In Virginia, the National Science Foundation has announced 15 Emerging Frontiers in Research and Innovation grants for fiscal year 2012, awarding nearly $30 million to 68 investigators at 26 institutions. Over the next four years, teams of researchers will work in three emerging areas. One set of research teams will investigate the large-scale use of […]
In Michigan, Michigan State University will lead a 5-year, $4.81 million project funded by the National Science Foundation that will bring together 15 of its own researchers as well as others from Mexico, Argentina and Brazil to determine how to produce sustainable biofuels and what policies need to be in place to ensure their sustainability.
In Massachusetts, researchers at MIT have been genetically modifying a soil bacterium called Ralstonia eutropha thanks to ARPA-E funding trying to get the organism to use a stream of carbon dioxide as its source of carbon, so that it could be used to make fuel out of emissions.
In Canada, researchers from the Queen’s University have teamed with researchers from the Weizmann Institute in Israel to study a natural multi-enzyme complex called cellulusome that could lead to reduction in costs for breaking down feedstocks for use in second generation biofuel production.
In Georgia, researchers from the University of Georgia and the BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) have developed a DNA transformation technology for organisms in the Caldicellulosiruptor group, that can utilize biomass even at temperatures higher than 160 Fahrenheit. The team is working with a group of bacteria that can use biomass for growth and will use […]
In Washington, the EIA is reporting that US ethanol production averaged 823,000 barrels per day (b/d) – or 34.57 million gallons daily. The 4-week average for ethanol production stood at 817,000 b/d for an annualized rate of 12.52 billion gallons. Stocks of ethanol stood at 18.5 million barrels. Gasoline demand for the week averaged 381.4 million […]
In Ohio, a researcher from Ohio State University and other colleagues have published a paper in the August edition of the journal BioScience arguing that ecology experts should be included in research on algae to ensure there are no unintended consequences to the natural environment if genetically modified algae escapes from a controlled environment.
In Missouri, researchers from the University of Missouri have been awarded a $5.4 million grant from the DOE to research non-food crops as potential biofuel feedstocks. About 100 million acres of marginalized agricultural land in 10 states along the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers are unused or underutilized but could potentially grow non-food feedstocks for biofuels.
In West Virginia, the DOE’s CCS and biofuels project producing algae in four ponds photosynthesizing CO2 captured from a small, coal-fired combustor at Touchstone Research Laboratory is moving into its next phase. The next stage will include using a new material to cover the algal ponds that will absorb sunlight during the day and later […]
In Iowa, waiving the RFS will not result in lower corn prices, according to reports published by Iowa State University and Purdue University. The Purdue study indicated that flexibility already built into the RFS is enough to reduce corn prices without having to waive any requirements. In fact, if the EPA did waive the RFS, […]
