Category: Research

Deinove validates key milestone 3 of its Deinochem program and receives €0.8 million from ADEME

Deinove validates key milestone 3 of its Deinochem program and receives €0.8 million from ADEME

December 18, 2016 |

In France, ADEME has validated key step 3 of Deinove’s DEINOCHEM program, dedicated to the bio-based production of carotenoids and financed by ADEME (the French Environment and Energy Management Agency) under the “Investissements d’Avenir” (Investments for the Future) program. This new key milestone validates the technical progress made in developing the carotenoid production process. The target […]

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Boise State researcher looks at bacteria’s impact on cellulosic biofuel production

Boise State researcher looks at bacteria’s impact on cellulosic biofuel production

December 15, 2016 |

In Idaho, a paper co-authored by Lisa Warner, an assistant research professor in the Biomolecular Research Center at Boise State University, looks at how Clostridium thermocellum breaks down and converts cellulosic biomass to produce biofuels, including hydrogen and hydrocarbons, while also surprisingly decreasing the amount of CO2 released as a waste byproduct. “CO2-fixing one-carbon metabolism […]

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Research into antennae may help boost biofuel production yields

Research into antennae may help boost biofuel production yields

December 14, 2016 |

In Washington, the Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Science (SC) supports research at the Photosynthetic Antenna Research Center (PARC), a DOE Energy Frontier Research Center. Researchers at PARC are studying how antenna complexes organize their components and protect themselves from damage. The photosynthetic antenna complex is a collection of pigments and proteins that capture […]

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University of Missouri study shows switchgrass can improve soil quality where topsoil has been lost

University of Missouri study shows switchgrass can improve soil quality where topsoil has been lost

December 13, 2016 |

In Missouri, loss of fertile topsoil from agricultural fields is an economic problem for modern farmers. When runoff water washes topsoil from agricultural fields in areas with claypan soils under the topsoil, including parts of Missouri, Iowa, Kansas, Illinois, Oklahoma and Texas, farmers are often left with an exposed subsoil clay layer that creates difficult […]

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Midwest averages an ethanol spill every two days

Midwest averages an ethanol spill every two days

December 12, 2016 |

In Illinois, the Midwest Center for Investigative Reporting found that the Midwest saw 173 ethanol spills in 2015, up from 36 in 1985 but below 2013’s high of 2011, bringing the average to about one spill every second day. Illinois has seen more than 1,100 spills since 1985, the most in the region, coming in […]

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New handheld sensor meaures biofuels content in diesel, in seconds

New handheld sensor meaures biofuels content in diesel, in seconds

December 10, 2016 |

In the UK, hand held DieselProve technology from Salunda Limited has been developed for the accurate determination of the biofuel content of diesel blends used in a wide range of automotive and industrial power applications. The tool is designed to provide a fast and simple diagnostic tool to assess the biofuel content in biodiesel fuels, […]

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WSU research shows consumers willing to pay 11% premium for biofuels

WSU research shows consumers willing to pay 11% premium for biofuels

December 8, 2016 |

In Washington state, Washington State University research shows that consumers are willing to pay a premium of approximately 11 percent over conventional fuel. “We were surprised the premium was that significant,” said Jill McCluskey, WSU professor in the School of Economic Sciences. “We wanted to study people in different regions of the country, to make […]

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University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign develop method to lower dry grind ethanol production process costs

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign develop method to lower dry grind ethanol production process costs

December 7, 2016 |

In Illinois, new research at the Integrated Bioprocessing Research Laboratory on the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus could significantly change ethanol production by lowering operating costs and simplifying the dry grind process. “There are currently more than 200 dry grind plants that are processing corn to produce ethanol,” says Vijay Singh, director of IBRL and […]

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WSU Tri-Cities researchers receive NSF I-Corps grant to commercialize biojet research

WSU Tri-Cities researchers receive NSF I-Corps grant to commercialize biojet research

December 6, 2016 |

In Washington state, researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities have been awarded a National Science Foundation I-Corps grant to explore the market potential of their biojet fuel research. The team has successfully demonstrated a new, water-based process for deconstructing and recovering lignin from biomass and converting it into jet fuel-range hydrocarbons. These could be certified […]

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University of Manchester students win Cargill challenge to solve ethanol production problem

University of Manchester students win Cargill challenge to solve ethanol production problem

December 5, 2016 |

In the UK, students Rachana Halasabele and Alessia Xu from The University of Manchester in the UK recently triumphed with their innovative and practical winning solution to a real-life industry problem set by Cargill’s ethanol experts at their starches and sweeteners plant in Trafford Park, Manchester. The UK-wide competition, open to all Universities, is the […]

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