World clean energy investment in 2014 rose 16% in 2014 to $310 billion, with offshore wind in Europe and solar in China and the US as the main drivers. This marks the first year since 2010-2011 that investment actually rose. Bloomberg New Energy Finance’s annual data highlights China as the strongest performance by far, and […]
In California, four new technologies are available for license from the researchers at the Joint BioEnergy Institute at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. The technologies include: Golgi Nucleotide Sugar Transporters as Tools for Cell Wall Modification, a technology to engineer bioenergy plans and make sugars more easily accessible. Increasing Value of Waste Lignin from Biomass […]
In Iowa, 2014 biodiesel production went down from 2013 numbers, coming in at 227 million gallons, 3 million gallons down from the 2013 record of 230 million gallons. The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association attributed the drop to policy instability as Congress allowed the federal biodiesel blenders tax credit to expire, renewing it only in mid-December, […]
In Finland, researchers have developed a new method that can produce accurate three-dimensional (3D) models of recovered stumps and root systems. These models provide new information on the impacts of stump wood energy on the carbon sink capacity of forests, the biodiversity of forest nature and the soil structure of recovery areas. Tree stumps and root […]
In the EU, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has asked Fraunhofer and Helmholtz to establish “Knowledge and Innovation Communities” on raw materials. These communities on innovation in the sector “healthy living – active ageing” and in the field of “raw materials”. In the latter field the EIT selected the consortium “RawMatTERS”, a […]
In 2015, corn prices are expected to return to “more reasonable levels” as the demand side remains supportive. For the first quarter of the marketing year, USDA projected corn used for ethanol at 5.2 billion bushels, slightly higher than last year. Ethanol production was about 5 percent larger than the same quarter last year, compared […]
In Applied Energy, a recent report highlighting a magnetic, nanometer sized metal oxide catalyst particles that have the ability to convert hemp oil into biodiesel fuel, suggests that hemp biodiesel may have a bright future. The magnetic catalyst mentioned above is useful because it can easily be removed after the chemical reaction is complete via […]
In Mexico, scientists have begun using a hydrolysis process to convert the carbohydrates in food waste into 500 liters of ethanol per day. The waste employed is from processing corn with high content of starch, cellulose and hemicellulose. CIATEJ researchers used hydrolytic enzymes and yeasts with high tolerance to ethanol, implying that fermentations were performed […]
In Massachusetts, new research may advance our understanding of “how the relative proportions of biopolymers,” like lignin, “are controlled in plant tissue”. The study, led by Sam Hazen at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was published in Nature on December 24th, and should assist future research that may allow manipulation of the xylem regulatory network […]
In Iowa, ethanol production totaled 3.9 billion gallons during 2014, up from 3.7 billion gallons the previous three years, according to Iowa Renewable Fuels Association (IRFA). Iowa continues to be the number one ethanol producing state, and is estimated to account for roughly 27 percent of national ethanol production in 2014. For the first time, […]
