In Nevada, researchers from the University of Nevada-Reno believe the cactus pear, with its high heat tolerance and low water use, may be able to provide fuel and food in places that previously haven’t been able to grow much in the way of sustainable crops. As part of the College’s Experiment Station unit, researchers recently […]
In China, a single-celled alga undergoes genome surgery to remove non-essential parts. This can lead to a most efficient cellular factory for producing sustainable biofuels from sunlight and carbon dioxide. Researchers from the Qingdao Institute of BioEnergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) have stripped hundred-kilobase genome from a type […]
In Ohio, University of Dayton researchers have helped a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) team take another step toward turning wet food waste into a sustainable aviation fuel. The team’s fuel from food waste resulted in a 165% drop in net carbon emissions compared to fossil jet fuel, not only […]
In California, hoping to discover new and improved ways of processing plant material for industrial purposes, researchers from UC Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have been studying the gut microbiomes of the planet’s most prolific herbivores: ruminant animals such as goats. The team generated reconstructions of the many thousands of microbial […]
In France, as part of a marathon research effort to lower the cost of carbon capture, chemists have now demonstrated a method to seize carbon dioxide that reduces costs by 19 percent compared to current commercial technology. The new technology requires 17 percent less energy to accomplish the same task as its commercial counterparts, surpassing […]
In Washington state, most of the carbon contained in soil is in the form of organic matter. The composition of this matter is determined by plants, microbes, and soil. However, scientists do not fully understand how variation in plant inputs, the structure of microbial communities, and the physical and chemical attributes of soil interact to […]
In Denmark, new research suggests that the diversity of the microbial community involved in sugarcane ethanol fermentation processes plays a significant role in its performance. Selecting the right bacteria could increase ethanol production by more than a billion liters per year, considering Brazil alone. In a study recently published in Nature Communications, scientists from The […]
In California, nanoengineers at the University of California San Diego have developed a “wearable microgrid” that harvests and stores energy from the human body to power small electronics. It consists of three main parts: sweat-powered biofuel cells, motion-powered devices called triboelectric generators, and energy-storing supercapacitors. All parts are flexible, washable and can be screen printed […]
In Nebraska, Governor Pete Ricketts announced the results of a E30 demonstration project conducted by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln (UNL) with support from the State’s Department of Administrative Services (DAS). The ground-breaking research clearly demonstrates that E30, gasoline blended with 30% ethanol, is safe for long-term use in non flex fuel vehicles (FFVs). A team […]
In Washington, a new research facility on the Richland campus of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) is set to open fall 2021. The Energy Sciences Center (ESC) will feature many of PNNL’s strengths in chemistry, materials sciences, and computing in one building. “The ESC will accelerate innovation in energy research using chemistry, materials science, and […]
