In Texas, researchers at The University of Texas at Austin’s Cockrell School of Engineering have developed a new source of renewable energy, a biofuel, from genetically engineered yeast cells and ordinary table sugar. This yeast produces oils and fats, known as lipids, that can be used in place of petroleum-derived products. The researchers’ platform produces the highest […]
In Hawaii, Researchers from the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa are working with Maui based company Pacific Biodiesel to develop a way to make water from restaurant grease traps reusable. The collaboration is an example of a new type of partnership between local businesses and the state’s public university. UH developed a High Rate Anaerobic Digestion […]
In Washington state, WSU researchers are looking at ways to grow the valuable chemical 2-phenylethanol—the chemical that gives roses their scent and is used in perfumes—inside the leaves and branches of poplars. The project began in response to an attempt to use woody poplars as biofuel feedstock but the low prices for fuels didn’t compensate […]
In Denmark, Novozymes and Monsanto announced the completed closing of the The BioAg Alliance, as originally announced on December 10, 2013. Both companies will now focus on implementing the long-term strategic alliance. The BioAg Alliance is unique in the industry, bringing together Novozymes’ commercial BioAg operations and capabilities within microbial discovery, development and production with […]
According to new EIA data, ethanol production for the week ending 1/31/14 averaged 895,000 barrels per day or 7.59 million gallons daily, down 5000 b/d from the previous week. Imports of ethanol were non-existent for the 18th straight week. Daily ethanol production, expressed as a percentage of daily gasoline demand, was 10.59%. More on the […]
In Ireland, speaking at the 13th Annual IrBEA National Bioenergy Conference in Dublin, Bart Bonsall, Technology Leader at Ireland’s Technology Centre for Biorefining and Bioenergy said that, “Using the advanced high-rate, low-temperature anaerobic digestion technology for dilute wastewaters developed by Professor Vincent O’Flaherty and the enzyme-based technology patented by Dr Maria Tuohy and their NUI […]
In Iowa, cropping systems that are profitable for farmers and balance societal needs for food, feed, fuel, energy and clean air and water are the focus and challenge of Iowa State University’s Landscape Biomass Project. Researchers are studying how to strategically integrate second generation bioenergy crops, such as triticale, switchgrass and trees, with food and feed […]
In Washington, while the debate over using crops for fuel continues, scientists are now reporting a new, fast approach to develop biofuel in a way that doesn’t require removing valuable farmland from the food production chain. Their work examining the fuel-producing potential of Streptomyces, a soil bacterium known for making antibiotics, appears in ACS’ The […]
In California, gasoline-like fuels can be made from cellulosic materials such as farm and forestry waste using a new process invented by chemists at the University of California, Davis. The process could open up new markets for plant-based fuels, beyond existing diesel substitutes. The feedstock for the new process is levulinic acid, which can be […]
In the UK, the Wales Centre of Excellence for Anaerobic Digestion (the AD Centre), part of the Sustainable Environment Research Centre based at the University of South Wales has been awarded £889,000 by the Welsh Government’s A4B project to deliver a Knowledge Transfer Centre in Advanced Anaerobic Processes and Biogas Systems. The project builds on the […]
