In Wisconsin, a team of chemical and biological engineers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has found a way to produce from biomass a valuable compound used in plastic production that they estimate could lower the cost of ethanol produced from plant material by more than two dollars per gallon. The development is the latest in […]
In Tennessee, Oak Ridge National Laboratory scientists have reported in Nature a new high resolution approach to visioning the impact of biomass pre-treatment technology. By combining spectroscopy and emerging microscopy techniques, the team measured the nanoscale mechanical and chemical effects of pretreatments used to improve the breakdown of lignin, a woody component in plants. Data […]
In Washington, a recent study (Wright et al.) funded in part by the National Wildlife Federation (NWF) suggests that significant cropland expansion occurred in areas near ethanol plants between 2008 and 2012, purportedly replacing grassland and other wildlife habitat. The study’s findings are at odds with data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), which […]
In California, a protein used by common soil bacteria is providing new clues in the effort to convert aryl compounds, a common waste product from industrial and agricultural practices, into something of value. Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and Sandia National Laboratories working at the Joint BioEnergy Institute […]
In Illinois, a multi-institutional team led by the University of Illinois have proven sugarcane can be genetically engineered to produce oil in its leaves and stems for biodiesel production. Surprisingly, the modified sugarcane plants also produced more sugar, which could be used for ethanol production. The dual-purpose bioenergy crops are predicted to be more than […]
In Belgium, researchers at Ghent University have developed a process that turns grass into fuel. Scientists at the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University have developed a way to turn grass into biofuel. Grass is first pretreated to increase biodegradability. Then enriched bacteria are utilized to convert the sugars in the grass […]
In the EU, a new online tool which can track the use of bio-based raw materials in products has been launched as a pilot by project partners AkzoNobel, Advanced Biochemical (Thailand) Co., Ltd. (ABT) and EY. It will be the first ever tool to use e-certification to track bio-based content along the value chain. Many […]
In California, OriginClear signed a Master Research Agreement with Florida Atlantic University for further scientific research and validation projects pertaining to OriginClear’s technology, Electro Water Separation with Advanced Oxidation, when applied to landfill leachate treatment. When rain or ground water flows through municipal and industrial waste landfill, leachate drains from the landfill as “black water”. […]
In Washington state, researchers at Washington State University Tri-Cities and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have found a new way to define the molecular structure of cellulose, which could lead to cheaper and more efficient ways to make a variety of crucial bioproducts. For the first time, researchers revealed the differences between the surface layers and […]
In Malaysia, the palm oil board lashed back at the economist who said the country and industry hadn’t invested sufficiently in biodiesel research, leaving the country behind other major players. The board’s head of R&D said the industry had been investing in projects since the 1980s, starting with the first continuous process biodiesel pilot facility […]
