In Belgium, the European Academies’ Science Advisory Council (EASAC) says it has worked to draw the attention of policy makers to a glaring oversight in this ambition: the EU and its Member States continue to classify all biomass from forests as carbon neutral, renewable energy. It is simplistic and misleading to classify all types of […]
In Ireland, SFI Research Centre for Marine and Renewable Energy Ireland (MaREI)has secured an additional €4.4 million in funding from Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) and industry partners under the Sustainable Energy and Fuel Efficiency (SEFE) SFI Spokes Program. The program of work will also include the technical and commercial expertise of ten national and international […]
In Washington state, a team of researchers from Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and National Renewable Energy Laboratory performed a detailed analysis of cattle waste, wastewater, sludgy grease ensconced in restaurant and cafeteria grease traps and food wastes’ potential for biofuel production on a site-specific basis across the conterminous United States. The results of the team’s […]
In Tennessee, scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory are using neutrons to understand why certain hydrocarbons produced by blue-green algae are important to their biology, so new strains can be engineered to sustainably produce biofuels. Neutron scattering makes it possible to non-destructively see inside living algae at real world temperatures and in real time. Researchers […]
In South Africa, Reuters reports that local social enterprise Fetola, WWF, and SkyNRG have teamed up to use $1.4 million in funding from the European Union’s SWITCH Africa Green Program to develop aviation fuel from waste biomass. Called the Waste to Wing program, it aims to find other alternative feedstocks for producing jet fuel in […]
In Arizona, Arizona State University researcher Kevin Redding is working on biological, light-driven energy extraction. Redding, a biochemist who leads the Center for Bioenergy and Photosynthesis at ASU, is producing hydrogen biofuel from water instead of from natural gas which is a fossil fuel. Redding said, “I’m trying to redirect the natural photosynthesis pathway to […]
In Sweden, a new report from researchers from IIASA, Luleå University of Technology (LTU), and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden has shown that more biorefineries, which produce biobased fuels and chemicals, will have only a small effect on the availability and pricing of wood products and feedstocks. They set out to better understand the potential […]
In Virginia, last month a rocket thundered off a NASA launch pad, destined for the International Space Station. Nestled among the 7,400 lbs. of supplies was a handful of seeds designed to open new windows into our knowledge of how plants grow in space – information that could lead to growing fresh food in space […]
In North Dakota, thanks to a $83,810 grant from the North Dakota Industrial Commission, Midwest AgEnergy Group are looking at opportunities to use local barley as feedstock for ethanol but also for protein concentrate as fish feed to supply the growing aquaculture industry, making it the first ethanol producer in the state to potential diversify […]
In Tennessee, a scalable processing technique developed by Oak Ridge National Laboratory uses plant-based materials for 3D printing and offers a promising additional revenue stream for biorefineries. Scientists created a new material with excellent printability and performance by tapping into lignin—a key component of plant cell walls that provides sturdiness. The method combines lignin, rubber, […]
