In Michigan, Michigan State University researchers dramatically increased corn and vegetable production on test farms using revolutionary new water-saving membranes. The subsurface water retention technology uses contoured, engineered films, strategically placed at various depths below a plant’s root zone to retain soil water. The prototype can be used on a broad range of agricultural crops, […]
In the UK, researchers from the Department of Life Sciences at Imperial College London led a national team that have determined that willow trees grown diagonally can yield up to five times more biofuel. The discovery has been seen in the wild and in plantations but researchers have now identified that genetic trait that leads […]
In Illinois, “nanobowls” that enable inorganic catalysts to operate selectively may hold the key to improved catalyst performance that can be tailored to accept certain molecules and reject others, demonstrates a joint project by Northwestern University and the DOE’s Argonne National Laboratory. The processing techniques used to develop these flexible nano bowls is scalable and […]
In Washington, a study published in Nature found that successional herbaceous vegetation, once well established, could provide up to 5.55 billion gallons of ethanol towards the US Renewable Fuel Stadnard mandates. The researchers performed quantitative modelling of successional vegetation on marginal lands, constrained by the requirement that each modelled location be within 80 kilometres of […]
In the Netherlands, Dyadic has commenced commercialization of enzymes developed by the EU-funded DISCO project coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. The project’s results include lignin-tolerant enzymes and enzyme cocktails for processing spruce, straw, corn cob and wheat bran. The raw materials studied in the project were spruce, straw, corn cob and wheat […]
In Kansas, the U.S. Department of Agriculture has just awarded $5.08 million to a team of researchers, led by Kansas State University Distinguished Professor in Grain Science and Industry, Xiuzhi “Susan” Sun, to study camelina’s potential. Her research focuses on how plant- and grain-based materials such as oils, proteins and fibers can be used to […]
In Portugal, researchers at Algarve University have teamed with the local carob industry to explore the use of carob waste as a feedstock for biofuel. The project explores fermentation technology for the production of second-generation bio ethanol using the residue of carob pulp, which is high in sugar content.
In Illinois, miscanthus and other biofuels crops actually reduce the escape of nitrogen into the environment, according to a study performed at the University of Illinois. The study compared miscanthus, switchgrass, and mixed prairie species against a traditional corn and soybean rotation, and discovered that certain perennial crops quickly reduce nitrate in the soil. The […]
In California, the California Energy Commission today approved $3,270,066 for projects that will keep the state on track to a clean transportation future. The approved awards were made through the Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, created by Assembly Bill 118. The program, which is essential to fulfilling the state’s pioneering climate-change […]
In Finland, the mainly EU-funded DISCO project coordinated by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland has developed powerful enzymes, which accelerate plant biomass conversion into sugars and further into products such as bioethanol. The project’s results include lignin-tolerant enzymes and enzyme cocktails for processing spruce, straw, corn cob and wheat bran. The commercialisation of these […]
