In Tennessee, researchers at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have made “a better thermoplastic” by replacing styrene with lignin, a brittle, rigid polymer that, with cellulose, forms the woody cell walls of plants. In doing so, they have invented a solvent-free production process that interconnects equal parts of nanoscale lignin dispersed in […]
In New Jersey, a researcher from Montclair State University has received a five-year $450,000 Faculty Early Career Development grant from the National Science Foundation to study place-based policy solutions for promotion of biofuels with a focus on forestry and agricultural waste based on analysis of factors such as location suitability, socioeconomic uncertainty and environmental impact. […]
In South Dakota, researchers from South Dakota State University have teamed with counterparts from the University of Florida to develop aviation biofuel from carinata seed for the Navy. The two states have complimentary growing seasons for carinata, allowing it to be grown for fuel nearly all year long. The South Dakota Oilseeds Council says that […]
In Rhode Island, a high school teacher is set to be the first to fly a certified light aircraft across the country on aviation biofuel. He will fly on a 50/50 blend of UCO-based fuel during the week-long trip with fueling stops planned in University Park Airport, in Pennsylvania; Moraine Airport, in Ohio; Walnut Ridge […]
In Illinois, under the guidance of University of Illinois scientists, a research team changed the metabolism of sugarcane to transform sugars into oils or lipids, which can then be used to produce biodiesel. The sugarcane usually contains 0.05% of oil. In less than a year of this project initiation, the researchers successfully increased the oil […]
In Illinois, zuChem has been awarded a Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant by the National Institutes of Health. The grant, led by Principal Investigator Micah Shepherd, will support development of new fermentative production methods for L-fucose and other rare sugar products of interest to the life sciences industry. L-fucose is one of […]
In Washington state, an internationally recognized group of scientists, organized by Pacific Northwest National Laboratory microbiologists Dr. Stephen Lindemann and Dr. Alexander Beliaev, has reviewed the state of the science to determine how biotechnological use of communities of multiple microbes, or microbial consortia, might transcend the limitations of single organisms. They posit that the time […]
In Washington, the DOE’s ARPA-E TERRA projects seek to accelerate the development of sustainable energy crops for the production of renewable transportation fuels from biomass. To accomplish this, the projects uniquely integrate agriculture, information technology, and engineering communities to design and apply new tools for the development of improved varieties of energy sorghum. The TERRA […]
In Japan, a team of researchers from Tohoku University has developed a new method for the pretreatment of organic material, or “biomass”, which could lead to more efficient production of biofuels and biochemicals. The new method involves crushing the leaves and stalks of maize plants and placing the resulting powder in a solution of sodium […]
In Denmark, one family of enzymes, lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases (LPMOs), ease the transformation of cellulose. Chemists at the University of Copenhagen have now taken a leap ahead in understanding how LPMOs work by showing how these enzymes bind to cellulose. This can be incredibly important for, among other things, the development and production of sustainable […]
