In the UK, a $13.76 million (£8.6million) project funded by the US Department of Energy, and managed by the Institute of Integrative Biology, is exploring drought-tolerant desert plant photosynthetic mechanisms for integration into poplar trees. The desert plant crassulacean acid metabolism (CAM) is a highly water-use efficient form of photosynthesis found in agaves, cacti and […]
In California, a collaboration between Biodico, Inc. and LamdaGen Corporation has been announced to integrate LamdaGen’s nano-based Meta-Catalytic Surface (MCS) technology into Biodico’s R&D programs for biomass-based diesel, combined heat and power, and biochemicals. Other LamdaGen technologies will also be incorporated into Biodico’s ongoing R&D programs under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with […]
In North Dakota, North Dakota State University’s (NDSU) Northern Research Extension Center near Minot will soon harvest and analyze energy beets, which have been proven to produce double the ethanol per acre than corn. NDSU research has shown yields from 28 tons per acre on dryland acres to 41 tons per acre on irrigated acres. […]
In Washington, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service has developed a near infrared (NIR) reflectance spectroscopy system capable of testing oilseeds, and thereby determining how to adjust settings in oilseed crushing equipment. The adjustments allow processors to fine-tune for batches with longer grinding processes, required for seeds with low oil content, thereby reducing inefficiencies in biodiesel processing […]
In Washington, the Renewable Fuels Association’s Geoff Cooper issued a stringing analysis of an anti-RFS paper issued by EPRINC, first noting that the non-profit is “staffed by former oil company employees, and directed by a board of trustees that is a veritable who’s-who of Big Oil executives—including AFPM’s president and top lobbyist. EPRINC was formerly […]
In France, DEINOVE announced that its R&D team and its partners in the DEINOL program isolated and optimized a strain of Deinococcus bacteria able to generate ethanol from wheat-based biomass. With production of an alcohol content of more than 3%, DEINOL exceeded its goal for this proof of concept milestone.
In Georgia, the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service is looking at 117 different genotypes of sweet sorghum that could prove to be a key feedstock for biofuels in the southern US. Drought tolerance and low nitrogen fertilizer requirements are among key traits in the crop that may make it suitable for the region.
In Nevada, the DOE has awarded at $14.3 million grant to a team directed by John Cushman of the University of Nevada, Reno to redesign bioenergy crops to grown on “economically marginal agricultural lands,” reports Phys Org. The project will explore plants like the water-efficient and fast growing poplar tree. The long-term goal is to […]
In Ohio, an Ohio State research team led by Yebo Li is reporting new evidence that a white rot fungus shows promise in the search for a way to use waste corn stalks, cobs and leaves — rather than corn itself — to produce ethanol to extend supplies of gasoline. Their study on using the […]
In Missouri, a researcher at the Missouri University of Science and Technology has patented a process using a particular bacterium, called “Halanaerobium hydrogeniformans” that could lower the overall cost of biofuels production.
