In India, Bharat Petroleum Corporation has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology to create a biofuel chair in an effort to boost research in second-generation biofuels to support the company’s development of a 2G ethanol plant agricultural waste in the state. The chair is to determine the best agricultural […]
In Qatar, the Ministry of Municipality and Environment launched a project to produce biogas from wastes with Qatar University’s College of Engineering with the goal of using that biogas as a clean energy to power the motor vehicles. The project will study various techniques for producing biogas from waste and aims to convert vehicles from […]
In Massachusetts, findings from a new study reveal some of the basic tools used by a specific microbe to break down lignocellulose. This work provides insight into how industrial processes might achieve degradation during biofuel production, and how side processes such as hydrogen production might be harnessed as well. One candidate species that can use […]
In Kenya, small-holder farmers in Kenya have the capacity and desire to play a major role in the scale-up of biofuel production from agroforestry, according to a Penn State forest economist, who led a study in the East African country. Through the production of oil for energy and co-products, such as animal feed and organic […]
In Germany, scientists have developed a bioprocess that enables conversion of acid whey, a dairy by-product, without the use of additional chemicals. Researchers from the Center of Applied Geosciences at the University of Tübingen and international colleagues used microbiome cultures similar to those in the human gut. The new bio-oil can be used in animal […]
In Washington state, a University of Washington team is trying to make poplar a viable competitor by testing the production of younger poplar trees that could be harvested more frequently — after only two or three years — instead of the usual 10- to 20-year cycle. The team is the first to try converting the […]
In Colorado, the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) established a novel catalytic method to produce renewable acrylonitrile using 3-hydroxypropionic acid (3-HP), which can be biologically produced from sugars. This hybrid biological-catalytic process offers an alternative to the conventional petrochemical production method and achieves unprecedented acrylonitrile yields. Researchers were able to achieve a 98% […]
In New York state, consumers across the world enjoy Greek yogurt for its taste, texture, and protein-packed punch. Reaching that perfect formula, however, generates large volumes of food waste in the form of liquid whey. Now researchers in the United States and Germany have found a way to use bacteria to turn the leftover sugars […]
In Missouri, researchers at Washington University in St. Louis have received a $3.9 million grant from the Department of Energy (DOE) to develop bacteria that manufacture renewable biofuels — energy sources made from plants or microbes. The researchers, representing a collaboration of investigators at the School of Medicine and the School of Engineering & Applied […]
In Colorado, researchers from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory have gained new insights into how glycosylation—the natural attachment of sugars to proteins—affects a key cellulase enzyme. This work could be used to improve enzyme performance to better break down biomass and convert waste plant matter to renewable fuels and products. Namely, […]
