In Texas, chemists at The University of Texas at Arlington have been the first to demonstrate that an organic semiconductor polymer called polyaniline is a promising photocathode material for the conversion of carbon dioxide into alcohol fuels without the need for a co-catalyst. In this proof-of-concept study, the researchers provide insights into the unique behavior […]
In New Mexico, A wide-ranging analysis of water vulnerability across the Pacific — including the U.S., China, Russia and Japan — has identified hundreds of locations where energy production depends upon scarce water supplies. The Sandia National Laboratories study, “Mapping Water Consumption for Energy Production Around the Pacific Rim,” was published in Environmental Research Letters. […]
The European Union organizes every year the EUCYS Prize, which has been set up to promote the ideals of co-operation and interchange between young scientists. It serves as an annual showcase of the best of European student scientific achievement and gives students the opportunity to compete with the brightest of their contemporaries at European level. […]
Michael Hummel, postdoctoral researcher at the Aalto University in Finland, has been awarded a €1.5 million ($1.68 million) starting grant by the European Research Council (ERC). The funding is allocated to a five-year project aiming at the manufacturing of high-quality carbon fibers from wood. “We can produce hybrid fibers composed of cellulose and lignin as […]
In Georgia, biomass-based fuels present a tremendous opportunity to transition toward a more sustainable mix of renewable energy. This was a key theme of an alternative fuels workshop hosted Sept. 14 by the U.S. DOE in Macon, Georgia. The workshop examined the sustainability of feedstocks like soybean oil, which can be used to make biodiesel […]
In the UK, an innovative low carbon fuel project has taken a significant step forward after successfully producing 1,500 US gallons of jet fuel. The breakthrough towards developing commercially viable low carbon fuel is the result of a partnership between Virgin Atlantic and LanzaTech. Since 2011 they have been committed to producing the world’s first […]
In the UK, Oakland Biofuels is working with Scottish Land & Estates to explore the possibility of producing ethanol from bracken. A demonstration of the equipment used to harvest the nuisance plant was held near Blair Atholl last week, showing farmers and landowners how it could be useful thanks to processing rather than spraying it […]
In the Netherlands, Boskalis and GoodFuels Marine announced the successful performance of live tests on a sustainable wood-based drop-in biofuel called UPM BioVerno. The fuel supplied by Finnish UPM Biofuels is the first ever biofuel derived from wood residue used in a marine fleet. Boskalis vessel “EDAX”, a 1696 deadweight tonne (DWT) cutter suction dredger, has […]
Enzymatically interesterfied conventional soybean oil (EIE), with a little tweaking, could be an effective replacement for partially hydrogenated oils (PHO) in donuts, according to a recent report in the American Oil Chemists Society’s Inform Magazine. A donut deep-frying study carried out by Qualisoy and Stratas Foods LLC compared donuts prepared with a typical PHO soybean […]
In Maine, the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) will invest $3.3 million to advance wood to jet fuel technology at the Technology Research Center (TRC) of the Forest Bioproducts Research Institute at the University of Maine. The technology is based on FBRI’s patented thermal deoxygenation (TDO) process, which was shown to yield jet fuel test samples […]
