In Maryland, the University of Maryland award $3.8 million through the Maryland Industrial Partnerships program to 17 teams. MIPS, a technology acceleration program, grants money matched with company funds to faculty engaged in each project. The one biobased winning project was for $324,439 to Feng Chen, associate professor, to work with HY-TEK Bio to develop […]
In Tennessee, Tennessee State University is demonstrating its mobile biodiesel lab on Thursday that will later be used to show farmers around the state how they can make their own fuel from oilseeds. The theory is that farmers wouldn’t have to buy diesel for their tractors if they dedicated a small portion of their crop […]
In Pennsylvania, researchers led by Penn State are working to identify genes to help jatropha be more drought resistant. Researchers looked at a little known gene — JcPIP1 — because a similar gene in the model plant Arabidopsis is known to play a role in drought response. They also examined JcPIP2, a potential drought response […]
In California, the UCSD Microgravity Team has been accepted into NASA’s Microgravity University program to pursue research involving biofuel combustion in near zero-gravity conditions. Microgravity University, or the Reduced Gravity Student Flight Opportunities Program, offers undergraduate student teams the opportunity to propose, design, and fly their own experiments aboard the “Vomit Comet” aircraft. The UCSD […]
In Germany, biodiesel production is still heavily reliant on rapeseed oil, but the country is diversifying according to a new study by the Union zur Förderung von Oel (UFOP). While 53% of oil comes from rapeseed, 25% now comes from palm oil and an additional 11% for both coconut and soy oil. After the implementation […]
In Pennsylvania, ARS chemist Charles Mullen, lead scientist Akwasi Boateng, and mechanical engineer Neil Goldberg recently filed a patent application for a new system that removes much of the oxygen from bio-oils without introducing catalysts. The three scientists work at the ARS Eastern Regional Research Center in Wyndmoor, Pa. The team conducted their small pilot-scale […]
In Germany, a researcher at the University of Freiburg has found a way to make a species of tree fungus useful for the production of electricity. Biofuel cells produce electricity that is environmentally friendly and conserves resources, for instance from organic waste material. They can use enzymes as catalysts to enable electrochemical reactions that generate […]
In Canada, University of Victoria mechanical engineering student has shown in his master’s thesis that B.C. has the coastline capacity to produce enough seaweed-based ethanol to more than replace what’s being imported into the province, or roughly 1.3 billion liters compared to 240 million liters of demand. Opportunities also exist for seaweed-based byproducts as animal […]
In Germany, the turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor is subject of research being performed at the University of Freiburg in an attempt to source a catalyst for the conversion process. The fungus releases an enzyme called laccasse, allowing electrochemical conversion of oxygen within the biofuel power cell. The findings were recently published in ChemSusChem. More […]
In Kansas, researchers have identified a gene, Sr35, gives wheat plants resistance to one of the most deadly races of the wheat stem rust pathogen — called Ug99 — that was first discovered in Uganda in 1999. The discovery may help scientists develop new wheat varieties and strategies that protect the world’s food crops against […]
