Category: Research

Oak Ridge National Lab develops hybrid optical microscope and mass spectrometry imaging system

November 8, 2015 | Jim Lane

In Tennessee, a hybrid optical microscope/mass spectrometry-based imaging system developed at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates under ambient conditions and requires no pretreatment of samples to analyze chemical compounds with sub-micron resolution.Researchers noted that the resolution of less than one micron is essential to accurately differentiate and distinguish between polymers […]

US government announces funding call for bioenergy genomics research

November 6, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Science, Office of Biological and Environmental Research (OBER), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA), announced their interest in receiving applications for genomics- based research that will lead to the improved use of biomass and plant feedstocks for the […]

Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest releases new video on cellulosic biofuel

November 4, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Washington state, a new video released by Advanced Hardwood Biofuels Northwest, a consortium of education and industry partners including Washington State University Extension, explains how cellulosic ethanol is helping prepare the Pacific Northwest for a sustainable hardwood bioproducts and biofuels industry. The consortium believes that one day cellulosic biofuels from hardwood could be a […]

Texas A&M researcher breeding pearl millet with Napier grass for sterile biomass hybrid

November 4, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Texas, the downturn in the bioenergy industry has led one Texas A&M AgriLife Researcher to reach to new heights in the forage biomass arena. Dr. Russ Jessup, an AgriLife Research perennial grass breeder in College Station, said he is introducing a new biofuel-biomass feedstock that is a hybrid “similar to seedless watermelons, seedless grapes […]

ORNL leads research on glycosidases

November 2, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Tennessee, using neutrons, researchers have now investigated the reaction mechanism of an important class of enzymes: the glycosidases. The measurements were made at the neutron sources in Los Alamos and Oak Ridge (USA), as well as at the research neutron source FRM II of the Technical University of Munich (TUM). The results provide the […]

Vertimass, DOE validate benchmarks, process design for high-yield alcohol-to-fuels technology

November 1, 2015 | Jim Lane

In California, Vertimass completed its DOE technology validation that verifies the benchmark performance, initial process design and preliminary cost information for a new award of $2 million by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technology Office. This achievement allows Vertimass to move fully forward with building the foundation from which to begin scale up within […]

Alliance Bioenergy making progress optimizing the commercial reactor of its cellulose to sugar process

October 29, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Florida, Alliance Bioenergy Plus, Inc. recently announced that its subsidiary Ek Laboratories in Longwood, Florida, under the direction of Dr. Richard Blair, Dr. Peter Cohen and Dr. Zhilin Xie, continues to see success in optimizing the commercial reactor of its licensed and patented CTS (cellulose to sugar) Mechanocatalytic process. Through the dry, mechanical process the […]

Danish researchers look to make hydrogen fuel cells bio

October 28, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Denmark, researchers at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) have embarked upon research looking at biomaterials for use in hydrogen fuel cells to replace toxic materials such as platinum. Developing a 100% organic biocatalyst for a fuel cell is the goal of the Danish Council for Independent Research-funded project. By mixing enzymes with graphene […]

Israeli solar/biofuel hybrid set to power Ethiopian villages

October 27, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In Ethiopia, Israel’s Aura Tulip is teaming with Ethiopia’s Addis Ababa Science and Technology University and Adama Science and Technology University, and Arizona State University’s LightWorks project to implement its solar/biogas-or-biodiesel hybrid power solution for off-grid power supply to villages. The technology is meant to provide 100kw of electricity and 170kw of thermal energy. The […]

Lawrence Livermore Lab leads researchers on switchgrass cultivation

October 26, 2015 | Meghan Sapp

In California, research by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, UC Berkeley, the University of Oklahoma, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory and the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation is looking into whether switchgrass cultivation could result in an enhancement of key ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, soil fertility and biodiversity. The team recently received funding from the Department […]

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