In California, an analysis by Lux Research has concluded that “California isn’t running out of water. It’s running out of cheap water.” The drought damage is estimated as $2.2 billion, which is significant, but hardly the “end of growth” for California’s $2.2 trillion economy. The problem for businesses, however, is that cheap water jeopardizes their […]
In Brazil, the Sugarcane Center of IAC (Agronomical Institute of Campinas) expects super cane to reach the market in the next three years, following six years of development and trials. The crop’s optimum may be two harvests ever 15 months rather than once every 12 months as sugarcane. Developing machinery to harvest the new crop […]
In Washington state, Washington State University researchers have found a way to make jet fuel from a common black fungus found in decaying leaves, soil and rotting fruit. The researchers hope the process leads to economically viable production of aviation biofuels in the next five years. The researchers used Aspergillus carbonarius ITEM 5010 to create hydrocarbons, […]
In France, Global Bioenergies announced having converted renewable resources into gaseous isobutene, and secondarily into liquid fuels similar to those extracted from oil. This mix of fuels can be compared to light oil, and thus be considered as « renewable oil ». For the first time, a batch of isobutene produced and purified on ARD’s Pomacle-Bazancourt site, located close to Reims in […]
In Illinois, researchers realize that biomass feedstocks will need to come from many different sources, including crop residues, forest residues, and municipal waste, for example, said Marty Williams, a University of Illinois crop scientist and ecologist with the USDA-Agricultural Research Service. The use of double-cropping systems—a winter annual biomass crop is grown then harvested in […]
In Europe, E4tech has just completed a new study, ‘From the Sugar Platform to biofuels and biochemicals’ for the European Commission (DG ENER), a comprehensive evidence base for policymakers and industry. The report found that the global market value of the sugar platform is today of the order of $65 billion, with bioethanol (from sugar […]
In Ohio, Battelle recently succeeded at the United States Department of Energy (DOE) challenge of making commercially viable transportation fuels from biomass pyrolysis. Scientists and engineers at Battelle demonstrated the durability of a continuous hydrotreatment process that converts bio oil from biomass pyrolysis into transportation and aviation fuels. The DOE’s specific challenge was to demonstrate at least […]
In Washington DC, ethanol fuel refineries could be releasing much larger amounts of some ozone-forming compounds into the atmosphere than current assessments suggest, according to a new study that found emissions of these chemicals at a major ethanol fuel refinery are many times higher than government estimates. New airborne measurements downwind from an ethanol fuel […]
In Michigan, with support from the Michigan Soybean Promotion Committee, Dr. Jonathan Wenzel, assistant professor of Chemical Engineering at Kettering University, is attempting to speed up the process of making biodiesel – a renewable fuel that is made using predominantly soybean oil in the United States, but can be made from animal fats and other […]
In New York state, SCHOTT North America announced that its new oval glass tubes for photobioreactors (PBRs) increased maximum dry biomass output per day by more than 22 percent in its latest study in partnership with Heliae, a technology-driven algae production company. For the first time, SCHOTT’s round glass tubes were retrofitted with oval tubes […]
