In Japan, efforts have been made by researchers to reduce the cost of biodiesel production by using pulsed electric fields (PEF) to extract hydrocarbons from microalgae. A milli- or microsecond PEF is typically used to weaken cell walls and increase permeability allowing for extraction of elements inside the cell. Kumamoto University researchers, on the other […]
Team Biogas released the second generation for the Anaerobic Digestion Lab Test Network (ADLTN) website, specializing in BMP (Biomethane Potential) laboratory assays and gas fractioning. Team Biogas has brought together a selected group of private, commercial and accredited Universities with an emphasis on Applied Research strategically located in the United States and Canada. These specially […]
In Iowa, the phrase “a double-edged sword” describes something that is beneficial in some ways but problematic in others. One example is removing maize stover (the husks, stems and leaves of corn plants) from fields. Maize stover is used to make cellulosic ethanol, a renewable biofuel. And renewable biofuels are beneficial to the environment. However, […]
In Texas, the genome of the fuel-producing green microalga Botryococcus braunii has been sequenced by a team of researchers led by a group at Texas A&M AgriLife Research. The report, in Genome Announcements, comes after almost seven years of research, according to Dr. Tim Devarenne, AgriLife Research biochemist and principal investigator in College Station. In […]
In Washington state, a recent study by researchers from the Environmental Molecular Sciences Laboratory and Washington University investigated effects of altering large cellular complexes called phycobilisomes, which cyanobacteria use to efficiently capture light energy for photosynthesis, to guide development of optimal strategies for biofuel production. The findings revealed changes to phycobilisome structure indirectly affect critical, […]
In Nevada, the unassuming ice plant could become an ingenious weapon in the fight against a warming climate that threatens to limit regions suitable for growing biofuel crops. Biochemist and molecular biologist John Cushman at the University of Nevada, Reno will create a gene atlas for the common ice plant that will help find ways […]
In Tennessee, officials at Oak Ridge released a report on an ongoing debate about costs and benefits of wood-pellet based bioenergy production in the southeastern United States (SE US) requires an understanding of the science and context influencing market decisions associated with its sustainability. Production of pellets has garnered much attention as US exports have […]
In Germany, UFOP writes that “the still largely unknown interactions between fuel-carrying vehicle components and (ageing) fuel in PHEV vehicles is to be determined within the framework of a research project under close-to-real-life conditions (storage duration, storage conditions of the fuel). The Transferzentrum Automotive at Coburg University, Oel-Waerme-Institut GmbH and TEC4FUELS GmbH are conducting research […]
In South Dakota, POET worked with College of Agriculture and Biosystems Engineering students at South Dakota State University to solve a major challenge that has impeded the use of some of its corn stover in its cellulosic ethanol production facility. Turning netwrap and twine intermingled with corn stalks, tree branches and chunks of debris into […]
In Japan, photosynthesis requires a mechanism to produce large amounts of chemical energy without losing the oxidative power needed to break down water. A Japanese research team led by the Kobe University has clarified part of this mechanism, marking another step towards the potential development of artificial photosynthesis. The findings were published on February 27 […]
