In South Carolina, Clemson University is teaming with the University of Queensland to exchange research and create a framework for a biofuels development program. The research scope includes: • Switchgrass and sweet sorghum to ethanol: Clemson will provide comprehensive access to information developed for conversion of sugar cane bagasse (the fibrous byproduct of sugar extraction) […]
In Indonesia, biologist Willie Smits has received a $100,000 grant from National Geographic to develop a prototype model of a rainforest-based system for producing biofuels from Arenga sugar palm. The trees only grow in mixed, intact rainforests, are drought-resistant and fire-resistant, and must be “bled” twice a day like a maple tree which encourages employment. […]
In Massachussets, Qteros and the University of Massachusetts Amherst announced two intellectual property (IP) advances that extend the patent estate for their unique ethanol-producing microorganism, Clostridium phytofermentans, also known as the Q Microbe. The United States Patent and Trademark Office issued US Patent 7,943,363 B2 covering genetic constructs of Clostridium phytofermentans. This patent is significant […]
In Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory reports that ionic liquids have emerged as promising new solvents capable of disrupting the cellulose crystalline structure in a wide range of biomass feedstocks. Such biomass is of particular interest as a renewable and sustainable source of fuels and chemicals, and the crystallinity of the cellulose is one of […]
In the Netherlands, the AlgaePARC facility at Wageningen UR opened, launching the BioSolar Cells research project. The facility will be exploring the semi-industrial scale use of micro-algae as a source for energy and raw materials, using four 24 square meter tanks and three small 2.4 square meter tanks to find ways to raise output and […]
In Mexico, researchers at the Autonomous Meritorious University of Puebla have discovered that adding hydrated lime instead of calcium oxide more efficiently catalyzes the biodiesel transesterification process. After frying potatoes in soybean oil they bought at a local grocery store, they added lime from a local lime producer, then found that after two hours at […]
In India, the University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) at the Rural Bio-Resource Complex Project (RBRC) at Hadonahalli has inaugurated its new biofuel plant established by Rural Bio-Fuel Growers Association. The governor opened the facility at the recent ceremony, also planting pongamia trees as a way to encourage the local population to do the same.
In Canada, a PhD student at the University of Sherbrooke is studying an algae that grows naturally in the St. Lawrence River as a possible feedstock for biodiesel because it has special properties that make it better withstand cold temperatures. The research is only six months into a three-year project but is already showing promising […]
In Minnesota, overall ethanol industry profitability gained by $0.08 per gallon in 2010, according to an annual benchmarking study released by Christianson & Associates. The study’s authors found that ethanol yields remained at an average of 2.725 gallons per bushel, and that plants reduced long term debt by an average of $0.20 per gallons. Total […]
In New York, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation awarded a $1.5 million award for a “Next-Generation Urban Sanitation Facility” in Accra, Ghana, that will develop the biotechnologies to turn the fecal sludge in sewage into methane and biodiesel. Kartick Chandran, associate professor of Earth and Environmental Engineering at Columbia Engineering heads up the project. […]
