In Germany, a German-Chinese research team has found a new synthetic route to produce biofuel from biomass. The chemists converted the substance 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) produced from biomass into 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF), which could be suitable as a biofuel. Compared to previous methods, they achieved a higher yield and selectivity under milder reaction conditions. The work was […]
In Japan, acetone, a volatile solvent used for everything from removing nail polish and cleaning textiles to manufacturing plastics, could get a sustainability boost from a new strain of bacteria engineered by a research team based in Japan. Researchers from Hiroshima University published the details of the heat-loving, acetone-producing bacteria called Moorella thermoacetica on April […]
In Washington, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) announced the selection of four projects totaling $1 million to conduct cutting-edge applied research and development concerning the interaction between promising biofuels and combustion engines. The projects will leverage a range of National Laboratory capabilities as part of the Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative, and aim […]
In Canada, University of Alberta research is brewing up better ways to help ethanol producers make the most of plant waste they use to make their fuel. Cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) created in the U of A biorefining process have generally been found to have the strength and stiffness of steel, as well as properties that […]
In Washington, D.C., a new research report highlights the most significant breakthroughs of the last year in the U.S. Department of Energy’s Co-Optimization of Fuels & Engines (Co-Optima) initiative, with details on findings that could translate into significant greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions reductions, including renewable fuel use. This collaborative research effort has brought together […]
In Japan, a cross-institutional collaboration with researchers from Kobe University and the Takasaki Advanced Radiation Research Institute of the Quantum Beam Science Research Directorate has developed a technique to repartition carbon resources from carbohydrates to lipids in microalgae. It is hoped that this method can be applied to biofuel production. Researchers discovered that the majority […]
In the UK, discovery of a novel enzyme that releases a valuable chemical from agricultural waste could provide an important breakthrough in the upscaling of renewable fuels and chemicals, a new study shows. Researchers – led by the University of York – have discovered an enzyme in a fungus which can act as a catalyst […]
In Massachusetts, a team of researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) received a nearly $2 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to create renewable fuel from sewage sludge, a byproduct of wastewater treatment that creates greenhouse gases and water pollution when dumped into landfills. With the U.S. EPA reporting that Americans alone […]
In Colorado, a foundational study conducted by scientists at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) shows for the first time that white-rot fungi are able to use carbon captured from lignin as a carbon source. The research confirms a hypothesis the senior author of a newly published paper. Until now, scientists were unsure whether white-rot […]
In the United Kingdom, the first dedicated, independent study into Miscanthus life cycles shows that the above ground biomass grows annually and recycles all the carbon that’s been produced through planting, harvesting and burning the crop for renewable electricity, and at the same time, the underground rhizome and decaying leaf litter fixes and stores net […]
