In Minnesota, after 10 years of research, the University of Minnesota-Duluth’s Natural Resources Research Institute delivered solid results this fall. As in solid biofuels. By the ton. Starting at the bench scale in 2003 and fiddling with mixture after mixture, NRRI is now able to produce solid biofuels that perform at comparable energy values to […]
In Brazil, expansion of sugarcane cultivation in Brazil for ethanol production in areas not under environmental protection or reserved for food production could potentially replace up to 13.7% of world crude oil consumption and reduce global emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) by as much as 5.6% by 2045. These estimates come from an international study […]
In Missouri, scientists have previously engineered metabolic pathways of microbes, making them tiny biofuel factories. Now, new research from an engineer at Washington University in St. Louis further refines the process, stitching together the best bits of several different bacteria to synthesize a new biofuel product that matches current engines better than previously produced biofuels. […]
In Indonesia, researchers from the Center for International Forestry Research have developed the Borneo Atlas, mapping the location and ownership of 467 palm-oil mills on Borneo, in an effort to help buyers ensure palm oil purchased doesn’t negatively impact forests. So far, 90% of the island’s palm oil production has been mapped. The map is […]
In Oregon, an Oregon State University study has been turned over to the Oregon Department of Agriculture so they can make recommendations for canola cultivation in the Willamette Valley region. The study says canola doesn’t pose any greater threat to specialty seed producers than other species and that canola production can coexist with the specialty […]
In the Netherlands, a team of scientists charted greenhouse gas emissions resulting from biofuel production, presenting them as global maps. Dedicated crops grown on grasslands, savannahs and abandoned agricultural lands could provide around 30 exajoules per year (i.e. a third of current global energy consumption for transport) with relatively low CO2 emissions measured over the […]
In Kansas, thanks to an international and interdisciplinary collaboration, faculty at Kansas State University’s Institute of Computational and Comparative Medicine and bioenergy researchers at Yangzhou University in China have marked a significant milestone for the production of ethanol fuel from wheat straw. Their study, “Predictive temperature modeling and experimental investigation of ultrasonic vibration-assisted pelleting of […]
In Washington state, a University of Washington team is trying to make poplar a viable competitor to fossil fuels by testing the production of younger poplar trees that could be harvested more frequently—after only two or three years—instead of the usual 10- to 20-year cycle. These trees, essentially juveniles compared with fully grown adults, are […]
In the UAE, a group researchers led by UAE University found that date pits hold nearly 12% oil that is suitable for biodiesel production at about 90% efficiency. The study Biodiesel Production from Oils Extracted from Date Pits, appears in the journal Green and Sustainable Chemistry. “It’s a waste material. It’s not a valuable material we’re looking […]
In Russia, scientists from Skoltech and the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Joint Institute for High Temperatures proposed a new way to convert food waste into biofuel via hydrothermal liquefaction – a thermal depolymerization process used to turn wet biomass into oil. Other researchers use carbohydrates fermentation or fat transesterification for biofuel production but since only […]
