In Michigan, researchers at the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory have found that chloroplast not only is responsible for photosynthesis but also plays a role in seed oil production which could be manipulated to boost oil yields and therefore increase biofuel production efficiency. The process could boost yields as much as 10% but some bugs in […]
In Brazil, the concentration of ultrafine particles less than 50 nanometers in diameter rose by one-third in the air of São Paulo, Brazil, when higher ethanol prices induced drivers to switch from ethanol to gasoline, according to a new study by a Northwestern University chemist, a National University of Singapore economist and two University of […]
In Colorado, ChemCatBio announced a new 2017 directed funding assistance opportunity. It’s an opportunity for industry and academia to engage with ChemCatBio to tackle challenges associated with these core research themes, to leverage our capabilities and expertise to overcome any process-specific obstacle, or to collaboratively generate new advanced capabilities. ChemCatBio is a research and development consortium dedicated […]
In Canada, University of Saskatchewan researchers have found a new and cheaper way to separate water from ethanol which could decrease costs for producing biofuel. With traditional distillation methods, some water remains, but researchers solved this problem by using non-toxic modified starch-based materials, like corn and potatoes, that act like selective sponges and don’t require […]
In Ohio, researchers at the University of Dayton Research Institute are addressing algae’s vulnerability to fluctuations in weather and temperature, limiting commercial growers and researchers in their selection of growing systems and locations. “Our goal was to design and build an economical and efficient system that could be transported anywhere, easily assembled and operate in […]
In Canada, new research from a professor of engineering at UBC’s Okanagan Campus might hold the key to biofuels that are cheaper, safer and much faster to produce. Starting with materials commonly found in agricultural or forestry waste — including wheat straw, corn husks and Douglas fir bark–she compared traditional fermentation processes with their new technique […]
In India, researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology have created a catalyst for biofuel production from algae using sand from Rajasthan, nickel and cobalt that cuts the price of production to half of that of fossil fuel. Many catalysts use expensive rare materials such as Rhodium that push up the price of production. The […]
In the UK, Celtic Renewables Ltd set the wheels in motion of the first car to be fueled by a whisky residue biofuel. Biobutanol is produced from draff – the sugar-rich kernels of barley which are soaked in water to facilitate the fermentation process necessary for whisky production – and pot ale, the copper-containing yeasty liquid […]
In Illinois, the food versus fuel debate gets a new research study supporting the food side. Researchers at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign completed their three year study to assign a dollar amount to each step in corn production for both food and biofuel measuring its value economically and environmentally. The study focused specifically on corn […]
In New Jersey, biofuels like the ethanol in U.S. gasoline could get cheaper thanks to experts at Rutgers University-New Brunswick and Michigan State University. They’ve demonstrated how to design and genetically engineer enzyme surfaces so they bind less to corn stalks and other cellulosic biomass, reducing enzyme costs in biofuels production, according to a study […]
