In Finland, new research by VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland shows there is very little difference in fuel consumption between E5 and E10 in the Finnish market under normal driving conditions. The tests, which used six used cars of different makes, found that driving 100km on E5 (standards tested at an actual 4.7%) required […]
In Pakistan, researchers at the University of Karachi are exploring the use of several of the country’s 410 halophyte species as potential feedstocks for ethanol production under the guidance of the university’s Institute for Sustainable Halophyte Utilization. Initial estimates show that about 70,000 liters of ethanol could be produced per hectare annually.
Retuers is reporting that “Deforestation rates generally from 2005-2010 were below 1 percent, it found, but much higher in particular countries and especially in Togo and Nigeria.” Togo? The biofuels industry there consists of, essentially, one 2700-hectare jatropha plantation operated by Greenleaf Global. The Watchdog continues to caution that data on rising biofuels production, and […]
In Ghana, Colombia University professor Kartik Chandran has won a $1.5 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to produce biodiesel and methane from human waste in the capital city of Accra using the “Next-Generation Urban Sanitation Facility” he has developed. The idea is to provide local communities with access to affordable fuel […]
In Finland, researchers led by by Professor and Research Director Yrjö Helariutta have discovered the genetic process that controls the development of wood cells in the roots of plants. Xylem (wood cells) is the vascular tissue that transports water and nutrients upward from the root, also contributing to the formation of the woody element in […]
In Singapore, researchers at the A*STAR Institute of Chemical and Engineering Sciences have developed a two step biocatalytic process for biodiesel from crude oil feedstocks, instead of pure and refined feedstock oils. Previous attempts at using enzymes found that when exposed to methanol droplets, the enzymes were deactivated. Talukder found that by using two processes, […]
In New Jersey, Stevens Institute of Technology students have designed a biochar electrode replacement for traditional activated carbon electrodes, used in superconductors. The three students, Katie Van Strander, Liana Vaccari and Rachel Kenion, as part of their project, designed, produced and tested their prototype, and successfully demonstrated that their electrode can work in a superconductor. […]
In Spain, CEPSA has developed a new process to manufacture biofuel from vegetable oil using hydrogenation based on a research project it began in 2007. The company will begin producing 100,000 cubic meters annually of the hydrobiodiesel at its three facilities with production starting in Huelva in July and in Cadiz in November.
In Spain, researchers from the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya, the University of Aberdeen and the University of Auckland announced that they made the hydrogen production process simpler and cheaper, at ambient temperature and pressure, using a fully scalable powder photocatalyst and ethanol as a feedstock. The demonstrations have shown 5 litres of hydrogen can be […]
In India, the Central Salt and Marine Chemical Research Institute (CSMCRI) announced that it will increase cultivation of seaweed for ethanol production to a 5-10 square kilometre energy farm. CSMCRI director Dr Pushpito Ghosh told reporters that “the sap derived from seaweed will help raise the nation’s sugarcane yield by 10 to 30 per cent, […]
