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 […]
In Wisconsin, C5.6 Technologies of Middleton and the Wisconsin Institute for Sustainable Technology (WIST) at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point won a $224,967 National Science Foundation grant to continue work on developing bacteria that will ferment sugar into isoprene, a high-energy molecule that can be used to make jet and other fuels.
In New Mexico, researchers at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have determined that cellulose III has a less sticky surface, which means that a smaller quantity of enzymes get stuck to it non-productively. The GLBRC team had found that using one method of pretreatment to convert cellulose […]
In Iowa, all chefs know that “you have to break some eggs to make an omelet,” and that includes engineers at Iowa State University who are using high-frequency sound waves to break down plant materials in order to cook up a better batch of biofuel. Researchers have shown that “pretreating” a wide variety of feedstocks […]
In Massachusetts, an E. coli-based metabolic pathway that produces fatty acids easily converted into fuel is the subject of research being performed at the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. The process, which produces octanoate, produces the highest yields yet reported. The work was funded by the Department of Energy’s Advanced Research […]
