on Mars. Rather than relying on crops, algae which can be grown without soil can be used not only to […]
In Singapore, National University of Singapore scientists have discovered a new mechanism for selective electrochemical reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) to ethanol using copper-silver (Cu-Ag) composite catalysts. Results show that an influx of CO molecules, provided by silver (Ag) co-catalysts, activates an otherwise-locked mechanistic pathway on Cu which converts CO2 gas to ethanol. Further plans […]
In Brazil, researchers from the Brazilian research institute IPEN are investigating novel composite membranes for direct ethanol fuel cells. A promising solution is tailoring new polymer-based composite electrolyte materials to replace the state-of-the-art polymer electrolyte such as Nafion. The team uses a melt extrusion process to produce composite membranes based on Nafion with additional titanate […]
In California, National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers suggest a shift in long-haul trucking toward hydrogen would necessitate a coast-to-coast network of fueling stations and answers to certain questions like bottlenecks, challenges, fueling methods and protocols and other questions they are now looking at to expand hydrogen’s usage as a fuel. With few exceptions, most of […]
In New York state, research on transforming brown grease into biodiesel fuel has been published in the Journal of Biochemical Engineering under the title “Biodiesel fuel production from brown grease produced by wastewater treatment plant: Optimization of acid catalyzed reaction conditions.” The groundbreaking research describes the process of using water treatment plant waste to create […]
In California, Caltech researchers wanted to learn even more about you from your skin, and to that end, he has developed an electronic skin, or e-skin, that is applied directly on top of your real skin. The e-skin, made from soft, flexible rubber, can be embedded with sensors that monitor information like heart rate, body […]
