Science
« Previous EntriesMushroom Being Tried In Laboratories As Fuel Alternative Source
Tuesday, November 11th, 2008
AHN:
Scientists in Novozymes’ laboratories in China, Brazil, Denmark and the U.S. are experimenting with mushroom and licen to discover which one could turn corn cobs and sugarcane stalks into biofuel.
By tapping plant waste, the laboratory hopes to end concerns that the use of food as feedstock would stop the pressure made by bioethanol production […]
Ethanol Innovation Turns Wood Into Sugar At Room Temperature
Friday, October 31st, 2008Gas2.0:
In what could be a major breakthrough for second generation ethanol production, German researchers have developed a new method that easily converts raw wood into sugar using a liquid ionic salt bath at room temperature followed by reaction with a solid acid resin.
The process works by chopping the complex raw wood molecules into smaller and […]
Hurricane Debris Could Provide Energy Resource
Monday, September 1st, 2008Domestic Fuel:
As Hurricane Gustav storms its way toward the coast of Louisiana, a New York-based lumber company is preparing to swoop in afterward to clean up the debris.
Green Energy Resources says it will take up to 10 million tons of hurricane storm wood in 2008, if it becomes available. The company is asking for the […]
Genetically Modified Trees Provide Alternative Fuel
Friday, August 22nd, 2008WHQR Public Radio:
North Carolina State University has received a grant to study how genetically modified trees can be used to make ethanol.
The nearly $1 million will go toward planting trees at various locations across the state.
The modified trees produce more sugar, which is the part of the tree that can produce ethanol.
NC State’s Principal Investigator […]
A Better Way To Make Hydrogen From Biofuels
Wednesday, August 20th, 2008Eureka! Science News:
Researchers here have found a way to convert ethanol and other biofuels into hydrogen very efficiently. A new catalyst makes hydrogen from ethanol with 90 percent yield, at a workable temperature, and using inexpensive ingredients.
Umit Ozkan, professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering at Ohio State University, said that the new catalyst is much […]
Turning Waste Material Into Ethanol
Wednesday, August 13th, 2008Science Daily:
Say the word “biofuels” and most people think of grain ethanol and biodiesel. But there’s another, older technology called gasification that’s getting a new look from researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Ames Laboratory and Iowa State University.
By combining gasification with high-tech nanoscale porous catalysts, they hope to create ethanol from a […]
13-Foot Grass Next Hope For Ethanol Production?
Thursday, July 31st, 2008CNET News:
A perennial grass that grows as tall as 13 feet, requires little to no fertilizer, and can be stored away in bales almost indefinitely could be the next hope for efficient ethanol production.
At least that’s the thinking of researchers from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign who have been field testing a sterile grass known […]
Convert Kudzu To Biofuel
Thursday, June 19th, 2008TECH.BLORGE.com:
Having grown up in the South, I am intimately acquainted with kudzu and its dangers. Stand in one place too long and disappear. Ok, so that’s an exaggeration but not by much. Now kudzu is being researched as a possible substitute for corn in biofuel.
Kudzu was originally imported as a way to combat erosion […]
Biofuel From Bacteria? Startup Says It’s On The Way
Tuesday, June 17th, 2008Ars Technica:
Oil is running out. Our yearly usage of oil, coal, and natural gas are the products of around 1 million years’ worth of organic matter converting sunlight to chemical energy, and unfortunately for us, much of our way of life depends upon the plentiful supply of petrochemicals. A Silicon Valley startup called LS9 might […]
Could Switchgrass In Guymon Be Used In Ethanol?
Friday, June 13th, 2008NewsOK.com:
Work has started on the planting of a 1,000-acre switchgrass field in the Oklahoma Panhandle that researchers plan to use in the production of cellulosic ethanol.
The field is being touted as the world’s largest for switchgrass, a drought-resistant perennial plant that grows even on marginal lands. Scientists at the Noble Foundation in Ardmore are overseeing […]
Algenol Trains Algae To Turn Carbon Into Ethanol
Thursday, June 12th, 2008Reuters:
Private U.S. company Algenol plans to make ethanol from a primordial green soup that won’t raise food costs compared to other biofuel feedstocks like corn and sugar cane.
