In France, DEINOVE announced that it has completed conclusive proof of concept for the production of muconic acid by a Deinococcus bacterium and has decided to launch a new R&D platform in this field. Using their proprietary metabolic engineering tools, DEINOVE R&D has successfully designed a Deinococcus bacterium capable of producing renewable muconic acid, a […]
In Virginia, in a paper published in Scientific Reports, which is part of the Nature Publishing Group, a Virginia Tech scientist used a mathematical model to demonstrate that bacteria can control the behavior of an inanimate device like a robot. “Basically we were trying to find out from the mathematical model if we could build a […]
In New York, Clean Energy Pipeline reported that new investment in the global clean energy sector totaled $74.9 billion in Q2 15, a 2% decrease on Q2 14 ($76.5 billion). Despite the annual decrease, investment was still 11% above the average quarterly volume of investment during the past three years ($67.2 billion). New investment was […]
In Washington state, scientists have directed a common bacterium to produce more of a valuable fatty acid, lauric acid, than it typically does. The achievement is noteworthy not simply because of the increased production of fatty acid, which can be a useful component of biofuels. The work opens the door for scientists to manipulate such […]
In Washington state, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has been tapped as one of five national laboratories to lead the U.S. DOE’s new Small Business Vouchers Pilot. SBV will help small clean energy firms get technology assistance from world class scientists, engineers and facilities within the DOE national laboratory system. PNNL was selected to support small […]
In Washington state, researchers from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL), UOP and Netherlands-based Utrecht University have found a way to understand chemical transformations occurring within zeolites. Data from the study will allow scientists to find ways to keep the factory running, as well as enhance catalysts that help produce fuel, biofuel […]
In Massachusetts, chemical engineers and biologists at MIT have found a simple way to make yeast produce more ethanol from sugars: Spike the mixture they’re growing on with two common chemicals. Adding potassium and an acidity-reducing compound helps the yeast tolerate higher concentrations of the ethanol they’re making without dying. Aided by those “supplements,” traditionally underperforming […]
The International Renewable Energy Agency reports: “More than 7.7 million people worldwide are now employed by the renewable energy industry. This is an 18 per cent increase from last year’s figure of 6.5 million. The report, Renewable Energy and Jobs – Annual Review 2015, also provides a first-ever global estimate of the number of jobs supported […]
In New York, Bloomberg New Energy Finance reported that Clean energy investment worldwide was $53bn in the second quarter of 2015, down 3% from a revised $54.4bn in Q1 2015 but down 28% compared to the $73.6bn recorded in Q2 2014. “Global investment this year is facing headwinds from the financial markets, with the sharp […]
In Sweden, a research group at the Department of Chemistry has discovered a new aspect in enzymes that, in part, explains how enzymes manage their tasks with unmatched efficiency and selectivity. So-called high-energy states in enzymes are regarded as necessary for catalysing of chemical reactions. A high-energy level is a protein structure only occurring temporarily and […]
