In California, scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have demonstrated a new technique, modeled after a metabolic process found in some bacteria, for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into liquid acetate, a key ingredient in “liquid sunlight” or solar fuels produced through artificial photosynthesis. The new approach, reported in Nature Catalysis, could help advance […]
In India, The Meghalayan reported that a group of researchers of Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati have studied the efficacy of a specific bacterial endoglucanase enzyme, RfGH5_4 from Ruminococcus flavefaciens in breaking down woody biomatter into a simple sugar that can be fermented efficiently to produce bioethanol. A team led by Professor Arun Goyal […]
In Illinois, researchers at the University of Chicago are taking inspiration from nature to engineer new systems with a range of potential applications. Their latest experiment mimics the structure of soil to create materials that can interact with their environment, with promise for electronics, medicine, and biofuel technology. It has multiple potential applications; preliminary tests […]
In the UK, an alternative source of heat could significantly reduce the carbon footprint of a process which turns food waste into power, new research suggests. A University of Glasgow-led team of scientists have demonstrated that using air-source heat pumps to support anaerobic digestion could cut the carbon emitted during the production of biogas by […]
In Russia, RUDN University chemists have improved the catalyst for ethanol conversion. With it, a mixture of compounds with a high octane number was obtained. This was achieved thanks to a special substrate for the activated carbon catalyst. In the future, such developments will help to obtain more environmentally friendly fuel additives and thus reduce […]
In South Korea, a Korea-Spain joint research team recently recreated bioplastic from wasted byproducts from gas fermentation from steel mills. Through joint research with Spain’s Center for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG), a research team in the Department of Chemical Engineering at POSTECH has developed a technology to generate artificial enzymes from E. coli. The […]
In the UK, a scientist from the University of Plymouth has played a key role in new research which has developed a powerful, low-cost method for recycling used cooking oil and agricultural waste into biodiesel, and turning food scraps and plastic rubbish into high-value products. The method, outlined in a study published in Nature Catalysis, harnesses a […]
In China, Phaeodactylum tricornutum is a commercially important species that is widely used in aquaculture. It also has the potential to be used as biofuel. However, contamination of algivorous microzooplankton has been one of the main constraints in P. tricornutum large-scale cultivation. Therefore, isolating a new strain with grazing resistance is important for overcoming zooplankton […]
In Michigan, researchers at Michigan State University are working to clear the runway for a new source of cleaner, more sustainable biodiesel and jet fuels derived from a relative of cabbage and cauliflower. With $2 million in funding from the U.S. Department of Energy, MSU scientists are helping unravel the complex genetics of a plant […]
In Tennessee, researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory used three pretreatment solvents to partially deconstruct and break away plant lignin from other cell wall components so the lignin modules can be extracted. The composition of the extracted lignin (and therefore its potential value) from wild type and genetic variants […]