The company has signed an $850 million deal with a Mexican company BioFields to grow algae, one of the planet’s first life forms, that has been trained to […]
Are Microbes The Answer To The Energy Crisis?
Friday, June 6th, 2008Science Daily:
The answer to the looming fuel crisis in the 21st century may be found by thinking small, microscopic in fact. Microscopic organisms from bacteria and cyanobacteria, to fungi to microalgae, are biological factories that are proving to efficient sources of inexpensive, environmentally friendly biofuels that can serve as alternatives to oil, according to research […]
Sweet Source For Ethanol
Wednesday, May 14th, 2008Domestic Fuel:
A sweet source for ethanol could be a smart choice for food and fuel that can grow almost anywhere.
According to the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT), sweet sorghum may be the perfect crop for ethanol production. It grows in dry conditions, tolerates heat, salt and waterlogging, and provides steady income […]
There Are Alternatives That Produce Ethanol
Friday, May 2nd, 2008The News Journal:
Why are we using an important food source of humans and animals to produce ethanol? It appears we ignore history or are not aware that Brazil, the world’s largest producer of ethanol, ferments sugar cane to produce this fuel.
Was Midwestern corn chosen because of politics? Corn does not represent a sustainable source to […]
Lowndes Student Finds Fuel Alternative
Friday, April 18th, 2008WALB-TV:
Georgia forests produce millions of tons of biomass every year.
It’s regarded as useless, but one South Georgia student thinks the waste could be the key to more alternative fuels in the state.
So when Governor Sonny Perdue issued a challenge, Lowndes High Senior Nicholas Worley stepped up.
“It was a challenge to agriculturists to solve the […]
Is Ethanol’s Carbon Footprint Bad? It Depends
Wednesday, April 16th, 2008CNET News.com:
In the cleantech and carbon worlds, the carbon footprint of ethanol, whether from corn or sugar feedstocks and fermentation processes, or enzymatic or thermochemical cellulosic sources, is always good fodder (or perhaps, “fuel”) for debate.
And depending on which process and which study you personally ascribe to, the answer on how “carbon clean” ethanol […]
Money Doesn’t Grow On Trees, But Gasoline Might
Tuesday, April 8th, 2008Wisbusiness.com:
In 2003, University of Wisconsin-Madison graduate student George Huber and colleagues made hydrogen from plant sugars using nickel-tin alloy catalysts in the lab of Chemical and Biological Engineering Professor James Dumesic.
In 2005, the team made a diesel-like fuel from plants.
Today, University of Massachusetts Amherst Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering George Huber has graduate students of […]
Can Biotechnology Save Ethanol?
Tuesday, March 25th, 2008Truth about Trade & Technology:
Some experts have questioned the feasibility of Congress’s new biofuels mandate, but emerging biotechnologies may boost the industry above and beyond expectations.
Traditional corn ethanol has received a bad rap in the popular press lately due to concerns increased production and conversion of corn into fuel may increase emissions and raise food […]
Green Fuel Makers Team Up On Cellulose
Thursday, March 13th, 2008Globe and Mail:
Ontario ethanol producer GreenField Ethanol Inc. has teamed up with Quebec biogas company Enerkem Technologies Inc. to generate fuel from municipal and forest waste.
GreenField, which is now one of Canada’s largest producers of ethanol from corn, will work with Enerkem to get that same fuel from cellulose.
Enerkem’s expertise is converting forest byproducts […]
Bacteria May Be Able To Help Produce Ethanol
Thursday, March 13th, 2008WMDT:
Researchers at the University of Maryland say they can use bacteria from the Chesapeake Bay to produce ethanol.
They say the enzymes produced by the bacteria can digest cellulose in plant matter, which is a key step in the ethanol production process.
A company has now been created to commercialize the process. Officials say the the […]