NewNergy

NewNergy discusses the latest inventions, innovations and breakthroughs in the energy & environmental sciences.

GM Rice Yields 50% More Harvest Even with Less Fertilizer & Water

A genetically modified (GM) rice that can give 50 percent more harvest while requiring less fertilizer and water is seen as a long term solution to low yield in resource-scarce, poverty-stricken farms threatened by climate change.

The GM rice will have more efficient carbon dioxide capture with its enhanced capacity for photosynthesis, the process of using solar energy to capture carbon dioxide and converting it into growth-inducing carbohydrate in plants.Dr. John Sheehy, International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) project leader for the GM rice, said that using C4 photosynthesis, rice plant’s capacity to convert solar energy in producing a richer grain can be enhanced particularly in tropical climates.

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Proteus, Syngenta Collaborate on Enzyme Development for Biofuels

Proteus announced that it has entered into a collaboration agreement with agribusiness firm Syngenta. The two companies plan to work together on the development of novel high performing enzymes for next generation biofuel production.

The collaboration with Proteus will help Syngenta to accelerate development by offering technology that complements our core skills in plant expression, according to the company

Both diversity screening and directed evolution methods will be used for the discovery and the optimization of targeted enzymes for the conversion of biomass into biofuels, Proteus said.

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Sun-reflecting Crops Could Reduce Global Warming

Jan 2009

Farmers could help produce cooler temperatures and limit global warming if they grow crop varieties that reflect more sunlight into space, British researchers said recently.

Using a global climate model, they found this strategy could cool much of Europe, North America and parts of North Asia by up to one degree Celsius during the summer growing season, enough to make a difference in easing heat waves and drought.

It would also translate into a 20 percent reduction in a predicted five degree Celsius temperature rise for the region by the end of the century, Andy Ridgwell and colleagues said in the journal Current Biology.

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Hydrogen Producing Bacteria: A New Source of Hydrogen for Fuel Cell Technology to Create Electricity

Scientists from the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and North Carolina State University are in process of identifying hydrogen producing bacterial strains. The hydrogen gas produced from these strains can be used in fuel cell technology to create electricity. The electricity produced from fuel cells are used in automobiles as a clean alternative to gasoline.

Source:
http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/energy-hydrogen-producing-bacteria/

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SeaWater Greenhouse - Water for Agriculture in Arid Areas

SeaWater Greenhouse - Water for Agriculture in Arid Areas

The Seawater Greenhouse is a new development that offers sustainable solution to the problem of providing water for agriculture in arid, coastal regions. The process uses seawater to cool and humidify the air that ventilates the greenhouse and sunlight to distil fresh water from seawater.

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  In the beginning, there were algae,
but there was no oil Then, from algae came oil.
Now, the algae are still there, but oil is fast depleting
In future, there will be no oil, but there will still be algae  
So, doesn't it make sense to explore if we can again get oil from algae?
This is what we try to do at Oilgae.com - explore the potential of getting oil from algae