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, …
New Engineered Bacteria Aids #Ethanol
University of Wisconsin-Madison professor James Steele has engineered and patented a new bacteria that aids in ethanol production. The Winder Bascom professor of food science specializes in food, beverage and biofuel fermentation and as such seen first hand how during the fermentation process beer and wine can often be contaminated with lactic acid bacteria. When this occurs lactic acid is …
Research Turns Old Tires into New #Biofuels
Researchers at the QUT’s Biofuel Engine Research Facility have created a way to turn old tires into biofuels. Facility Professor Richard Brown and PhD student Farhad Hossain tested the oil’s emissions and output and found the biofuel reduced emissions with no loss of engine performance. “Globally, 1.5 billion tonnes of tyres are discarded each year. Australia, alone, will generate 55 …
Study Looks at Biofuel Crops, Land Change & Climate
A new study has looked at how converting land to grow biofuel crops impacts greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the DOE Argonne National Laboratory found that in the past analyses only looked at the changes in the amount of carbon stored in the soil and vegetation of these converted lands that were previously forests, grasslands or pastureland. So the research …
UNIST Discovers Waste Gas to Biofuel Catalyst
A research team led by Professor Jae Sung Lee of Energy and Chemical Engineering at UNIST has discovered a new way to make biofuels directly from carbon dioxide. The team has produced road ready diesel through a direct CO2 conversion to liquid transportation fuels by reacting with renewable hydrogen generated through solar water splitting. The research was published in the …
Changing Cell Behavior Could Boost #Biofuels
A Washington University computer scientist may have cracked a new code to improve biofuel production. Michael Brent, the Henry Edwin Sever Professor of Engineering in the School of Engineering and Applied Science, has learned how to coax cells to do natural things under unnatural circumstances. The key was an algorithm Brent developed called NetSurgeon. The program recommends genes that can …
MSU Awarded $6M Biofuel, Carbon Grant
Montana State University (MSU) has received a $6 million, four-year grant from the National Science Foundation to develop new innovations at the intersection of food, energy and water systems. MSU will be working alongside the University of Wyoming and the University of South Dakota to address the sustainability profiles of biofuels and carbon capture technologies that would be introduced in …
PNNL Turns Sewage Into Fuel
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) have discovered the key to converting sewage to biocrude oil. Using the technology that mimics the geological conditions the Earth uses to create crude oil, called hydrothermal liquefaction, coupled with high pressure and high temperatures, crude oil can be produced in minutes. The resulting product is similar to …
NREL Scientists Discover Bacteria to Biofuels Breakthrough
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) have discovered a metabolic pathway that take up CO2 and is then capable of breaking down and fermenting cellulosic biomass to produce biofuels, hydrogen and hydrocarbons. The specific bacteria is Clostridium thermocellum and is among the most efficient bacteria in directly converting cellulosic materials into hydrogen and hydrocarbons …
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 …