In Singapore, researchers at the A*STAR Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences have developed a two step biocatalytic process for biodiesel from crude oil feedstocks, instead of pure and refined feedstock oils. Previous attempts at using enzymes found that when exposed to methanol droplets, the enzymes were deactivated. Talukder found that by using two processes, […]
In New Jersey, Stevens Institute of Technology students have designed a biochar electrode replacement for traditional activated carbon electrodes, used in superconductors. The three students, Katie Van Strander, Liana Vaccari and Rachel Kenion, as part of their project, designed, produced and tested their prototype, and successfully demonstrated that their electrode can work in a superconductor. […]
In Spain, CEPSA has developed a new process to manufacture biofuel from vegetable oil using hydrogenation based on a research project it began in 2007. The company will begin producing 100,000 cubic meters annually of the hydrobiodiesel at its three facilities with production starting in Huelva in July and in Cadiz in November.
In Spain, researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Auckland announced that they made the hydrogen production process simpler and cheaper, at ambient temperature and pressure, using a fully scalable powder photocatalyst and ethanol as a feedstock. The demonstrations have shown 5 litres of hydrogen can be […]
In India, the Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) announced that it will increase cultivation of seaweed for ethanol production to a 5-10 square kilometre energy farm. CSMCRI director Dr Pushpito Ghosh told reporters that “the sap derived from seaweed will help raise the nation’s sugarcane yield by 10 to 30 per cent, […]
In New York, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is developing shrub willow as a renewable energy source for biobutanol production under the Willow Biomass Project. Thanks to a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $75,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, researchers are experimenting with […]
In Michigan, more detail emerged on a new study by the Michigan State University branch of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, which concluded that, based on data from 2002 to 2007, biofuel production “is not significantly correlated with changes in croplands for corn (coarse grain) plus soybean in regions of the world which are… […]
In Iowa, a professor at Iowa State University has determined how to grow a high-protein animal feed from thin silage, a soup of leftovers and waste once the protein-based solids are centrifuged out. Silage is produced in a 5:1 ratio during the ethanol production process, making this technology a use of a waste by-product of […]
In Washington, Clean Edge has released its 2nd annual U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index with California, Oregon, and Massachusetts rocking the top of the list. West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama fill the bottom slots. The report considers over 70 indicators including total electricity produced by clean-energy sources, hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, clean-energy […]
In South Africa, a team of international researchers, led by Prof Zander Myburg with the University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the US DOE Joint Genome Institute, made available the complete genome sequence of the forest tree species, Eucalyptus grandis. It took the team, who had the support of a network of more than 130 […]
