In Minnesota, a team of energy researchers from the University of Minnesota and University of Massachusetts Amherst discovered that molecular motion can be predicted with high accuracy when confining molecules in small nanocages. Their theoretical method is suitable for screening millions of possible nanomaterials and could improve production of fuels and chemicals, including biofuels and […]
In Michigan, Michigan State University scientists have found a solution to enhance oil production and harvest using what many consider sea sludge. The new proof of concept, published in Biotechnology for Biofuels, is a biofuel production platform that uses two species of marine algae and soil fungi. It lowers cultivation and harvesting costs and increases productivity, […]
In Russia, a chemist from RUDN synthesized new catalysts with ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles for producing biofuel from organic biowaste. Nanocatalysts support more intensive and sustained reactions than the compounds currently available in the market. The results of the study were published in the ChemSusChem journal. He works on the synthesis of gamma-valerolactone (GVL) together with his Chinese […]
In Sweden, researchers at Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, have identified two main challenges for renewable biofuel production from cheap sources. Firstly, lowering the cost of developing microbial cell factories, and secondly, establishing more efficient methods for hydrolysis of biomass to sugars for fermentation. Their study was recently published in the journal Nature Energy. It […]
In Australia, bacteria that turn sugar into hydrogen are being engineered by Macquarie University researchers who received a A$1.1 million grant from ARENA, the Australian government’s renewable energy agency. “There’s global interest in using hydrogen gas to produce electricity in hydrogen fuel cells, for example to power vehicles, heat buildings or provide electricity for industry,” […]
In Germany, a research project by the University of Rostock’s Chair of Piston Machines and Internal Combustion Engines (Lehrstuhl für Kolbenmaschinen und Verbrennungsmotoren), investigated to what extent modern diesel engines for agricultural machinery are suitable for long-term operation with biodiesel fuel according to EN 14214. The study showed how biodiesel can fulfill the strictest requirements […]
In Australia, an A$4.5 million initiative to boost Australia’s synthetic biology capabilities will be built by The University of Queensland and CSIRO, helping drive advances in areas such as manufacturing, industrial biotechnology, environmental remediation, biosecurity, agriculture and healthcare research. The CSIRO – UQ Synthetic Biology Initiative involves a close collaboration between the CSIRO Synthetic Biology […]
In Delaware, the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded Eleftherios (Terry) Papoutsakis a three-year, $1.5 million grant to study the production of clostridium bacteria as platforms for biofuels. Papoutsakis, the Unidel Eugene du Pont Chair of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Delaware, will uncover fundamental insights about metabolism and environmental signaling in […]
In Mexico, falling a recent call by a researcher at one Mexican university to find ways to create value out of the sargassum algae that are polluting the Caribbean and Mexican coasts, a researcher at the Renewable Energy Unit under of the Center for Scientific Research of Yucatán announced he had been working to use […]
In Arkansas, a University of Arkansas biologist is developing methods that could make the production of biofuel — ethanol and diesel made from sources such as plant material — more efficient and environmentally sound. He will use a protein derived from microorganisms that live in acidic geothermal pools and springs to enhance the process of […]
