Biomass

Think Twice About Wasting Waste

A treatment for floc sludge transforms it to an electrode material usable for high-performance capacitors.

Process Converts Ethanol to Jet Fuel

A new catalyst and microchannel reactors improve efficiency and cost of the process.

Microgrids are a Key to Grid Resiliency

The aging energy grid is being pushed to the breaking point. Power outages from extreme weather alone cost anywhere from $2 billion to $77 billion per year. And some isolated communities still rely...

Extracting Bioproducts from Plants for Biofuels

Biofuels can achieve cost parity with petroleum fuels.

'Artificial Leaf' Produces Clean Gas

This method of producing clean syngas could be used to develop a sustainable liquid fuel alternative to gasoline.

Open-Source Software Analyzes Economics of Biofuels and Bioproducts

This fast, flexible tool allows researchers to quickly compare and prioritize strategies for converting biomass to fuels and products.

Green Jet Fuel Additive Made from Acetone Plus Light

The additive creates fuel from biomass while improving engine performance.

One-Pot Bioconversion of Distiller’s Grains to Advanced Biofuels

Increase in bioethanol production throughout the US has led to an increase in the process coproduct — distiller’s grains with solubles (DGS). DGS can be used to feed...

High-Speed Jet Mixer Efficiently Turns Algae into Fuel

A new technology may lead to a more mainstream use of algal biofuels.

From Trash to Treasure: How to Convert ‘Fatberg’ Waste into Biofuel

Have you heard of "fatbergs?" Researcher Asha Srinivasan explains how her team is turning masses of fat, oil, and grease into biofuel.

Algae Bioreactor Using Submerged Enclosures with Semi-Permeable Membranes

NASA has invented an innovative method to grow algae, clean wastewater, and capture carbon dioxide to ultimately produce biofuel. The invention consists of floating...

Funding Opportunity: Develop Advanced Biomass Supply Chain Technologies

The Department of Energy has announced about $6 million in funding for projects that will develop and demonstrate supply chain technologies to deliver commercial-scale...

Sustainable Technologies Category Winner (Winner of an HP Workstation)

Aquaback Water Purification System Bill Zebuhr, Scott Newquist, David Dussault, E. Andrew Condon, Steven Sahagian, Nicholas Wong, Michael Easton, William Burie, Charles...

Sensor System Spurs Biofuel Production

University of California, Berkeley researchers have developed a genetic sensor that enables bacteria to adjust their gene expression in response to varying levels of key intermediates for making...

Funding for Biomass R&D Initiative

Projects funded through the Biomass Research and Development Initiative (BRDI) — a joint program through the USDA and the DOE — will help develop economically and environmentally sustainable...

New Genome Map Speeds Biofuel Development

Researchers at University of Georgia's Plant Genome Mapping Laboratory have mapped the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus - a large perennial grass with promise as a source...

Breeding Grasses With Better Properties for Bioenergy

Researchers with the UK's Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) Sustainable Bioenergy Center (BSBEC) have discovered a family of genes that could help breed...

Atlas Maps Renewable Energy Resources

A new geospatial application developed by the DOE’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) allows users to map potential renewable energy resources in the United States. The interactive tool is...

Bacteria Engineered to Eat Switchgrass and Make Transportation Fuels

Researchers with DOE’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) have engineered the first strains of Escherichia coli bacteria that can digest switchgrass biomass and...

Super Yeast Turns Pine into Ethanol

A research team from the University of Georgia has developed a "super strain" of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine - one of the most common species of trees in the U.S. Their...

Fighting the War on Trash

In partnership with the Office of Naval Research, Marines at Camp Smith, Hawaii are testing a trash disposal system called the Micro Auto Gasification System (MAGS) that can reduce a standard 50-gallon bag of waste...

Jet Fuel of the Future

With the DOE, Virent, Inc., and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) working together, planes may soon take to the skies using less petroleum. In June, DOE announced an award of up to $13.4 million dollars...

Photosynthesis Helper Protein Discovered

Photosynthesis is less efficient in plants than it could be. Red algae, in contrast, use a slightly different mechanism and are thus more productive. Scientists from Germany's Max Planck Institute...

Novel Catalyst Helps Turn Carbon Dioxide Into Fuel

Artificial photosynthesis is the process of converting carbon dioxide gas into useful carbon-based chemicals - most notably fuel or other compounds usually derived from petroleum - as an...

Self-Igniting Fungi Promising for Biomass-Based Fuels

The complete genetic makeup of two heat-loving fungi often found in composts that self-ignite without flame or spark has been decoded by an international team of scientists. Their...