New research has found that using microalgae to produce food and biofuel can help to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The study was led by Michael J. Walsh, a research fellow in Bentley University’s Center for Integration of Science and Industry, and found that algal food and fuel coproduction can help to improve both land and water-use efficiency while reducing GHG …
Research Develops Cold Tolerant #Bioenergy Grass
University of Illinois agronomist D.K. Lee has developed a bioenergy grass that is tolerant to freezing. Current bioenergy crops such as Miscanthus and switchgrass grown in the Midwest are prone to freezing. When Lee discovered one morning in Mid-April that the only grass not frozen was prairie cordgrass he and his team began to research what molecular changes keep cordgrass, …
USDA Releases $1.5M in BCAP for #Biomass Harvesting
Farmers and others who harvest biomass crops for renewable energy will have access to $1.5 million in FY2017 under the Biomass Crop Assistance Program (BCAP). The total funds available under the program for 2017 is $3 million with the other $1.5 allocated to growers who establish or maintain biomass crops to be used specifically for energy or biobased products. “USDA …
Researchers Turning Waste Into Wealth
EPFL chemists have discovered that adding formaldehyde to lignin could turn waste, such as he molecules found in wood, into wealth. Biomass may hold a key to meeting future energy needs – it’s sugars can be turned into biofuels and other bioproducts. But until now a barrier to efficient production has been the plant’s lignin. Scientists have now turned the …
Ames Lab to Develop Imaging to Study Plant Walls
The saying “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket” is being put to the test with research funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to deconstruct plant cell walls as a means of learning how to more effectively convert plant material into bioenergy. The project has been awarded $1 million per year for three years. The research will …
ORNL Researchers Deconstruct Biomass for #Ethanol
Better methods for deconstructing biomass will lead to more efficient conversion to biofuels; however, this is one of the most complex processes in bioenergy technologies. Researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have already uncovered information about how woody plants and waste biofuels can be converted more readily into biofuels. Now the team may have come one step closer to …
Supercomputer Paving Way for Biomass to Biofuel
Supercomputing is being used to discover ways to make turning biomass into biofuel. The University of Tennessee and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) project is led by Jeremy Smith, UT Governor’s Chair for Molecular Biophysics based in the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology. He also is director of the UT-ORNL Center for Molecular Biophysics. One of the …
Renmatix Secures $14M
Renmatix has announced a $14 million investment led by Bill Gates. The company has developed a process called Plantrose that produces cellulosic sugars that can be used to produce bioproducts such as biofuels and biochemcals. The monies raised will be used, in part, to commercialize Plantrose through license sales. “To effectively address climate change, we need to develop an energy …
Advanced Biofuels USA Wins Beets to BioJet Grant
Advanced Biofuels USA has received a grant to conduct a feasibility study of producing biojet fuel from Maryland grown energy beets. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has allocated $16,893 for the study that will review the technical, economic aspects and co-product opportunities of a project in development by the University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) along with Purdue University …
New Holland’s Big Baler for Big #Biomass Energy
Several years ago the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has published the Billion Ton biomass report and recently made an updated version available. The study shows that there is more than 1 billion tons of biomass available to be used for bio-products including biofuels. For many years, New Holland has been committed to growers who harvest biomass and when the …