In Washington, the Department of Agriculture is awarding $6 million to universities and cooperative state extension services to develop online decision tools and other materials and train experts to educate producers about several key farm bill programs including the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) program and the Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program. The new Web tools […]
In Minnesota and Switzerland, Cargill and Evolva Holding announced the achievement of a technical milestone in their joint development program of fermentation-based minor steviol glycosides – the compounds responsible for the sweet taste in the stevia leaf. The milestone is an enabling step in bringing additional great tasting stevia-based sweeteners to market in a cost […]
In the UK, sustainable biofuel made from Norwegian forest wood waste could help transform the shipping industry and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. Aston University scientists are involved in the ReShip project, which will use low quality wood waste, chippings and unmerchantable wood left in forests after logging has occurred to produce new biofuels. Via […]
In New York state, researchers from Cornell University have been testing algae, after the oil has been removed for biodiesel production, as a potential animal feed for pigs and chickens. After removing the oil, the specimens used in the research included 13.9% to 38.2% crude protein and 1.5% to 9.3% crude fat. The algae byproduct […]
In Georgia, a new review article in the journal Science points the way toward a future where lignin is transformed from a waste product into valuable materials such as low-cost carbon fiber for cars or bio-based plastics. Using lignin in this way would create new markets for the forest products industry and make ethanol-to-fuel conversion […]
In the US, the Union of Concerned Scientists recently scored the palm oil sourcing commitments of 30 companies in the packaged food, fast food, and personal care sectors. 24 of the 30 companies have inadequate commitments or lack commitments altogether to sustainable sourcing. The fast food sector in particular is lagging behind, with only two […]
In Michigan, a new fuel-cell concept, developed by an Michigan State University researcher, will allow biodiesel plants to eliminate the creation of hazardous wastes while removing their dependence on fossil fuel from their production process. The platform, which uses microbes to glean ethanol from glycerol and has the added benefit of cleaning up the wastewater, […]
In Virginia, the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF) has selected Drexel University to perform research that will monitor and quantify the composition of waste greases to improve knowledge about the feasibility of grease-to-biodiesel processes. A key outcome of the Extraction of Lipids from Wastewater to Produce Biofuels (U3R13) project is an evaluation of the economic […]
In Texas, researchers at Texas A&M are developing microfluidic lab-on-a-chip systems that can be used as high-throughput screening tools to quickly evaluate the growth and oil production characteristics of numerous algal strains under various growth conditions. Their paper describes how the team demonstrated the development of 10s or 100s of pico-liter sized photobioreactors on a […]
In Wisconsin, the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation (WARF) is promoting a new vehicle engine that incorporates anti-emissions technology. The new engine boosts fuel economy by 20 percent while cutting nitrogen oxide (NOx) and soot emissions by record margins. Called reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI), the base technology uses multiple injections of differing fuel types, including […]
