In Michigan, Detroit-based NextCAT has been awarded nearly $500,000 in a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research award from the National Science Foundation based on its commercialization of a class of biofuel catalysts developed at Wayne State University. The catalysts focus on waste-based feedstocks such as waste oils and animal fats. Total grant funding for […]
In California, Salk Institute researchers have developed a new strain of bacteria that may pave the way for new synthetic drugs and new ways of manufacturing medicines and biofuels. For the first time, the scientists were able to create bacteria capable of effectively incorporating “unnatural” amino acids – artificial additions to the 20 naturally occurring […]
In Nigeria, the University of Benin through its National Centre for Energy and Environment (NCEE) has developed new biodiesel production equipment that allows for more efficient transformation of jatropha oil into fuel, with 12 machines already produced under the prototype. The university is training local farmers to grow jatropha for use in the new equipment […]
In Illinois, a researcher at USDA’s Agricultural Research Service National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria has developed Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain NRRL Y-50049, a yeast that ferments plant sugars into cellulosic ethanol despite the stressful interference by problematic compounds such as furfural (2-furaldehyde) and HMF (5-hydroxymethyl-2-furaldehyde) created during dilute acid pre-treatment of the crop […]
In the UK, researchers at the University of York have discovered that microwaving food waste allow both home-scale and commercial scale of biofuel and chemicals production. Plans are underway for a demonstration plant in York to be built later this year with a commercial-scale facility expected at about $1.57 million. Orange peel waste can produce […]
In Maryland, Johns Hopkins researchers have engineered from scratch a computer-designed yeast chromosome and incorporated into their creation a new system that lets scientists intentionally rearrange the yeast’s genetic material. Jef D. Boeke, Ph.D., Sc.D., professor, explains, “We developed SCRaMbLE to enable us to pull a mutation trigger — essentially causing the synthetic chromosome to […]
In California, Researchers at the University of California, Riverside’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology (CERT) received a $650,000 grant from the California Energy Commission, extending its commitment to $2 million to CERT for its patented steam hydrogasification reaction, which can turn any carbonaceous material – including waste from food, yards, sewage treatment facilities – […]
In Indiana, researchers at Purdue University are exploring the use of tapioca pearls as an environmentally friendly way to dehydrate ethanol, rather than using corn grits to absorb water or molecular sieves to remove water molecules. The study showed that tapioca pearls absorbed about 34% more water than corn grits. In addition, tapioca can be […]
In Texas, AlgEternal will soon open a facility in the J.J. Pickles Research Campus at the University of Texas, Austin, where algae will be cultivated using a vertical method involving glass tubes. The research partnership between UT’s Electromechanical department, UTEX Culture Collection of Algae and AlgEternal will produce algae for biodiesel as well as cosmetics […]
In Iowa, researchers at Iowa State University have run the numbers and have discovered that since May, the net return on biodiesel production has been 50 cents a gallon—the highest in four years. The return to profitability is a combination of biodiesel, soybean oil, methanol and natural gas prices all in the right place. Production […]
