In Hawaii, Big Island Biodiesel has teamed with the University of Hawaii at Hilo on a lab scale of an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor, a single tank wastewater treatment system. A pilot scale model of the UASB reactor is located in Keaʻau at Big Island Biodiesel, a branch of Pacific Biodiesel, a company […]
In Arizona, the University of Arizona has received a five-year grant of up to $15 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to lead a new center focusing on the mass production of biofuels and bioproducts in the Southwestern U.S. Kimberly Ogden, director of the UA Institute for Energy […]
In Washington state, researchers at the U.S. DOE’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have created a continuous thermochemical process that produces useful biocrude from algae. The process takes just minutes and PNNL is working with a company that has licensed the technology to build a pilot plant using the technology. The first part of the conversion process, hydrothermal […]
In New Jersey, ExxonMobil broke ground on the expansion of its research facility which will focus on research and development for algae biofuel and carbon capture technologies. It is expected to be completed in 2019 and will include a new engine testing center, a lubricant research and development blend plant, and enhancements to existing facilities […]
In Saudi Arabia, Red Sea surgeonfish use metabolically diverse giant bacteria to digest different types of algae, according to new research. Not only do these findings explain the basis of surgeonfish diversity, but they may also provide a valuable genetic resource for biofuel research. An international team led by King Abdullah University of Science & […]
In the UK, researchers from the University of Liverpool have made a significant breakthrough in the direct conversion of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) into liquid fuels and chemicals which could help industry to reduce greenhouse gas emissions whilst producing valuable chemical feedstocks. In a paper published in chemistry journal Angewandte Chemie they report […]
In Massachusetts, researchers from Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution will develop a breeding program for sugar kelp–Saccharina latissima, one of the most commercially important species–using the latest gene sequencing and genomic resources for faster, more accurate and efficient selective breeding thanks to a $3.7 million ARPA-E grant. The breeding program will build a library of genetic […]
In Iowa, researchers at Ames Laboratory are working to reach the goal of deconstructing lignin commercially, experimenting with chemical reactions that decompose lignin models at low temperatures and pressures. There are already known ways of salvaging useful byproducts out of lignin through the addition of a stabilization process. But they took both the decomposition and […]
In Washington, researchers at Washington State University and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory discovered a method of converting algae biofuel waste product into a usable and valuable commodity. Waste is produced during the first step of converting algae to biofuels via hydrothermal liquefaction. The wastewater is usually hard to process because it has so many different […]
In California, working with the plant growth-promoting bacterium Pseudomonas simiae, researchers have identified 115 genes that negatively affect its ability to colonize a plant root system when mutated. A plant’s health and development is influenced by the complex community of microbes that surround it. By identifying the bacterial genes that can alter how well microbes […]
