New Device to Make Energy Efficient Biofuels
Posted on Tuesday, January 12, 2010 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:04 AM
A team of scientists from the University of Sheffield, UK, has developed an innovative device that will make the production of alternative biofuels more energy efficient.The research team has adapted a unique bioreactor for use in the production of alternative renewable fuels, to replace fossil fuels such as petrol and diesel.
The team have devised an air-lift loop bioreactor which creates microbubbles using 18% less energy consumption. Microbubbles are miniature gas bubbles of less than 50 microns diameter in water. They are able to transfer materials in a bioreactor much more rapidly than larger bubbles produced by conventional bubble generation techniques and they consume much less energy. The team's unique adaption of the bioreactor and creation of microbubbles has the potential to revolutionise the energy-efficient production of biofuels.
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Energy-efficient Bioconversion to Turn Waste Glycerin to Biofuels
Posted on Monday, January 4, 2010 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:17 PM
A large part of the glycerin glut comes from biofuel refineries, which put out enormous quantities of crude glycerin as a byproduct.
Glycos Biotechnologies, Inc. , which is commercializing glycerin-gobbling microorganisms developed by researchers at Rice University. The hungry bugs are at the heart of an energy-efficient bioconversion process that turns
waste glycerin into fuels and other products.
GlycosBio’s approach is to integrate bioconversion into individual refinery operations. Instead of a liability, the waste glycerin can be made into a profit center, yielding high-value chemicals (alcohols and acids) that can be used to make fabrics, insulation, and food products, as well as additional fuels. Other researchers have been developing ways to convert glycerin into ethanol, methane, hydrogen gas, and even a non-toxic antifreeze.
GlycosBio designed its operations to follow familiar refinery processes, which makes integration relatively easy. The big difference is the company’s proprietary microbe based conversion process, which requires far less heat and power. In addition to crude glycerin, the conversion process can also work on a variety of biofuel feedstocks, perhaps including algae.
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Engineered Tobacco Leaves to Produce More Biofuel
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 8:27 PM
Researchers at the Biotechnology Foundations Laboratories at
Thomas Jefferson University have found out a way to increase
biofuel production from tobacco plants by engineering two genes, which increase the oil in tobacco leaves.
The researchers have identified two genes - the diacyglycerol acytransferase (DGAT) gene and the LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 gene. Plants modified to over-express these genes produce more oil. While a typical tobacco plant contains about 1.7% to 4% of oil per dry weight, engineered plants carry about 6.8% of oil, which can be converted into biofuel.
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UCLA Researchers Produce Liquid Fuel Isobutanol
Posted on Monday, December 14, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:08 PM
In California, researchers from the UCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically modified cyanobacteria to produce the liquid fuel
isobutanol directly from carbon dioxide and sunlight.
The announcement mirrors a breakthrough by Joule Biotechnolgies, which announced last month it had produced, in its lab, diesel-equivalent fuels from sunlight and CO2.
The technical approach: using
Synechoccus elongatus (a cyanobacterium) the team first genetically increased the quantity of the CO2-fixing enzyme RuBisCO. Then they spliced genes from other microorganisms to engineer a strain that intakes carbon dioxide and sunlight and produces isobutyraldehyde gas. The low boiling point and high vapor pressure of the gas allows it to easily be stripped from the system.
According to the researchers, the
engineered bacteria can produce isobutanol directly, but researchers say it is currently easier to use an existing and relatively inexpensive chemical catalysis process to convert isobutyraldehyde gas to isobutanol, as well as other useful petroleum-based products.
The team said that a project, using the technology, could be placed next to power plants and convert CO2 into transportation fuels. The team said that they are working on improving the rate and yield of the production, addressing the efficiency of light distribution and reducing bioreactor costs.” The group reported their results in the current issue of Nature.
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Dutch Breakthrough in Bioethanol Production From Agri Waste
Posted on Tuesday, November 24, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:22 AM
With the introduction of a single bacterial gene into yeast, researchers from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands achieved three improvements in
bioethanol production from agricultural waste material.
The invention is enthusiastically summarized by the principal researcher Jack Pronk: ‘In the laboratory, this simple genetic modification kills three birds with one stone: no glycerol formation, higher ethanol yields and consumption of toxic acetate’. For the potential billion liter ethanol gain to be realized, follow-up research on the transfer of this concept to industrial yeast strains and real-life process conditions is required. The Delft yeast researchers, who applied for a patent on their invention, hope to intensively collaborate with industrial partners to accelerate its industrial implementation.
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Move Over Ethanol, Here Comes Biobutanol
Posted on Thursday, October 1, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 4:27 AM
Gevo, the privately held biofuels start-up said that it had successfully retrofitted a demonstration-scale ethanol plant to make biobutanol.Gevo also said it planned to pound the pavement on Wall Street looking for financing to go out and buy up to five ethanol plants to retrofit.
