In Thailand, Benjamas Cheirsilp of Prince of Songkla University has been recognized by the L’Oreal’s “For Women in Science” Fellowship program for her research on the “Isolation and Screening of Oleaginous Fungi for Bioconversion of Lignocellulosic Wastes from Palm Oil Mill to Biodiesel Feedstocks,” looking at ways to create renewable energy from the natural breakdown […]
In Tennessee, researchers at UT and ORNL have focused on finding a use for lignin, which would increase the overall profitability of manufacturing biofuels and make them more attractive to producers as part of a $2.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy. Genetic modification, using different chemicals, and coming up with new processing […]
In Nevada, Glenn Miller is leading the effort in a project at the University of Nevada, Reno to convert roadside gumweed into biofuel, which could help contribute to fuel supplies for the military. “The plant grindelia squarosa, known as curly top gumweed, has extractable hydrocarbons with the potential use as a biodiesel or biomaterials crop,” […]
In Indiana, making biofuel from corn crop residue could become economically viable for farmers with government support and, therefore, lead to a major shift in crop rotation practices favoring more continuous corn plantings, Purdue University researchers conclude. The researchers concluded that the supply of stover-based bio-gasoline would be very limited at low levels of crude oil […]
In Europe, the European Bioplastics trade group projected that worldwide production capacity of bio-based polymer will triple from 5.7 million tonnes in 2014 to nearly 17 million tonnes in 2020. The data show a 10% growth rate from 2012 to 2013 and even 11% from 2013 to 2014. However, growth rate is expected to decrease […]
In France, DEINOVE announced that it has been granted six new patents in the United States: • “Process for chromosomal engineering using a novel DNA repair system”, Deinove’s founding patent, already registered in Europe. It describes the mechanism behind the biodiversity and resistance of Deinococcus bacteria, a major discovery made by Prof. Miroslav Radman’s team […]
In Delaware, DuPont Industrial Biosciences has signed an agreement to purchase enzyme and technology assets from Dyadic International Inc., including Dyadic’s C1 platform, a fungal expression technology for producing enzymes. The transaction will further extend the world-leading biotechnology capabilities of DuPont’s Industrial Biosciences business. Under the terms of the agreement, DuPont will pay $75 million […]
In Japan, researchers have identified the first reusable and cost-effective heterogeneous catalyst for the depolymerisation of lignocellulose. Air oxidation of woody biomass (Eucalyptus) provides a carbonaceous material bearing an aromatic skeleton with carboxylic groups (2.1 mmol g−1) and aliphatic moieties. This catalyst hydrolyses woody biomass (Eucalyptus) to sugars in high yields within 1 h in […]
In Canada, Ontario Centres of Excellence (OCE) and the Agricultural Adaptation Council (AAC) are fostering innovation in the province’s growing agri-based industrial bioproducts sector. Through the C$3 million Agri-Based Industrial Bioproducts (ABIB) R&D Challenge launched Monday, OCE and AAC will partner with the National Science and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), academia and the bioproducts industry […]
