Category: Research

Colorado government gives $2 million to support renewable energy research Collaboratory

Colorado government gives $2 million to support renewable energy research Collaboratory

May 15, 2014 |

In Colorado, the state has awarded $2 million in matching funds to the Colorado Energy Research Collaboratory, made up of The Colorado Center for Biorefining and Biofuels, the Colorado Center for Revolutionary Solar Photoconversion, the Center for Research and Education in Wind, and the Center for Carbon Management. Eligible projects will include researchers from at […]

Read More

USDA grants to support Cornell research on biofuel policies and crops

USDA grants to support Cornell research on biofuel policies and crops

May 14, 2014 |

In New York, Cornell University has received two grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture to research the interactions between crops and biofuel policies worldwide, as well as their impacts on U.S. agriculture’s international competitiveness. As part of a $12 million program, researchers will examine the links between biofuel […]

Read More

U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Lab creates nanoparticle for green diesel

U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Lab creates nanoparticle for green diesel

May 13, 2014 |

In Washington, The U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory has developed a faster, cleaner refining technology to combine processes and reduce costs for producing biofuel. Ames Laboratory scientists have created a nanoparticle that can perform two processing functions simultaneously to produce green diesel from algae. Instead of reacting fats and oils with alcohols to produce traditional […]

Read More

Boeing and Embraer To Establish Joint Biojet Research Center in Brazil

Boeing and Embraer To Establish Joint Biojet Research Center in Brazil

May 12, 2014 |

In Brazil, Boeing and Embraer S.A. have announced plans to create a joint research center for sustainable aviation biofuel. In addition to joint research, the partnership will also fund research with Brazilian universities and other institutions in order to fill gaps in the sustainable aviation biofuel chain in Brazil. Located in Sao Jose dos Campos […]

Read More

Indiana University awarded $6.2m from US Army Research Office for bacteria study

Indiana University awarded $6.2m from US Army Research Office for bacteria study

May 12, 2014 |

In Indiana, Indiana University biologists will receive over $6.2 million from the U.S. Army Research Office to study how bacteria evolve in response to both their internal, population-influenced environments and their external natural environment. With repeatable, predictable results, the work would be expected to have important practical applications related to a number of issues including […]

Read More

University at Buffalo invests $15 million in interdisciplinary institute

University at Buffalo invests $15 million in interdisciplinary institute

May 8, 2014 |

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 […]

Read More

Swiss researchers make breakthrough in cellulose pre-treatment

Swiss researchers make breakthrough in cellulose pre-treatment

May 7, 2014 |

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.

Read More

University of Florida researchers looking at eucalyptus for biofuel

University of Florida researchers looking at eucalyptus for biofuel

May 6, 2014 |

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, […]

Read More

Thai PhD student in UK studying agave as a biofuel feedstock

Thai PhD student in UK studying agave as a biofuel feedstock

May 5, 2014 |

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, […]

Read More

Genera Energy reduces harvest costs 14% for biomass in-field harvesting

Genera Energy reduces harvest costs 14% for biomass in-field harvesting

May 5, 2014 |

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 […]

Read More