In Spain, the European-funded project Equimotor Plus has developed a new engine designed to run specifically on biofuels that skirts around the issues of corrosion when excess water gets into current fuel tanks. The project, led by Tekniker-IK4 with researchers from Spain, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany and the United Kingdom. The motor isn’t actually […]
In Maryland, researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology have found that bacteria can dramatically degrade pipelines when they feed on ethanol and produce acid. Acid boosted fatigue crack growth rates by at least 25 times the levels occuring in air alone. The results are meant to help pipeline engineers determine which materials […]
In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy announced the next step of its comprehensive website reform, making Energy.gov a cutting-edge, interactive information platform and saving taxpayers more than $10 million annually. Through a complete overhaul of its front-end and back-end design, Energy.gov modernizes how consumers and businesses access the information and resources they need to […]
In New York, researchers at New York University, the University of Virginia, Harvard, UCSD and other institutions have completed the first genome-scale reconstruction of a microalgal metabolic network. Their paper was published this week in Molecular Systems Biology. Integrating biological and optical data, and the model alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, the researchers reconstructed a genome-scale metabolic […]
In Rhode Island, the City of Newport is soliciting a Statement of Qualifications (QBS) for the creation of a Demonstration Project converting naturally occurring algae into a biodiesel for the City of Newport. Deadline for responses is August 24. In calendar year 2007 The City of Newport purchased an Algae Harvester specifically designed to collect […]
In the UK, the Institute of Biological, Environmental & Rural Sciences at Aberystwyth University showed that the best month to harvest kelp off the Welsh coast for biofuel was in July when the kelp contained the highest proportions of carbohydrate and the lowest metal content, meaning the cleanest and easiest to use feedstock supply. Individual […]
National Laboratory and at Washington State University have developed a new zinc and zirconium-based catalyst that will transform ethanol into isobutene in a single step. As the catalyst requires water, lower grade ethanols and hydrous ethanols can be used rather than the more expensive dehydrated varieties.
In Wisconsin, a Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center team has found new genes that improve yeast’s ability to process xylose. The team inserted genes into S. cerevisiae and found that one particular gene, CtAKR increased xylose consumption. As xylose can be nearly half the sugar available in a plant, any increase in yeast’s ability to […]
In California, Mary Solecki and Bob Epstein of E2 and David Richey of the Goldman School of Public Policy released a monumentally good read and one of the best primers available on advanced biofuels, with their Advanced Biofuel Market Report 2011: Meeting the California LCFS. t examines the market’s ability to meet the low-carbon fuel […]
In Brazil, UNICA reports that the volume of sugarcane processed by mills in the South-Central region of Brazil totaled 40.39 million tons in the first half of July, an increase of 2.34% compared to the same period a year ago. Total crushing from the beginning of the harvest to July 16 reached 217.40 million tons, […]
