In Saudi Arabia, highly fuel-efficient new engine designs could significantly reduce the environmental impact of vehicles, especially if the engines run on renewable nonpetroleum-based fuels. Ensuring these unconventional fuels are compatible with next-generation engines was the aim of a new computational study on fuel ignition behavior at King Abdullah University of Science & Technology. The […]
In the UK, researchers from the University of Nottingham have found that seawater can replace freshwater to produce the sustainable fuel Bioethanol, reducing the need to drain precious resources. The study – ‘The establishment of a marine focused biorefinery for bioethanol production using seawater and a novel marine yeast strain’ – has been published in […]
In Delaware, team of researchers at the University of Delaware’s Center for Catalytic Science and Technology (CCST) has discovered a novel two-step process to increase the efficiency of carbon dioxide (CO2) electrolysis, a chemical reaction driven by electrical currents that can aid in the production of valuable chemicals and fuels. Whereas direct CO2 electrolysis is […]
In California, from the distinct smell of eucalyptus to the flavor of wine, terpenes are ubiquitous. A diverse group of plant-produced organic compounds, terpenes play key roles in plant growth, defense, and environmental interactions. Terpenes are also economically important because of their use in industrial materials, pharmaceutical products, and as biofuel precursors. Collectively, hundreds of […]
In Virginia, researchers from the Batten College of Engineering and Technology at Old Dominion University discovered a proprietary process that can make algae applications scalable for commercialization through partnerships with the private sector. The technology involves extracting the proteins from algae in a scalable and inexpensive way to make it viable for industrial use, as […]
In Italy, future expansion of the palm oil industry could have a dramatic impact on African primates, according to the findings of a new study led by the European Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s science and knowledge service. The study has been published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). Scientists […]
In Saudi Arabia, switching to renewable fuels could significantly lower exhaust emissions of toxic nitrogen oxides (NOx) as well as curbing global greenhouse gas emissions. Researchers at the King Abdullah University of Science & Technology (KAUST) have combined computer analysis with laser-based NOx concentration measurements to understand NOx production pathways in different fuel types. The […]
In Washington, to improve biofuel production, scientists must understand the fundamental interactions that lead to the expression of key traits in plants and microbes. To understand these interactions, Department of Energy scientists are using different layers of information (about the relationships between genes, and between genes and phenotypes) combined with new computational approaches to integrate […]
In Wisconsin, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and several Department of Energy laboratories have identified two changes to a single gene that can make the yeast tolerate the pretreatment chemicals. They published their findings recently in the journal Genetics. The researchers used the gene-editing tool CRISPR to alter a strain of an ionic liquid-susceptible […]
In Wisconsin, researchers from the University of Wisconsin–Madison and several Department of Energy laboratories identified two changes to a single gene that can make yeast tolerate pretreatment chemicals during biofuel production. The toxicity involved in pretreatment chemicals is enough to make the yeast as much as 70 percent less efficient at turning sugar into biofuel, […]
