According to a new study released today by Iowa State University and the University of Wisconsin, in 2010, on average the use of ethanol reduced wholesale gasoline prices by an average of .89 cents per gallon. The research was conducted by a number of economists and released by the Center for Agricultural and Rural Development (CARD) and is an update …
Study: Algae Could Replace 17% of Oil Imports by 2022
In a new study released by the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (NPPL), algal fuels could replace 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil by 2020. The paper was published in the journal of Water Resources Research but warned that biofuels production, including algal fuels, can require a lot of water so the study cautioned that being …
Poplar Trees Possible Candidate for Biofuels
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center may have discovered some clues that could lead to poplar trees as the next candidate for biofuels. The research is being led by Charles Wyman of the Bourns College of Engineering’s Center for Environmental Research and Technology at the University of California Riverside who is joined by teams from Oak Ridge …
UConn Researchers Find Better Way to Brew Biodiesel
Researchers from the University of Connecticut have come up with a better way to brew up biodiesel. This article from PHYSORG.com says Professor Richard Parnas, who you might remember from my story last October also is finding a way to use hemp as a biodiesel feedstock, has developed a patented biodiesel reactor that uses gravity, heat, and natural chemical reactions …
Finding Homes for Biofuels Alongside the Beaten Path
While biofuels development and production have been a bit different, some of the latest efforts to find room to grow non-food feedstocks for biofuels are being found alongside the beaten path. In this case, we’re talking about using areas, such as ditches and medians along the nation’s highways, as good spots to grow the raw materials to keep the cars …
Enzyme from Garden Soil Could Improve Ethanol Production
Here is an interesting story out of Lund University in Sweden. Nadia Skorupa Parachin has discovered an enzyme in garden soil that when used could increase ethanol production by 20 percent or more. Xylose is the second most common sugar found in nature, but today, is not commonly used, if at all, in the ethanol process. When Parachin tested her …
Researcher Makes Foam from Biodiesel By-Product
A researcher from The Ohio State University has found a way to make a polyurethane foam from a by-product of biodiesel. Yebo Li, a biosystems engineer with the university’s Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC) in Wooster, has found a way to turn glycerin into a renewable, cheaper foam: “Polyurethane foam made with our bio-polyol is renewable, biodegradable and …
Researchers Develop Isobutanol From Cellulose
Using consolidated bioprocessing, researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center have discovered how to develop isobutanol directly from cellulose. The research was led by James Liao of the University of California at Los Angeles, and the results were published in the paper titled “Metabolic Engineering of Clostridium Cellulolyticum for Isobutanol Production from Cellulose,”online in Applied and Environmental Microbiology. …
Geothermal Capacity Could Double in 10 Years
According to a new report from Pike Research, “Geothermal Power,” geothermal capacity could double in 10 years. The report concludes that increasing investment in geothermal power could result in a 134 percent increase in total geothermal power between 2010-2020. In other words, an increase from 10.7 gigawatts (GW) to 25.1 GW worldwide when based on a high-growth scenario. Using a …
New Study – More Ethanol Commitment Needed to Meet RFS2
In a new study from Air Improvement Resource, Inc. (AIR) commissioned by the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA), the requirements of the Renewable Fuels Standard (RFS2) can be met with ethanol if more infrastructure is put into place. In addition, more flex-fuel vehicles (FFVs) are needed. The report concludes that if “blender pumps” are made available at nearly one-third of the …