In Brazil, the Union of Brazilian Biodiesel Producers have released a study saying that introducing B20 in the urban bus fleets of the 40 metropolitan areas across the country that have more than 500,000 inhabitants would reduce fuel production CO2 emissions by up to 70% and fuel use emissions by up to 15%. More than […]
In Wisconsin, scientists have demonstrated the potential for softwoods to process more easily into pulp and paper if engineered to incorporate a key feature of hardwoods. The finding, published in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve the economics of the pulp, paper and biofuels industries and reduce those industries’ environmental […]
In Texas, in one of the first studies to examine the potential for using municipal wastewater as a feedstock for algae-based biofuels, Rice University scientists found they could easily grow high-value strains of oil-rich algae while simultaneously removing more than 90 percent of nitrates and more than 50 percent of phosphorus from wastewater. The findings, which […]
In Germany, with the ever-increasing emissions standards and push for sustainability solutions, Freudenberg-NOK Sealing Technologies has developed an ethylene propylene diene monomer (EPDM) rubber compound from a polymer produced from sugarcane-based feedstock. The bio-renewable rubber, for which development began in 2012, is made from a polymer that is made via a process that begins with […]
In Nebraska, Nebraska’s ethanol production capacity has grown tenfold between 1995 and 2014 and has a positive impact on Nebraska’s economy over the last five years, according to a recent impact study by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. As of June 2014, Nebraska’s production capacity was 2,077 million gallons per year with 1,301 full-time employees at […]
In California, through a combination of high-throughput sequencing, high performance computing, and genetic mapping, DOE JGI researchers have derived a sequence assembly for the highly repetitive plant genome of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum). The researchers pointed out that the strategy they developed and applied to the polyploidy species bread wheat is also applicable to any species, […]
In Michigan, a team of Michigan State University researchers has discovered a switch that regulates plant photosynthesis – the process that lets plants store solar energy and use it to grow and produce food. Photosynthesis stores energy in two forms that are used to power plants’ metabolism. The amount of energy flowing into each of […]
In Washington, the conventional strategy for producing ethanol from plant biomass requires costly pretreatment and enzyme-driven reactions. Refining another strategy known as consolidated bioprocessing (CPB) could reduce costs. In second-generation CPB, a microorganism splits of water and ferments the products to ethanol, reducing the cost. Now, scientists engineered a strain of a CBP bacterium called […]
In Norway, researchers from Bioforsk, the Norwegian Institute for Agricultural and Environmental Research, will genetically modify tobacco plants to produce enzymes that can break down biomass from forest raw materials. This may lead to a more effective, economic and sustainable production of biofuels. In the first phase of the project researchers from Bioforsk, NFLI (Norwegian […]
In California, a new material, designed and patented by researchers working at the DOE’s Molecular Foundry nanoscience research center, is making this process a little easier. Their findings could pave the way for the adoption of cheaper, cleaner-burning fuels. Natural gasses, like ethane and methane, are hard to store and transport. However, by converting them […]
