Category: Research

Qteros offering space to start-ups in new fermentation facility

Qteros offering space to start-ups in new fermentation facility

[ 0 ] March 29, 2011 |

In Massachusetts, Qteros is offering biofuel start-up companies about 2/3 of its new 15,000 square foot fermentation facility in Chicopee in order to help incubate local businesses that might be lured out of state. Qteros CEO John McCarthy said he was in discussion with ‘six or seven’ interested companies as well as with state officials […]

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Virginia Tech launches study of climate change impact on forest adaptation

Virginia Tech launches study of climate change impact on forest adaptation

[ 0 ] March 28, 2011 |

In Virginia, Jason Holliday, assistant professor of forest genetics and biotechnology in Virginia Tech’s College of Natural Resources and Environment, is using a $1.5 million Faculty Early Career Development Program grant from the National Science Foundation to gain insight into how tree populations adapt at the genomic scale as a result of climate change. The […]

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PhD candidate creates "ISU BioBus"

PhD candidate creates "ISU BioBus"

[ 0 ] March 25, 2011 |

In Iowa, PhD student David Correll at Iowa State University has created “ISU BioBus” – a program created to convert spent cooking oil from one of the university’s dining halls into biofuel for a Cyride (the Ames, IA bus system) bus. He has secured two college sponsored grants and has gotten the approval he needed […]

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Five colleges embark on five-year project to improve corn yields

Five colleges embark on five-year project to improve corn yields

[ 0 ] March 24, 2011 |

In Vermont, researchers from St. Michael’s College have teamed with researchers from the University of Missouri, University of Florida, Purdue University and the University Nebraska-Lincoln, on a five-year project to study the genes that control the movement of carbohydrates in corn in an attempt to increase corn yield, make more drought resistant plants, larger plants […]

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US Army, Pacific Biodiesel complete two-year biomass trial

US Army, Pacific Biodiesel complete two-year biomass trial

[ 0 ] March 23, 2011 |

In Hawaii, the US Army Installation Management Command-Pacific and Pacific Biodiesel have finalized a a two-year biofuel crop research project aimed at reducing the Hawaii’s dependence on fossil fuels. The first step in the project is locating suitable land to grow biofuel crops.  Pacific Biodiesel is looking at various agricultural sites within the State and will […]

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One-step separation method for biodiesel, glycerol

One-step separation method for biodiesel, glycerol

[ 0 ] March 22, 2011 |

In Connecticut, UConn professor Richard Parnas has patented a biodiesel reactor that uses gravity, heat, and natural chemical reactions to make the biodiesel and separate the glycerol in one step rather than the traditional two-step method that requires mechanical removal of the glycerol. The existing facility produces about 2,000 gallons of biodiesel fuel a year. […]

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Air Force completes camelina biofuels test of F-22 Raptor

Air Force completes camelina biofuels test of F-22 Raptor

[ 1 ] March 21, 2011 |

In California, an F-22 Raptor successfully flew at supercruis (supersonic flight without using the engine’s afterburner) on a 50/50 fuel blend of conventional petroleum-based JP-8 and biofuel derived from camelina.  The flight was the capstone of a series of ground and flight test events conducted by the 411th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards Air Force […]

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Perennial biofuel grasses could reduce local temperatures: study

Perennial biofuel grasses could reduce local temperatures: study

[ 0 ] March 18, 2011 |

In California, Stanford University has published an article about work done by David Lobell, assistant professor of environmental Earth system science and a center fellow at Stanford’s Program on Food Security and the Environment, Matei Georgescu of the Center for Environmental Fluid Dynamics at Arizona State University and Chris Field, professor of environmental Earth system […]

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Hold that can; leftover soda pop a good feedstock for biofuels

Hold that can; leftover soda pop a good feedstock for biofuels

[ 0 ] March 17, 2011 |

In Oklahoma, researchers at Oklahoma State University have discovered that waste from soda pop production can be used as feedstock for ethanol production simply by adding nitrogen and yeast. The presence of sodium benzoate, a common food preservative, was the major indicator in whether a particular brand of soda would ferment well or not. Soda […]

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UK says more investment in plant yields needed to unlock energy markets

UK says more investment in plant yields needed to unlock energy markets

[ 0 ] March 16, 2011 |

In the UK, Rothamsted Research says if the UK is serious about attracting more people into growing beet for food, energy, and bio-products, more investment in breeding and scientific techniques is needed to enhance yields and create these new markets. Average beet yields in the UK are 60-70t/ha and Broom’s Barn’s highest yield was 139t/ha […]

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