In Germany, Technische Universitaet Muenchen scientists have mapped the reaction path of 4-hydroxy-2,5-dimethyl-3(2H)-furanone, also known as Furaneol. Because it is not just our sense of taste that determines what a foodstuff “tastes” like, but also our sense of smell – and strawberries provide a good example of this. The characteristic aroma of a fresh strawberry […]
In California, scientists at the University of California, Davis have engineered a strain of photosynthetic cyanobacteria to grow without the need for light. The cyanobacterium strain Synechococcus elongatus strain PCC 7942 has been well characterized as a model photoautotroph. Previous work by Atsumi’s lab has engineered this organism to recycle carbon dioxide into a variety […]
In Washington, the American Cleaning Institute® (ACI) and the National Biodiesel Board (NBB) awarded the 2013 Glycerine Innovation Award to Dr. B.L.A. Prabhavathi Devi from the Centre for Lipid Research at CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India. The ACI/NBB Glycerine Innovation Award recognizes outstanding achievement for research into new applications for glycerine, with particular […]
In Canada, a three-year project will use algae to recycle industrial carbon dioxide emissions from an oil sands facility into commercial products like biofuels. The Algal Carbon Conversion Pilot Project, a partnership among the National Research Council of Canada, Canadian Natural Resources Limited and Pond Biofuels, will result in the construction of a unique, $19 […]
In California, biofuels production from lignocellulosic biomass would benefit if carried out between 65 and 70 degrees, as researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute have improved the thermal stability of trichoderma reesei EGI around that temperature. Using their technique, they engineered an enzyme variant with greater activity and stability, a process called “B-factor guided mutagenesis.” […]
In Missouri, the United Soybean Board is pointing readers towards a study commissioned by the Minnesota, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota soy checkoffs, that found that biodiesel production has boosted soybean prices by $0.74 per bushel. In total, the study found that biodiesel production had generated $15B in added farmer income, and soybean oil […]
In Oklahoma, Southern Nazarene University (SNU) and Oklahoma State University (OSU) are collaborating to investigate the possibility of using sunlight as a way of enriching the energy content of biofuel. The primary goal for this summer is to develop a method for the conversion of acrylate esters into cyclobutanes. The question at the heart of […]
In California, researchers at the University of California are engineering tobacco plants to produce oils for use as biofuel feedstock. The researchers hope that the results of the three-year, $4.8 million ARPA-E project known as PETRO, Plants Engineered to Replace Oil, will result in oils akin to those produced from algae.
In California, Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have developed a new technique for pre-treating cellulosic biomass with ionic liquids – salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room temperature. This new technique requires none of the expensive enzymes used in previous ionic liquid pretreatments, and makes it […]
In Oklahoma, researchers at Oklahoma State University recently completed gene sequencing Galdieria sulphuraria, a type of red algae that grows inside active volcanoes and in hot spring sulfur deposits in Iceland. The team discovered that the enzymes that make the algae able to survive in such conditions were “stolen” from bacteria enzymes. Biofuels researchers may […]
