In California, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab researchers have identified a new terpene that could replace standard fuel for diesel – bisabolane. Using synthetic biology, a JBEI research team engineered strains of two microbes, a bacteria and a yeast, to produce a precursor to bisabolane, a member of the terpene class of chemical compounds that are […]
In Washington D.C., the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced plans to grant $80 million this year to 163 companies that produce biofuel from alternative sources such as animal fats and wood chips. The amount of each company’s payment is based on how much biofuel the company produces from sources other than corn. For example, Pennsylvania-based […]
In Washington state, Imperium Renewables and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory are developing a catalytic process being developed at PNNL that converts biomass-based alcohols into renewable drop-in jet fuels. Imperium entered into the project in July 2010 through a collaborative research agreement with Battelle, the nonprofit research organization that manages PNNL for DOE. The ultimate […]
In Illinois, a new study by the University of Illinois shows that the EPAs right to waive one or more mandates under the Renewable Fuel Standard 2 such as the biodiesel mandate, the cellulosic mandate, or the overall blending mandate introduces uncertainty for biofuels and agricultural commodity markets in the future. The study looks specifically […]
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 […]
