In Ohio, OSU’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) has received a $5.7 million grant from the DOE’s ARPA-E for a project that will boost the biodiesel capacity of guayule and sweet sorghum. The two feedstocks naturally produce farnesene, an oil which is easily converted to fuel; Chicago-based Chromatin Inc will be leading the […]
In the UK, ActionAid is urging UK leaders to downsize the EU biofuels targets, issuing a report that projected that implementing the 10% EU biofuels target would cause global corn prices to rise by 22 percent, sugar by 21 percent, and vegetable oil prices up by 36 percent. The group is urging G20 action at […]
In Washington state, Jud Virden, a 20-year laboratory veteran with experience creating energy research partnerships with U.S. industry, has been named associate laboratory director for the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory’s Energy and Environment Directorate. More on the story.
In California, the California Energy Commission approved funding of $23,110,015 for projects that will advance the development of green fuels, and the installation of fueling stations. The awards are provided through the Energy Commission’s Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, created by Assembly Bill 118. The program provides approximately $100 million annually to […]
In Ohio, the University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) and Bluegrass Biodiesel have partnered to test three methods to extract oil from cooking grease, including one the University is planning to patent. Longer term plans include using the oil to produce biodiesel to power equipment and vehicles. Thanks to an $87,000 grant from […]
In Illinois, researchers at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville have successfully produced an environmentally friendly, cost-effective biofuel from the non-edible portion of a corn kernel using technology that is currently commercial available. Utilizing a mechanical process called fractionation, corn kernels are broken into bran and cellulose through mechanical separation, and then converted into fuel ethanol. The […]
In the UK, the benefits of biofuels over fossil fuels may be overestimated, according to a study just completed by scientists from the University of Edinburgh. The study applied a Life Cycle Analysis model of production, considering all factors relating to the production, usage, and disposal of a fuel or product. The study indicates that […]
In Texas, one team at Texas AgriLife Research is investigating the use of up to 60 million acres of (otherwise useless) mesquite and redberry juniper from southern Great Plains states into bio-based precursor gases. A second team has landed a $500,000 Agriculture and Food Research Initiative grant to investigate the impact of a change from […]
In California, researchers at the Center for Energy Research at UC San Diego recently demonstrated the best performance for solid oxide fuel cells (SOFCs) operating directly on ethanol without external reformation. A peak power density of + 400 mW/cm2 was achieved at 800°C with air and a fuel containing 7.3 volume percent ethanol, a power […]
In Massachusetts, Agrivida has launched its first significant field production of research materials in USDA-permitted field trials. “Agrivida has created a proprietary INzyme molecular engineering technology that allows the renewable chemicals, fuels and other industries to grow a substrate of non-food energy crops that contain dormant enzymes, “said Agrivida’s Dr. Michael Lanahan. “These enzymes accumulate in […]