Biobutanol is an alcohol similar to ethanol. Both can be used as a gasoline additive.But biobutanol has some clear advantages over
ethanol.Some of them are:
- There is no blend wall – ethanol’s 10% limit in gasoline. Biobutanol is approved to get to 16% today – and Gevo, which is backed by investors including Khosla Ventures, Burrill & Co. and Total SA – says that “standard automotive engines can run on biobutanol blended into gasoline at any ratio.”
- Experts say that biobutanol can be put into pipelines and refineries without problems.Try running ethanol through a pipeline. It worked kind of like Mr. Clean and swept up a lot of unwanted gunk.
- Ethanol makers are trapped between the Scylla and Charybdis of corn prices and gasoline prices. Biobutanol can take multiple feedstocks (corn, stover, sugar cane) and critically can sell its output as either a gasoline additive or as a chemical feedstock to make things like plastic bottles.
No one has built a biobutanol biorefinery at a commercial scale. Yet. The Gevo demonstration-scale plant in Missouri has an annual capacity of about 1 million gallons. So nobody knows if this is economic at scale.
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Biofuel to be Made from Bacteria
Posted on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:33 AM
US - A team of researchers at Massachusetts Institute of Technology are attempting to engineer biofuel-producing
microbes from Rhodococcus bacteria — soil-dwelling microbes that eat a variety of toxic compounds.The aim of Professor Anthony Sinskey's team is to make an organism that produces biofuel, which can use a variety of fuel sources.
According to a Cleantech report, the bacteria strain is related to the type that causes tuberculosis and the researchers say it works well because the bacteria are hungry for a number of sugars and toxic compounds and produce lipids that can be converted to biodiesel.They have created a strain of the bacteria that can eat a mix of two types of glucose and xylose, and have also engineered strains that can feed on glycerol, a waste product of biodiesel production.
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New Economical Way of Corn-based Ethanol Production
Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:02 PM
TMO Renewables, based in the south of England, has developed a new fermentation process using certain
micro-organisms that enables part of the waste deriving from corn-based ethanol production to be used to make more biofuel. According to the company, 25 ethanol plants in the US are interested in TMO Renewables’ proposal. In a recent case study in Iowa, TMO proved that it could deliver lower energy consumption, lower costs and higher output, thus producing a 70% improvement in margin – and this after the payment of a royalty to TMO.
The TMO process exploits two innate properties of the unique organism. Firstly, by exploiting the high temperature that the organism favours, fermentation can be performed at temperatures in excess of sixty degrees Celsius.Since very little cooling or heating is required, there is a significant saving in energy.
Secondly, the organism has a preference for consuming the longer chain sugars that derive from the breakup of biomass. This brings a very significant benefit in that a very large portion of the work and cost required to break down biomass to simple sugars, such as glucose, is removed.
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Bio-syntrolysis : A High Efficiency Cellulosic Ethanol Technology
Posted on Tuesday, September 15, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 5:43 AM
Scientists at Idaho National Laboratory have been working for the past year and a half on a process to convert biomass, such straw or crop residue, into liquid fuels at a far higher efficiency than existing
cellulosic ethanol technologies.
Rather than one single development, the technology--named bio-syntrolysis--ties together multiple processes, but it has electrolysis, or splitting water to make hydrogen, at is starting point. When combined with a carbon-free electricity source, the approach could deliver a carbon-neutral biofuel, according to models done at INL which has done research for decades in nuclear energy.
Bio-syntrolysis is one of a dizzying number of technologies being developed with the hopes of replacing gasoline, although none have successfully been done at scale. The key advantage is that bio-syntrolysis would extract far more energy from available biomass than existing methods, said research engineer Grant Hawkes. Using traditional ethanol-making techniques, about 35 percent of the carbon from wood chips or agricultural residue ends up in the liquid fuel. By contrast, the bio-syntrolysis method would convert more than 90 percent of that carbon into a fuel.
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U.S. Navy to Test Camelina-Based Biofuel
Posted on posted by posted by Mak @ 3:01 AM
The modern U.S. Navy may be about to put a 3,000-year-old weedlike biofuel crop in its tank.
Camelina, the “new darling” of next-generation biofuels, is among a small group of biofuels under consideration for testing this year by the U.S. Navy. One of the aircraft to be tested is the F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, the latest incarnation of the battle-proven Hornet. Sustainable Oils of Montana has just won a contract to provide 40,000 gallons of camelina-based jet fuel to the Navy, so the chances look good for putting the ancient crop to a new use.
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Energy from Waste Glycerin
Posted on Wednesday, July 29, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:32 PM
Here is an interesting article on "Biodiesel Yields Hidden Treasure in Waste Glycerin", which reveals some ways to recycle waste glycerin, a major byproduct of biodiesel manufacture.
Read the full article @ Cleantechnica.comLabels: biofuels, energy, waste
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Biofuel from Waste Fats
Posted on Monday, May 25, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:56 AM
UK based biofuel manufacturer, Amplefuel is set to produce 40 million litres of biofuel each year, focusing on making it from used
cooking oil and solid fats.The plant, which utilises a variety of feedstocks from waste products, is one of a handful of firms that is able to break the solid fats down to a liquid biodiesel that does not solidify to later cause blockages.
