In Illinois, carbon dioxide is leaking from industrial operations into the atmosphere, causing a cascade of dangerous changes to Earth’s climate. But some scientists wondered if instead it could instead be captured and converted to useful chemicals. A group of scientists with Argonne National Laboratory and the University of Chicago, Northern Illinois University and Valparaiso […]
In Minnesota, Cargill and the Forever Green Initiative, a research platform in the College of Food, Agricultural and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota, are partnering to study winter camelina and domesticated pennycress. The collaboration will focus on the development of high performing seed varieties and farming techniques adapted for the unique growing […]
In Michigan, scientists ask, what do poplar trees, sharks and biofuels have in common? While it might sound a bit like a riddle, a team led by Michigan State University biochemists has reported exciting findings concerning all three in the quest for cleaner energy. Published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, the team’s latest paper explores […]
In Denmark, a new technique to monitor contamination in bioethanol production could increase revenue by more than $1.6 billion and reduce CO2 emissions by 2 million tons. For the first time ever, researchers at The Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability (DTU Biosustain) have investigated the contaminant population from the sugarcane bioethanol production process at […]
In Minnesota, Specialty Fabrics Review reported that the German Institutes of Textile and Fiber Research Denkendorf (DITF) announced they are coordinating a research project called BioFibreLoop. The project is funded as part of the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation program. BioFibreLoop aims to develop recyclable outdoor and work clothing made from renewable bio-based […]
In Pennsylvania, DOE researchers have used a specialized optical microscope to visualize single cellulase enzymes interacting with different forms of cellulose. By investigating enzyme function in the presence of the product of the reaction and other components of plant biomass, the researchers gained new insights into how the enzyme binds and processes cellulose. The researchers found that […]
In the Netherlands, a new meta-study report commissioned by Holland Bioplastics, an association advancing bioplastics knowledge worldwide, concludes that the fundamental characteristics of polylactic acid (PLA), a biobased polymer made entirely from fermented plant sugars, and the hydrolysis process indicate that PLA does not produce persistent microplastics. The literature research, completed by HYDRA Marine Sciences, […]
In Denmark, a biofriendly new material made from barley starch blended with fiber from sugarbeet waste sees the light of day at the University of Copenhagen – a strong material that turns into compost should it end up in nature. In the long term, the researchers hope that their invention can help put the brakes […]
In Oklahoma, researchers in the College of Engineering, Architecture and Technology at Oklahoma State University continue to refine a co-fermentation process resulting in the production of butanol, a biofuel made from renewable resources that can be converted into jet fuel. OSU received a patent in November 2021 for a co-fermentation process. In this process, […]
In Austria, a research collaboration between BOKU Tulln and IMC University of Applied Sciences Krems is using the further development of bioleaching and bioaccumulation to develop a two-stage, environmentally friendly and sustainable process for recovering rare earths. In the bioaccumulation step, metal recovery rates of up to 85% were achieved from electronic scrap. The key […]
