A European research and development (R&D) consortium is seeking to develop an algal biorefinery. The three-year project, estimated to cost 1.4 million euros, of which 65 percent is being provided by ERDF funds, is a partnership of six organizations in the Basque Autonomous Community including Navarre and France -NEIKER-Tecnalia, National Centre of Renewable Energies (CENER), Tecnalia Research & Innovation, Association …
Texas A&M AgriLife Receives $2.5M DOE Grant
Researchers from Texas A&M AgriLife Research have received a $2.5 million grant to conduct a three-year study to find ways to use a biorefinery waste to make new products. Dr. Joshua Yuan, a biotechnologist, is the lead scientist on the project that will primarily focus on ways to make plastic materials from the lignin waste. “In the biorefinery field, we …
Cologne Scientists Cultivate #Algae for Less
One of barriers that keep the cost of algal products from being competitive is cultivation. But in the near future, these costs could go down with research from scientists in at the University of Cologne. Professor Michael Melkonian, an algae specialist, along with his team have developed a new method that could make harvesting algae easier and thus reduce the …
IIT Researchers Receive #Bioethanol Patent
Two scientists from Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT), Ben Stark and Tony Sanny, have received a patent for a method to genetically engineer bacteria and yeast to increase bioethanol production. During the development process, the team focused on cellulosic biomass from twigs, branches, plant stalks, husks and woodschips. This patent is Stark’s, who is a professor of biology, and Sanny’s, …
Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders
During the United Nations High Level Political Forum’s Sustainable Development Goal Business Day held in New York, the Air Transport Action Group (ATAG) launched a new report detailing the path to global aviation sustainability. “Aviation: Benefits Beyond Borders,” finds that over the next 20 years, aviation-supported jobs worldwide will increase to over 99 million and GDP to $5.9 trillion. The …
USDA Seeks Applications for Biobased Funds
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is seeking applications for funding to help support the development of advanced biofuels, renewable chemicals and biobased products. Funding is being provided through the Biorefinery, Renewable Chemical and Biobased Product Manufacturing Assistance Program, formerly known as the Biorefinery Assistance Program. The program provides loan guarantees of up to $250 million to develop, construct and …
Auto Channel’s Rauch Talks Ethanol in Australia
The Biofuels Association of Australia (BAA) is hosting the National Biofuels Symposium 2016 in Brisbane on August 22-23, 2016. On the ticket is The Auto Channel’s Marc J. Rauch, an outspoken advocate of ethanol and alternative energy who has taken Big Oil head on. He is a frequent participating speaker at industry and media events and recently traveled to Taiwan …
Washington’s Proposed Clean Air Rule Missing #Biofuels
The state of Washington has proposed its own Clean Air Rule (CAR) and according to the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the rule does not factor in the environmental and health benefits of ethanol blended fuels. In their comments submitted to the Washington Department of Ecology, RFA states that the proposed rule is inconsistent with virtually every other program designed to …
Senators Call for More Biodiesel in #RFS
Forty Senators are calling on the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to strengthen biodiesel volumes in the proposed 2018 rules for the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS). The senators said that biodiesel and renewable diesel are providing the vast majority of renewable fuel under the Advanced Biofuels category and the EPA should do more to encourage growth. “The biodiesel industry has met …
Bioenergy Crop Modeling Predicts Soil Carbon Increases
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory are using computational modeling to predict which counties in Illinois could see increases in soil organic carbon from crops such as switchgrass for biofuels. Increasing carbon stored in soil is one way to help mediate the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) …