In North Carolina, the Biofuels Center of North Carolina has awarded $1.6 million for 15 projects statewide to accelerate the commercialization of renewable liquid fuels. Awards are made through the 2011 Statewide Biofuels Development Grants Program. By 2017, 10% of North Carolina’s liquid transportation fuels is expected to come from biofuels grown and produced within […]
In India, the country’s national oil company Oil India Limited (OIL) has signed a ten-year agreement with The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) to broaden the scope of their joint research to include Petroleum Biotechnology and New & Renewable Energy Sources. The two organizations have previously collaborated on algae research but this agreement will broaden […]
In Michigan, Agriculture Deputy Secretary Kathleen Merrigan visited Michigan State University today to highlight three new research grants awarded to the university to spur production of bioenergy and biobased products that will lead to the development of sustainable regional systems and help create jobs. Merrigan joined energy stakeholders and university officials for the announcement and […]
In the UK, researchers at Glyndwr University are experimenting with high-yielding, high-sugar perennial ryegrass as a feedstock for ethanol as well as using the grass’s fiber in pharmaceutical applications. The grass is well suited to many environments in the UK, including degraded or marginal lands, and can produce as much as 15 metric tons dry […]
In California, top researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have formed the UC Berkeley Synthetic Biology Institute to advance efforts to engineer cells and biological systems in ways that promise to transform technology in health and medicine, energy, the environment, new materials, and a host of other critical arenas. The institute is launching collaborative […]
Pat Grant of Tatko writes, “Our preliminary tests on algae have yielded positive results in increasing lipid count and eliminating unwanted pathogens. The product’s unique strain of Azospirillum is a naturally occurring, non-genetically modified product capable of significantly increasing productivity, by stimulating the fixation of molecular nitrogen. “We are seeking a partner to move forward with […]
In California, researchers at Stanford University say that planting sugarcane in Brazil in areas where other crops were previously planted cools the climate by reflecting sunlight back into space and by lowering the temperature of the surrounding air as the plants “exhale” cooler water. The research was recently published in the journal Nature. The study […]
In Maryland, Robert Kozak, president of Atlantic Biomass Conversions, wrote in Advanced Biofuels USA that using biofuels production processes to create animal feed as co-products can earn the producer more on a pound-for-pound basis than corn ethanol, and that by retaining plant amino acids, the income from the feedstock used for high protein animal feed […]
In Washington, Geoff Cooper, VP of Research and Analysis for the Renewable Fuels Association, published analysis of the February 2011 ethanol export reports, noting that sharp increases are continuing for ethanol exports, even though exported ethanol generally is not blended with gasoline prior to exportation, and does not qualify for the Volumetric Ethanol Excise Tax […]
In Washington State, PNNL researchers Mark Wigmosta, a PNNL hydrologist, and his co-authors have published a study that being smart about where we grow algae can drastically reduce how much water is needed for algal biofuel. Growing algae for biofuel, while being water-wise, could also help meet congressionally mandated renewable fuel targets by replacing 17% […]
