Researchers have discovered a way to make algae better oil producers without sacrificing growth. The team, led by James Umen, Ph.D., associate member at Donald Danforth Plant Science Center, found a mutation in the green alga Chlamydomonas that substantially removes a constraint that is widely observed in micro-algae where the highest yields of oil can only be obtained from starving …
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 …
Super Yeast Yields Better #Ethanol Economics
A new innovative “super yeast” could very well improve the economics of ethanol production. A collaborative research team from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) have engineered a yeast strain that nearly doubles the efficiency of plant sugar to biofuel conversion. The team focused on the baker’s and brewer’s yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, a microbe …
Nano-Spike Catalysts Convert CO2 Into Ethanol
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Lab have developed a way to convert carbon dioxide directly into ethanol. The team is researching an electrochemical process that uses tiny spike of carbon and copper to convert CO2 into ethanol. Their discovery involves nanofabrication and catalysis science. “We discovered somewhat by accident that this material worked,” said ORNL’s Adam …
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 …
Chevron, ISU Partner on Advanced Biofuel Project
Iowa State BioCentury Research Farm has entered into a joint project with Chervon, U.S.A. University engineers to develop a pilot plant to develop and demonstrate solvent liquefaction, an advanced biorenewables technology. The technology converts biomass into a bio-oil that can then be processed into biofuels or biochemicals and biochar, a fertilizer that has the ability to enrich soil. Iowa State …
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 …
Research Focuses on Better #Biodiesel
A new study has been released by the Mineta National Transit Research Consortium at San José State University that looked at the generation of a number of pollutants during low-temperature combustion (LTC) of several types of biodiesel as compared to ultra-low sulfur diesel (ULSD). The peer reviewed study found that not all biodiesel burns the same. Biodiesel produced using certain …
Research Finds Sweet Potato Potential as Food, Fuel
Researchers from the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences are looking at sweet potato vines as a source of biofuel feedstock and livestock feed. The vines are typically thrown out during harvest while the roots could serve as a source for biofuels. Post-doctoral researcher Wendy Mussoline said this could be a key finding for Florida’s ag industry …