Biomass

Cheap Sugars for Sustainable Biofuel Production

Researchers at Iowa State University think that fast pyrolysis - quickly heating biomass such as corn stalks or wood chips without oxygen to produce liquid or gas products - could be a new way...

Discovery Could Streamline Production of Biofuels

A team of researchers at the Department of Energy’s BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) have pinpointed the gene that controls ethanol production capacity in a microorganism. This discovery could...

Making Biomass Economically Viable

Researchers at Los Alamos National Laboratory and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a potential key for unlocking the energy potential from non-edible biomass materials such as corn leaves and...

Virginia Tech Wins EcoCAR Competition

A team of students from Virginia Tech University won EcoCAR: The NeXt Challenge after designing and building an extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) using E85 (ethanol). Virginia Tech competed against 15...

Researchers Counteract Biofuel Toxicity in Microbes

Advanced biofuels are highly touted as potential replacements for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuels. Equally touted is the synthesis of these fuels through the use of microbes. However, many...

Looking to Cow Rumen for Better Biofuels Enzymes

A cow's digestive system allows it to eat more than 150 pounds of plant matter every day. Now researchers report that they have found dozens of previously unknown microbial enzymes in the...

A Trip to the WEEC

Last Thursday, I left New York for DC to check out the World Energy Engineering Congress (WEEC) held at the Washington Convention Center. Though my Amtrak train was a little slow in getting there, the show flew by in a...

High-Power Switches for Future Energy Supply Networks

Renewable energy comes out of an electricity socket, but to get there it has to travel a long journey – from wind turbines out at sea or regional solar, wind, and biogas power plants. On...

Biomass Alternative to Petroleum for Industrial Chemicals

University of Massachusetts Amherst chemical engineers have developed a way to produce high-volume chemical feedstocks including benzene, toluene, xylenes, and olefins from pyrolytic...

Synthetic Fuel Research Underway

Purdue University researchers have developed a facility aimed at learning precisely how coal and biomass are broken down in reactors called gasifiers as part of a project to strengthen the scientific...

Using Computational Modeling to Produce Biodiesel from E. coli

Desmond Lun, an associate professor of computer science at Rutgers University–Camden, is researching how to alter the genetic makeup of E. coli to produce biodiesel fuel derived...

Sustainable Biochar to Mitigate Climate Change

By producing biochar - a charcoal-like substance made from plants and other organic materials - up to 12 percent of the world's human-caused greenhouse gas emissions could be sustainably offset,...

Switchgrass Lessens Soil Nitrate Loss Into Waterways

By planting switchgrass and using certain agronomic practices, farmers can significantly reduce the amount of nitrogen and nitrates that leach into the soil, according to Iowa State...

Generating Energy Innovation: Disrupting the Alternatives

In just the last few years, innovation in alternative-energy technologies have gained significant footholds in product development lifecycles and are rapidly changing our individual...

Bio-Based Process for Producing Fuel Additive

A new bio-based method for producing a much-used fuel additive and industrial chemical, which is currently made from petroleum products, has been developed by an Iowa State University...

Producing Biofuels from Woody Plants With No Waste

Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a more efficient technique for producing biofuels from woody plants that significantly reduces the waste that results from...

Microbial Genetic System Dissects Biomass to Biofuel Conversion

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers, working with the DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC), has made a critical step in the development of...

Manipulating Plant Growth Hormones Key for Biofuel Future

Auxin is a powerful plant growth hormone that tells plants how to grow, where to lay down roots, how to make tissues, and how to respond to light and gravity. Knowing how to manipulate...

$33 Million in Funding for Biomass R&D

The U.S. Departments of Energy (DOE) and Agriculture (USDA) jointly announced up to $33 million in funding for research and development of technologies and processes to produce biofuels, bioenergy, and...

Genetically Engineering Algae for Biodiesel

John Morgan, an associate professor of chemical engineering at Purdue University, is leading a portion of a federally funded effort based at Iowa State University aimed at creating genetically...

Process Yields High-Energy-Density Plant-Based Transportation Fuel

A team of University of Wisconsin-Madison engineers has developed a highly efficient, environmentally friendly process that selectively converts gamma-valerolactone - a biomass...

"Powder to Power"

Today, Bloom Energy Corporation (Sunnyvale, CA) announced the availability of the Bloom Energy Server™, a patented solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) technology that provides clean, affordable, and continuous onsite electricity...

Engineers Concerned About Algae-Based Biofuel

DOE recently announced that it is awarding $78 million in stimulus money for research and development of algae-based biofuel. Yet researchers from the University of Virginia have found there are...

Engineered Tobacco Plants Up Biofuel Potential

Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have found a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the...

NASA's Algae Bioreactor Licensed to Algae Systems, LLC

Earlier this year, NASA introduced an algae photo-bioreactor that grows algae in municipal wastewater to produce biofuel and a variety of other products. The NASA bioreactor is an Offshore...

Algae as a High-Temperature Hydrogen Source

A team of researchers from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and Oak Ridge National Laboratory have found that the inner machinery of photosynthesis can be isolated from certain algae and, when...

Engineers Envision Cheaper Algae Oil Production

Compared to soybeans that produce 50 gallons of oil an acre a year, some algae can average 6,000 gallons - but it's not cheap to produce. Two Kansas State University engineers are assessing...

Sequenced Genome Could Enable More Efficient Biofuel Production

A strain of yeast, which thrives on turning sugar cane and other tough grasses into ethanol and might be used as biofuel, has had its genome completely sequenced by researchers at...

People, Prosperity, and the Planet (P3)

The EPA has awarded 43 grants to teams of university students who will design technologies addressing sustainability challenges in the developed and developing world. The People, Prosperity, and the...