In California, Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have developed a new technique for pre-treating cellulosic biomass with ionic liquids – salts that are liquids rather than crystals at room temperature. This new technique requires none of the expensive enzymes used in previous ionic liquid pretreatments, and makes it […]
In Oklahoma, researchers at Oklahoma State University recently completed gene sequencing Galdieria sulphuraria, a type of red algae that grows inside active volcanoes and in hot spring sulfur deposits in Iceland. The team discovered that the enzymes that make the algae able to survive in such conditions were “stolen” from bacteria enzymes. Biofuels researchers may […]
In Michigan, Health Enhancement Products has executed a formal partnership with the Arizona Center for Algae Technology and Innovation, and the Algae Testbed Public-Private Partnership. Algal technology has focused on lipids such as DHA and EPA for health applications, and on oils for use as biofuels. To date, only a handful of high-value bioactives are […]
In Illinois, University of Illinois economists have forecasted Brazilian ethanol imports to jump this year to 600 million gallons, up from 400 million gallons last year, but admit that making accurate forecasts at this point is difficult. If the forecast is true, it will mean 400 million gallons less of domestic ethanol will need to […]
In Illinois, new study entitled “2012 Corn Ethanol: Emerging Plant Energy and Environmental Technologies” found that recent innovations in corn ethanol production have resulted in increased yield per bushel even as less energy is required for production. Thermal energy use at a typical dry mill ethanol plant has fallen 9% since 2008, the study found, […]
In Colorado, NREL researchers found that free and complexed enzymes use different mechanisms to degrade biomass at the nanometer scale, and mixing the two systems enhances catalytic performance. This research could help to engineer optimal enzyme formulations that are faster and more efficient. The breakthrough is outlined in a paper called “Fungal Cellulases and Complexed […]
In Illinois, the USDA has developed a strain of yeast that can tolerate cob-derived compounds that interfere with yeast growth and fermentation rates, but can also grow rapidly in high temperatures. The strain, developed at the National Center for Agricultural Utilization Research in Peoria, was able to start consuming the sugar in corn cob residues […]
In Massachusetts, LiveScience.com is reporting that scientists have discovered an anaerobic gut fungus, in horses’ waste and digestive tracts, that make enzymes to digest lignin — a protective barrier inside plant cell walls that is hard to separate from cellulose. “It thrives on lignin-rich plants and converts these materials into sugars for the animal. It […]
In New Jersey, Princeton researcher Christodoulos A. Floudas, Xin Xiao and colleagues explain that duckweed, an aquatic plant that floats on or near the surface of still or slow-moving freshwater, is ideal as a raw material for biofuel production. It grows fast, thrives in wastewater that has no other use, does not impact the food […]
In Spain, researchers at the Canary Islands Technological Institute are using banana waste to produce a gas that is later converted into second-generation biofuel. Though the project is at an early stage, the researchers see a major opportunity to help reduce waste from the region’s banana industry while providing power to the islands.
