Scientists have mapped the genome of sorghum, and the discovery could open the door for even greater use of the crop in biofuel, especially ethanol, production. This story from the USDA’s Radio Newsline says since sorghum grows in drier climates and is more resistant to disease than corn, researchers are looking at ways to transfer some of sorghum’s traits over …
Michigan State Patents Cellulosic Ethanol Process
Michigan State University (MSU) has patented a process to pretreat agricultural waste products that would dramatically reduce the cost of making biofuels from cellulose. According to a university release, The AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion) pretreatment process, developed by MSU chemical engineering professor Bruce Dale, uses ammonia to make the breakdown of cellulose and hemicellulose in plants 75 percent more efficient …
Ethanol Use for Hydrogen Research
A research team in New Mexico is studying the possibility of putting biofuel into a fuel cell. According to director of the University of New Mexico’s Center for Emerging Energy Technologies Plamen Atanassov, they hope to “link the world of biofuels with the world of fuel cells.” A major grant from the Department of Energy’s EPSCoR program brought together research …
Plant Shut Off Could Be Key to Cellulosic Ethanol
Keeping on a mechanism in plants that naturally shuts down cellulose production could play a key role in enhancing biomass production for plant-based biofuels. Purdue University researcher Nicholas Carpita says they have discovered that small-interfering RNAs (siRNAs) play a normal role in plant development by shutting off genes involved in primary cell wall growth in order to begin development of …
Sweet New Crop for Ethanol
A Seattle-based biotechnology company is working on developing a crop that is somewhat of a cross between corn and sugar cane. According to a story in the Kansas City Star, Targeted Growth has been testing “sugarcorn” in test plots in Illinois and Indiana. Sugarcorn is a takeoff on a type of maize grown in the tropics, which grows traditional ears …
Soybean Genome to Further Biodiesel
Researchers have released a draft of the soybean genome, and the information is expected to have a big impact on biodiesel development. This press release from the U.S. Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute (DOE JGI) says this is expected to help the research community come up with new breeding strategies to get the most out of one biodiesel’s most …
Corn Growers Research Non-Fuel Ethanol Use
Ethanol production can yield some non-fuel uses that have yet to be realized. The National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) has been researching efforts that produce ethyl lactate from reactive distillation. Ethyl lactate is a general all-purpose solvent as well as a common ingredient in pharmaceutical preparations, food additives and fragrances, and it is typically derived from petrochemicals. The reactive distillation …
Biomass Conversion Technology Development
A Texas company is moving forward with technology that converts non-food biomass into chemicals that can be processed into ethanol and other renewable fuels. Terrabon has developed and is currently licensing its MixAlco™ biomass conversion technology to commercial customers. The company will dedicate its research facility on November 7 in Bryan, Texas to test the scaled-up commercial feasibility of the …
New Ethanol Studies Released
The Illinois Corn Growers Association today unveiled two landmark studies on ethanol that conclude production of the biofuel leaves a smaller carbon footprint than gasoline and has substantial room for growth without affecting corn supply to the food and feed sectors. Dr. Steffen Mueller, principal research economist at the University of Illinois at Chicago’s Energy Resources Center, studied the carbon …
Clemson Gets Ethanol Research Grant
The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded a $1.2 million grant to Clemson University in South Carolina to assess the potential of switchgrass and sweet sorghum as feedstocks to produce ethanol in the southeast. The grant also will fund development of a small-scale biofuel processing plant at Clemson University’s Restoration Institute in North Charleston. The South Carolina Bioenergy Research Collaborative …