During the American Chemical Society meeting in Anaheim, California, Agrivida announced that they have developed a technology that provides the biomass with the ability to convert its starch to sugar more effectively without using a traditional enzyme to aid the process. The company uses a proprietary feedstock, low temperature and low cost processing platform to convert nearly 80 percent of …
Poplar Trees Possible Candidate for Biofuels
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center may have discovered some clues that could lead to poplar trees as the next candidate for biofuels. The research is being led by Charles Wyman of the Bourns College of Engineering’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California Riverside who is joined by teams from Oak Ridge …
Dyadic Introduces Advanced Biofuels Enzyme
Biotech firm Dyadic International has introduced a new advanced biofuels enzyme at this week the World Biofuels Markets exhibition in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. According to the company, AlternaFuel® CMAX™ has proven to be effective in converting multiple forms of biomass into fermentable sugars which is the critical step in the production of cellulosic ethanol and other advanced biofuels and biochemicals …
Researchers Develop Isobutanol From Cellulose
Using consolidated bioprocessing, researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have discovered how to develop isobutanol directly from cellulose. The research was led by James Liao of the University of California at Los Angeles, and the results were published in the paper titled “Metabolic Engineering of Clostridium Cellulolyticum for Isobutanol Production from Cellulose,”online in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. …
Overfertilizing Corn Undermines Ethanol
In a new paper published online in American Chemical Society’s Journal Environmental Science and Technology when it comes to growing corn for ethanol and using fertilizer – less may be more. Postdoctoral researcher Morgan Gallagher led the research team as part of her dissertation at Rice and discovered that corn, and its stalks and leaves, responded differently to nitrogen fertilizer. …
Funding is Critical for Advanced Ethanol
Advanced biofuels from new feedstocks are facing a “chicken and egg” situation on the way to commercialization and that is why government funding remains vital to the industry. That was the message delivered by Chris Standlee, Executive Vice President of Abengoa Bioenergy, during a teleconference with other advanced biofuels company officials on Thursday. “It’s a critical ‘chicken and egg’ scenario …
Ethanol Report on New Advanced Ethanol Council
In this edition of “The Ethanol Report” podcast, we hear from the executive director of the newly formed Advanced Ethanol Council (AEC), Brooke Coleman. Coleman has been involved with the ethanol industry for over a decade, most recently as Executive Director of the New Fuels Alliance. He says that the new organization came together around a common theme. “The common …
Hangin’ With Some Next Gen Biodiesel Scientists
During the National Biodiesel Board Conference (NBB) last week, I had the opportunity to hang out with some “Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel“. There were 10 in attendance at this year’s conference and the two that I spent time with were Evan Le, a senior studying mechanical engineering at the University of Nevada and Lucas Ellis, in a graduate Biochemical …
Update on DDCE Cellulosic Ethanol Projects
Two and a half years ago DuPont partnered with Danisco (whom DuPont is now acquiring) to create DuPont Danisco Cellulosic Ethanol (DDCE). In just a short amount of time, the venture has come a long way in bringing cellulosic fuels closer to commercial scale. During the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association’s (IRFA) annual conference, Kyle Althoff, DDCE’s Director of feedstock development …
KiOR Lands DOE Loan Guarantee Promise
KiOR, Inc. has a $1 billion biofuels project in the works that will convert wood biomass into drop-in biofuels such as gasoline and diesel fuel. Today the company announced that it has received a term sheet for a DOE loan guarantee to help financially support the project. KiOR’s project under the DOE loan guarantee program will consist of four biorefineries …