In Germany, the German Aerospace Center (DLR) and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) are set to conduct joint research flights in Germany for the first time. The focus will be on alternative fuel emissions and the characterization of ice crystals in condensation trails, using biofuel as an example. The first joint DLR/NASA […]
In North Carolina, N.C. Bioenergy Research Initiative recently awarded $1 million in grants for 11 research projects to boost bioenergy opportunities and production in the state. Below is a list of grant amounts, recipients and projects: $91,944 to the N.C. State University Department of Forestry and Environmental Resources for a “Loblolly Pine Biomass Genetics/Cropping Study, […]
In California, Salk Institute scientists studying a plant protein called SOBER1 recently discovered one mechanism by which, counterintuitively, plants seem to render themselves less resistant to infection. The work, which appeared in Nature Communications, sheds light on plant resistance generally and could lead to strategies to boost plants’ natural immunity or to better contain infections […]
In India, the Department of Science and Technology of the Ministry of Science and Technology has teamed with the Center for International Scientific Cooperation of the Ministry of Science, Research and Technology of Iran in a joint call for research proposals on a wide range of topics including microbial biotechnology with an emphasis on cellulosic […]
In the UK, a multinational team of researchers, from the UK, Brazil and the US, has pinpointed a gene involved in the stiffening of cell walls whose suppression increased the release of sugars by up to 60%. Their findings are reported Monday in New Phytologist. In the team’s genetically modified plants, a transgene suppresses the […]
In India, Madurai Kamaraj University signed a memorandum of understanding with U.S.-based Extreme ProTech to collaborate on research together in the fields of extremozymes, biopolymers and biofuel production based on micro-organisms. MKU also signed another MoU with South Dakota School of Mines and Technology which involves a staff exchange, student and faculty visits between the […]
In Iowa, a research team led by a scientist from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has demonstrated for the first time that the magnetic fields of bacterial cells and magnetic nano-objects in liquid can be studied at high resolution using electron microscopy. This proof-of-principle capability allows first-hand observation of liquid environment phenomena, and […]
In California, researchers from the US Navy at China Lake have developed a new class of drop-in renewable diesel from biomass using acid catalyzed condensation of 2-tridecanone with a series of diols through fermentation that provide similar energy levels as traditional biodiesel while providing up to a third more octane levels and nearly double those […]
In Colombia, researchers at the Universidad Nacional de Colombia have designed and received a US patent for a process to produce biodiesel using fewer steps and less equipment creating cheaper, faster production. It uses a tube reactor that requires no physical mixing of vegetable oils with alcohols allowing the fuel to be produced and glycerin […]
In Australia, researchers led by the University of Wollongong have developed a cost effective method to turn biomass into xylose and arabinose, furfural and HMF (5-hydroxymethylfurfural). The catalysts employed are recyclable, helping to reduce production costs significantly while resulting in very high yields of five carbon sugars and furfural. There is hope the technology can […]
