In Colorado, a screening tool from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) eases and greatly quickens one of the thorniest tasks in the biofuels industry: determining cell wall chemistry to find plants with ideal genes. NREL’s new High-Throughput Analytical Pyrolysis tool (HTAP) can thoroughly analyze hundreds of biomass samples a day and […]
In Germany, research led by Karlsruhe Institute of Technology suggests that increased planting of trees such as eucalyptus, willow and poplar near urban areas for biofuel can lead to human deaths due to increased ozone inhalation. The study says that by 2020, as many as 1,400 deaths could be attributable to ozone inhalation.
In Washington, NASA researchers have begun a series of flights using the agency’s DC-8 flying laboratory to study the effects of alternate biofuel on engine performance, emissions and aircraft-generated contrails at altitude. The Alternative Fuel Effects on Contrails and Cruise Emissions (ACCESS) research involves flying the DC-8 as high as 40,000 feet while an instrumented […]
In California, California has more biofuel companies than any other state, according to a report by the Environmental Entrepreneurs. With nearly 30 advanced biofuels companies, refineries, and related operations, California ranks in front of Illinois, Colorado, Texas, and Iowa. According to the same report, the biofuel market could be worth more than $60 billion within […]
In Michigan, Michigan State University reports that fat worms confirm that researchers from Michigan State University have successfully engineered a plant with oily leaves – a feat that could enhance biofuel production as well as lead to improved animal feeds. The results, published in the current issue of The Plant Cell, show that researchers could […]
In California, researchers at Stanford University’s Global Climate and Energy Project have released a new report looking at the unparalleled ability of biological systems to capture and cycle carbon, and the potential to use these systems as part of an energy supply that leads to negative emissions.
In Michigan, researchers at Michigan State University have engineered a plant with oily leaves, which could increase biofuel production and improve animal feed. Whereas most research focuses on increasing oil production in seeds, the MSU researchers used an algae gene responsible for oil production to cultivate a new type of plant that stores lipids in […]
In North Dakota, Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory and BeetsAll Biofuel are studying energy beet for ethanol production with 14 test plots, five irrigated and nine dryland, across the state, and have determined that energy beet can bring farmers double the revenue of corn or soybeans. The company is planning 16 processing facilities around the […]
In South Dakota, the National Academy of Sciences has published a report on land conversion across the US Western Corn Belt (WCB) that warns about a persistent shift in land use, rather than “short-term variability in crop rotation patterns.” The report indicates that the “benefits of a biofuel industry based on perennial bioenergy crops, rather […]
In California, a group of scientists led by Sapphire Energy announced the completion of a collaborative study which identified the morphology, ultrastructure, and life history of A. protococcarum, one of the most difficult to manage algae parasites. Their findings are detailed in “Characterization of Amoeboaphelidium protococcarum: An Algal Parasite New to the Cryptomycota Isolated from […]
