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 […]
In the UK, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science has determined commercial seaweed farming could become a major industry along the country’s coastline thanks to growing demand for algae for biofuel production as well as in nutraceuticals and along the bioeconomy supply chain. Lack of regulation for seaweed farming and a dearth of […]
In Louisiana, a researcher from the University of New Orleans has been awarded $141,453 by the Louisiana Board of Regents Industrial Ties Research Subprogram to software and theoretical underpinning needed to help convert algae into biofuel such as advanced algorithms for analyzing and optimizing gene regulatory network-based biofuel production modeling in algae. The grant will […]
In the Netherlands, SHE Blends BV has been awarded a US patent for high level hydrous ethanol fuel blends between 60% and 95% with an eye on the E85 market. The company already commercializes 15% hydrous ethanol blends at the pump in the Netherlands and has expanded to several other countries as well. Sister company […]
