In New York, the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry is developing shrub willow as a renewable energy source for biobutanol production under the Willow Biomass Project. Thanks to a $400,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy and $75,000 from the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, researchers are experimenting with […]
In Michigan, more detail emerged on a new study by the Michigan State University branch of the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center, which concluded that, based on data from 2002 to 2007, biofuel production “is not significantly correlated with changes in croplands for corn (coarse grain) plus soybean in regions of the world which are… […]
In Iowa, a professor at Iowa State University has determined how to grow a high-protein animal feed from thin silage, a soup of leftovers and waste once the protein-based solids are centrifuged out. Silage is produced in a 5:1 ratio during the ethanol production process, making this technology a use of a waste by-product of […]
In Washington, Clean Edge has released its 2nd annual U.S. Clean Energy Leadership Index with California, Oregon, and Massachusetts rocking the top of the list. West Virginia, Mississippi, and Alabama fill the bottom slots. The report considers over 70 indicators including total electricity produced by clean-energy sources, hybrid and electric vehicles on the road, clean-energy […]
In South Africa, a team of international researchers, led by Prof Zander Myburg with the University of Pretoria, in collaboration with the US DOE Joint Genome Institute, made available the complete genome sequence of the forest tree species, Eucalyptus grandis. It took the team, who had the support of a network of more than 130 […]
In Michigan, a new study from Michigan State University analyzing crop area, commodity exports and land use since 2007 shows there is no link between biofuel expansion and Indirect Land Use Change—or at the most, very negligible. The study shows that additional demand for biofuels was made up by production efficiencies and not by additional […]
In Washington state, the Bioproducts, Sciences and Engineering Laboratory at Washington State University Tri-Cities is working on a $1.5 million DOE-funded pilot project to test the BioChemCat process for turning agricultural waste into fuel. Teamed with the Port of Benton, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory and startup company Clean-Vantage, the project may be tested with wheat […]
In Texas, students at Texas A&M’s Agrilife Research Center have created a system that feeds nutrients from shrimp production into saliconia plants that are later harvested and pressed into oil for biodiesel. The meal byproduct is then fed back to the shrimp for feed.
In Washington, the National Biodiesel Board is highlighting the significant health and air quality improvements from blending biodiesel with petroleum diesel, as Congress continues to look at supports for the biofuels industry in this budget-slashing year. “According to the EPA,” the NBB said, “biodiesel has the following emissions properties compared with petroleum diesel: Carbon Monoxide […]
In California, the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory announced that Joint BioEnergy Institute researchers have found a way to help microbes survive the toxicity caused by the very compounds that they secrete in order to produce biofuels. Many of the best candidate compounds for advanced biofuels are toxic to microbes, which presents a “production versus survival” […]
