In Illinois, the potential for producing butanol as a biofuel has become a bit more promising, thanks to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their partners. Work by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) chemical engineer Nasib Qureshi suggests that barley straw and corn stover—both agricultural byproducts—could be cost-effective feedstocks for producing “biobutanol.” ARS is USDA’s […]
In Japan, researchers at Mie University have run a test vehicle on biobutanol produced from waste oranges and waste from producing orange juice. The fuel could be ideal for running agricultural equipment. The process used can produce 20 milliliters of biobutanol from about 3kg of oranges.
In Denmark, researchers at Novozymes and Roskilde University say the artificial enzyme they have jointly developed is almost twice as effective as the enzymes found in nature being used to create cellulosic ethanol. Enzymes for cellulosic ethanol are typically very expensive but doubling the production capacity could help to bring down the cost of production […]
In Massachusetts, international research team led by Dan Distel, director of the Ocean Genome Legacy Center of New England Biolabs at Northeastern University, has discovered a novel digestive strategy in shipworms. The breakthrough, the researchers say, may also be a game-changer for the industrial production of clean biofuels. To start, it’s important to note that […]
In Indiana, researchers have demonstrated a new process to convert all biomass into liquid fuel, and the method could make possible mobile processing plants. The researchers at Purdue University filed a patent application on the concept in 2008 and have now demonstrated that it works in laboratory experiments, said Rakesh Agrawal, the Winthrop E. Stone […]
In Spain, by switching out methanol in the biodiesel production process and replacing it with ethanol, mixed with a heterogeneous catalyst, a PhD student at the University of Navarra has determined that the production process could become cheaper and have a better environmental impact than traditional methods.
In Brazil, researchers at the State University of West Paraná are looking at the viability of tilapia oil as a feedstock for biodiesel. The fish itself has about 22% oil content while fish waste has about 6% oil. Guts, fins, heads, skin, and scales are all waste products from fish processing but no oil was […]
In Texas, Agricen has announced a new webinar for Row Crop Growers. The “How to Unlock the Value of Your Residue When Every Dollar Counts” Webinar will discuss importance of nutrient release from residue for next season’s crop and product applications. The webinar will and will feature Dr. Laura Gentry of the Illinois Corn Growers […]
In Canada, Damien Biot-Pelletier, a Concordia PhD candidate in biology, is building on the findings of a previous Concordia grad student: Dominic Pinel, who produced a strain of yeast that is resistant to sulfite liquor—the toxic byproduct of the pulp and paper industry—and transforms its sugars into ethanol. Biot-Pelletier is now trying to discover what […]
In Colorado, tucked away in darkness and almost dead, algae can emerge from a frigid and foggy environment to live again—and perhaps even become the seeds for a new beginning that can provide biofuel for a clean energy future. At the Energy Department’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and at dozens of other labs nationwide, algae […]
