In Switzerland, University of Neuchâtel researchers have demonstrated that stimulating a plant’s natural defenses also increases the capacity for disease resistance in its descendants. Instead of working on the DNA of their model plant, Arabidopsis thaliana, the researchers worked instead on molecules located close to the DNA, and primed them with either β-amino-butyric acid or […]
In California, researchers at the Bio Architecture Lab have engineered a strain of E coli to digest the sugars in brown seaweed and produce ethanol. This bacteria, unlike others produced previously, attacks the primary sugar constituent in seaweed, making the process much more efficient. According to Daniel Trunfio, BAL’s CEO, the progress “makes the biomass […]
In the UK, Professor Will Zimmerman and his team at Sheffield University have found that their microbubble system can be used to float algae particles to the surface of the water, making harvesting easier, and saving biofuel-producing companies time and money. The team reports that their system uses up to 1000 times less energy to […]
In Montana, a researcher at Montana State University has discovered a fungus from an extreme zone in Yellowstone, fond of eating algae, that could become a future participant in biofuel production. When the fungus is dried out, it oozed an oil of high percentage lipids contained a ratio of oleic and steric acids that’s nearly […]
In Cyprus, the ministry of agriculture is starting to explore the possibility of producing biofuels from microalgae since the island doesn’t have enough land to use for arable-based biofuels. The research is part of a six country, 12 organization research project 90% funded by the European Commission.
In Spain, Cepsa is researching the viability of producing biodiesel from microalgae in Huelva with the cooperation of Centro Internacional de Estudios y Convenciones Ecológicas y Medioambientales (Ciecem), the University of Huelva and the University of Cadiz. The project, begun in 2010, has already moved beyond lab scale and is now being implemented in indoor […]
In Singapore, JOil says cutting edge science and biotechnology processes that could increase the present productivity of Jatropha from the less than 1 ton of oil/hectare to 3 tons/hectare using breeding, tissue culture and genetic engineering processes.
In Tennessee, the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the U.S. Coast Guard have embarked on a three year project to determine the highest acceptable levels of biobutanol in gasoline engines, and biodiesel in their diesel plants. The U.S.C.G. has chosen to use biobutanol instead of ethanol in their small gasoline engines. The project will also […]
In Illinois, researchers at the University of Illinois have developed a computer model to run simulations on how to grow biofuel crops and convert them into fuel, optimizing operations to bring down costs, reduce greenhouse gas emissions or achieve other goals. The model took into account regional attributes such as weather, crop yield, farm size […]
In California, UC Davis has teamed with the University of Tokyo in Japan in a project jointly funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Japan Science and Technology Agency to develop bioenergy. All four projects, with a total of $12 million in grants, are based on metabolomics, an approach that uses high-tech analysis […]
