In Arkansas, the biodiesel lab at Arkansas State University is helping high schools and college students to see the benefit of biofuels through hands on production, testing and use. The lab was set up in 2010 with the intention of testing and analyzing fuels, but with so little biodiesel being produced in the state, if […]
In North Carolina, the state may follow in Hawaii’s footsteps to begin supervised research on hemp as a feedstock for biofuels and other biomaterials thanks to approval of a bill by the state’s House Agriculture Committee. Land grant universities, under the supervision of the USDA and a nine-member commission, could begin growing the crop for […]
In Washington, a group of researchers from 10 institutions led by IFPRI released a report (access the complete report here) concluding that bioenergy can actually support food security. This challenges the “fuel vs. food” argument that biofuels contribute to global hunger. The effects of bioenergy policies on food security could be strongly positive, the […]
In Finland, only biofuels meeting certain sustainability criteria are included in the European Union’s renewable energy goals and are allowed to take advantage of national support systems. In her doctoral dissertation, VTT’s Research Scientist Kati Koponen proposes several areas of development for the greenhouse gas assessment method of the criteria. Koponen has studied how a […]
In Wisconsin, a new analysis of a group of bacteria called Streptomyces reveals the way some strains of the microbe developed advanced abilities to tear up cellulose, and points out more efficient ways we might mimic those abilities to make fuel from otherwise unusable plant material. Streptomyces were long thought to be prominent contributors at […]
In Washington, energy and food security can be simultaneously improved through well-designed biofuel and bioenergy development programs, according to a report released by a team of experts from 10 institutions. The report confronts some of the public’s misconceptions about the food security impacts of biofuels, and offers clarity on the source of these perceptions. One […]
In California, harnessing the University of California’s leadership in sustainability and pledge to become carbon neutral by 2025, Scripps Institution of Oceanography Associate Director Bruce Appelgate had a bright idea: What if Scripps Oceanography at UC San Diego began using 100 percent renewable diesel fuel, or biofuel, to power its research vessels? Renewable biofuel is […]
In France, Toulouse White Biotechnology, a pre-industrial demonstrator and accelerator in industrial biotechnology based on renewable carbon, doubled its physical size, with 1700 m2 of surface area now available to accommodate new facilities and laboratories and host the numerous projects. Three new wings, of 400m2 each, are home to TWB’s technical platforms, with advanced equipment […]
In Michigan, according to a new study from the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center and Michigan State University, the use of nitrogen fertilizer on switchgrass crops can produce a sharp increase in emissions of nitrous oxide, a greenhouse gas up to 300 times more harmful than carbon dioxide and a significant driver of global climate […]
In Japan, scientists from the RIKEN Quantitative Biology Center in Japan removed the electric organ from a torpedo stingray and chemically stimulated the organ by injecting a solution of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine though a syringe. They were able to achieve more than a minute of continuous current, with a peak voltage of 91 mV and […]
