In New York state, the University at Buffalo’s new interdisciplinary research initiative RENEW (Research and Education in eNergy, Environment and Water) promises to tackle the most difficult and pressing issues that society faces in trying to create a more sustainable world. UB has dedicated up to $15 million over the next five years, with a […]
In Switzerland, researchers at the Transport Processes and Reactions Laboratory, ETH Zurich, have found and patented a method to pretreat the plant parts in order to break up wood structures. Pretreatment increased the efficacy of the enzymes and the sugar yield increased twofold compared to steam pretreatment with no naphthol admixture.
In Florida, University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences researchers working to produce ethanol from plant material are taking a hard look at eucalyptus as a possible source for the clean fuel. In their study, published online by the journal Applied Energy in April, they found that some eucalyptus had an increased sugar content, […]
In the UK, a PhD student at the University of Liverpool is studying a plant that may provide part of the solution to this problem. Agave sisalana is a proposed biofuel plant that can be grown in semi-arid conditions unsuited to food crops. This plant is already grown for fibre in countries like Brazil, Tanzania, […]
In Tennessee, Genera Energy has announced a 14% reduction in harvest costs thanks to Genera’s recently demonstrated in-field harvesting operations using self-propelled field harvesters. The new process also included a commercially-viable method to bulk harvest biomass crops. The process reduced unload time for bulk harvested material by 21%, and decreased the moisture levels of the […]
In Canada, a new report by the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), the Finance Alliance for Sustainable Trade (FAST), Environment and Trade in a World of Interdependence (ENTWINED) and the Sustainable Trade Initiative (IDH) says that commodities certified under sustainability schemes jumped 41 percent in 2012 […]
In Wisconsin, Accelerated Renewable Energy (ARE) project located a 5,000 head dairy farm will build a biorefinery set to produce biogas, fertilizer and even cellulosic ethanol from manure. A $7 million grant from the USDA Biomass Research and Development Initiative is partially funding the project in collaboration with the University of Wisconsin, local agencies and […]
In Indiana, a Northwestern University study by an economist and a chemist reports that when fuel prices drove residents of São Paulo, Brazil, to mostly switch from ethanol to gasoline in their flexible-fuel vehicles, local ozone levels dropped 20 percent. At the same time, nitric oxide and carbon monoxide concentrations tended to go up. The […]
In Georgia, Dr. Junyong Zhu will receive 2014 Research and Development Technical Award from TAPPI, the leading association for the worldwide pulp, paper, packaging, tissue and converting industries. This award is given for outstanding accomplishments or contributions which have advanced the technology of the paper and related industries in the field of research and development. […]
In Nebraska, renewable experts, the EPA, and the research community alike have disputed a recent University of Nebraska study which concluded that fuel produced from cellulosic ethanol from corn residue could result in 7% more greenhouse gas emissions than gasoline in the short term. According to critics, the study was conducted under highly unrealistic conditions: […]
