This year the National Corn to Ethanol Research Center (NCERC) at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville enters its 20th year of leadership in the biofuels industry. The center opened its doors in October 2003 and since that time has served as the primary location for innovation in the corn ethanol industry. Now, NCERC’s clients have evolved to include companies from across …
Danforth Center Researching Water Use for Bioenergy Crop
Donald Danforth Plant Science Center Principal Investigator Ivan Baxter is leading a new $16 million multi-institutional project on understanding of water use efficiency in sorghum as a bioenergy crop. “To be economically viable and have environmental benefits, crops used for bioenergy production need to be grown where the supply of water is insufficient or too inconsistent to support production of …
Year Round E15 Legislation Introduced in the House
This has been a busy week for actions to get a permanent fix for year-hour E15. In the latest, U.S. Representatives Angie Craig (D-MN) and Adrian Smith (R-NE) introduced the Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 to enable the year-round, nationwide sale of ethanol blends higher than 10%. The Consumer and Fuel Retailer Choice Act of 2022 would …
K-State Researchers Working to Improve Biofuel Feedstocks
Kansas State University researchers are working with a grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to improve oilseed crops for use as biofuels and other bioproducts. Timothy Durrett, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biophysics, and Ruth Welti, university distinguished professor of biology, received nearly $1.9 million to better understand how changing the biochemistry of oilseed plants alters their oil …
Danforth Center to Lead Research on Sorghum for Bioenergy
The Danforth Plant Science Center with principal investigator Andrea Eveland will lead a multi-institutional project to study sorghum as a versatile bioenergy crop, and its response to drought. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Genome-Enabled Plant Biology program supports the three-year $2.7 million project for the Determination of Gene Function program. Sorghum is the fifth most widely grown cereal crop …
National Labs Find Sugars Key for Biofuels Feedstocks
Researchers are finding that sugar content is as important as size when it comes to producing biofuels from woody biomass. Scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), have been studying the size and growth rate of trees, as well as the amount of sugars that can be produced from …
Meet Biodiesel Scientists Making an Impact
A virtual event is being held this afternoon (September 10) with the co-chairs of the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel to let them show some of the real-world impacts of their biodiesel research and outreach. In this live Zoom event, meet four students serving as the new co-chairs of the Next Generation Scientists for Biodiesel, improving the world through science. …
Study Finds Minimal Corn Ethanol Land Use Change
A newly released study published in the American Journal of Agricultural Economics finds no evidence to support concerns about large indirect land use change effect of corn ethanol causing expansion in cropland and reduction in grasslands and forests. Agricultural & Applied Economics Association (AAEA) members Madhu Khanna and Yijia Li from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Ruiqing Miao …
Purdue Tackles Biorefinery Blockage Issues
A team led by Purdue University scientists is receiving a $1.8 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office to solve the problem of biomass flow for biorefineries. Lignocellulosic biomass, often made up of materials such as corn stover and soybean hulls, often accumulates and compacts while moving through augers, forcing costly shutdowns for cleaning and repairs. …
HERO BX Opens Research Lab
Lake Erie Biofuels dba HERO BX recently cut the ribbon at their new research and development laboratory at Knowledge Park on the campus of Penn State Behrend. “This marks the culmination of an idea that began years ago,” said HERO BX Founder & CEO Samuel P. “Pat” Black, III, “where the work inside these four walls will serve as a …