Biofuels
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May 22 | News
Plans
to create the world's first carbon-neutral higher-speed locomotive were
unveiled this week by the Coalition for Sustainable Rail, which has the goal
of proving the viability of solid biofuel—torrefied biomass—and modern
steam locomotive technology. The first step in those plans is to break
the world speed record for steam trains.
May 15 | News
Researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute have identified a tropical rainforest microbe that can endure relatively high concentrations of an ionic liquid used to dissolve cellulosic biomass for the production of advanced biofuels. They've also determined how the microbe accomplishes this, a discovery that holds broad implications beyond biofuels.
May 14 | News
Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and Iowa State
University discovered a
family of plant proteins that play a role in the production of seed
oils,
substances important for animal and human nutrition, biorenewable
chemicals,
and biofuels.
May 3 | News
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory scientists are exploring whether a common soil bacterium can be engineered to produce liquid transportation fuels much more efficiently than the ways in which advanced biofuels are made today. The process would be powered only by hydrogen and electricity. The goal is a biofuel—or electrofuel, as this new approach is called—that doesn’t require photosynthesis.
May 1 | News
A
team of chemical engineers at the University of Massachusetts Amherst
has found an inexpensive way to achieve a 75% yield from biomass for the
formation of the chemical p-xylene, a key ingredient used to make
plastic bottles. This chemical is normally made using petroleum.
Apr 23 | News
In
a study from Stanford University and Purdue University, researchers
have shown for the first time that climate change may force the U.S.
corn belt to move north in the next 10 years, escaping devastating heat
waves. In turn, this will bring substantial price swings to the corn
market, adversely affecting industries like food and biofuels.
Apr 20 | News
As biofuel production has increased—particularly ethanol
derived from corn—a hotly contested competition for feedstock supplies
has
emerged between the agricultural grain markets and biofuel refineries.
This
competition has sparked concern for the more fundamental issue of
allocating
limited farmland resources, which has far-reaching implications for food
security, energy security, and environmental sustainability.
Apr 18 | News
According
to recent research at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, light of specific
wavelengths can be used to boost an enzyme's function by as much as
30-fold, potentially establishing a path to less expensive biofuels,
detergents and a host of other products.
Apr 17 | News
Biotechnologists
have recently found a way to control a heat-loving microbe with a
temperature switch by inserting a gene from another organism. The
engineered microbe can be coaxed to use that gene to make a new product,
such as biofuel, by simply lowering the temperature.
Apr 13 | News
A
new study from the University of Illinois concludes that
learning-by-doing, stimulated by increased ethanol production, played an
important role in inducing technological progress in the corn ethanol
industry. It also suggests that biofuel policies, which induced ethanol
production beyond the free-market level, served to increase the
competitiveness of the industry over time.