Amplefuel utilise the solid waste fats from cooking that end up in landfill. Around 500kg of this fat is sent to landfill each week from people’s cooking which they put into a container to let it solidify and then leave it with the rest of their rubbish.The plant breaks the solid fat down by heating it and cleaning it of any visible and emulsified water. The two main fats found in solid fat are separated, treated and then cleaned up again and impurities are filtered out. The result is a liquid diesel that is then blended with other materials to ensure it stays liquid at low temperatures, like normal diesel, which solidifies at around -15 degrees Celsius.
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Engineered Microorganisms for Cost-Effective Cellulosic Biofuel Production
Posted on Friday, May 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:32 AM
Mascoma Corporation today announced that the company has made major research advances in consolidated bioprocessing, or CBP, a low-cost processing strategy for production of biofuels from cellulosic biomass. CBP avoids the need for the costly production of cellulase enzymes by using engineered microorganisms that produce cellulases and ethanol at high yield in a single step.CBP is widely considered to be the ultimate low-cost configuration for cellulose hydrolysis and fermentation.The advances of the research includes both bacteria that grow at high temperatures, called thermophiles, and recombinant cellulolytic yeasts.
The first report of targeted metabolic engineering of a cellulose-fermenting thermophile,
Clostridium thermocellum, leading to a reduced production of unwanted organic acid byproducts and makes possible production of nearly 6% wt/vol ethanol by an increase of 60% over what was reported just a year ago. Selected strains of
C. thermocellum that can rapidly consume cellulose with high conversion and no added cellulase, and grow on cellulose in the presence of commercial levels of ethanol.
Recombinant, Cellulolytic Yeast facilitates 3,000-fold increase in cellulase expression and a significant 2.5-fold reduction in the added cellulase required for conversion of pretreated hardwood to ethanol.These advances enable the reduction in operating and capital costs required for
cost-effective commercial production of ethanol, bringing Mascoma substantially closer to commercialization.
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Biodiesel Production from Legume Tree
Posted on Tuesday, April 21, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:41 PM
The discovery of a hormone that controls how plants form branches and the use of a legume tree in biodiesel production are just two of the major scientific breakthroughs to come out of UQ's ARC Centre of Excellence in Integrative Legume Research (CILR) this year. The Centre, primarily through work at the UQ Node, achieved a number of successes in its biofuel program focussing on the legume tree Pongamia pinnata.In the case of carbon sequestration, the legume removes CO2 from the atmosphere and stores it in soil; nitrogen gain refers to the legume's ability to return nitrogen to the soil they grow in, acting like a fertiliser.
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Carbon Dioxide into Methanol - Green Method for Sequestration
Posted on Thursday, April 16, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:02 AM
Scientists at the Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have succeeded in unlocking the potential of carbon dioxide – a common greenhouse gas – by converting it into a more useful product. Using organocatalysts, the IBN researchers activated carbon dioxide in a mild and non-toxic process to produce methanol, a widely used industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel.
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Duckweed Turns Pig Poop into Fuel
Posted on Thursday, April 9, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:47 PM
Move over, corn: there’s a new biofuel in town. A tiny flowering plant called duckweed, often seen in shallow ponds, produces significantly more starch per acre than corn according to researchers North Carolina State University. The plant thrives on animal waste, quickly transforming it into a leafy starch that can be turned into ethanol.Small scale tests have proven that the same technology used to convert corn into ethanol can also turn duckweed starch to ethanol. Next up: testing on a large scale and doing an economic analysis of the process. Ultimately, the economics will decide if duckweed can compete with other sources of ethanol.
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Camelina and Mustard are Two Potential Biodiesel Sources
Posted on Wednesday, March 18, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:13 PM
Every now and then we hear about biodiesels, biouels,and more about these stuff. Recently it has been found that mustard and camelina have been found to be a major source of oil used for biodiesel production. University in chile has found that camelina and mustard are able to produce 25 and 40 percent oil and they have a very good potential for being used in biodiesels. Furthermore camelina is able to be grown in harsh conditions and requires very little hybridization. This provides a breakthrough in the field of biodiesels and biofuel production. More and more work is being carried on in this field at the moment.
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Integrated Biorefinery Using Pennycress
Posted on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:10 PM
Innovation Fuels, the renewable energy company that manufactures, markets, and distributes second-generation biodiesel to customers around the world, has launched an initiative to create the country’s first integrated biorefinery in New Jersey with the introduction of a new cash crop that will increase revenues for local farmers, without displacing any food crops.
Innovation Fuels’ pennycress (a mustard family plant closely related to canola) grows wild and prolifically throughout the United States, and can yield up to 100 gallons/acre of high quality feedstock oil for the production of biodiesel. The crop is typically planted in the fall and harvested in the spring, so producers can cultivate and harvest pennycress without interfering with normal production of corn or soybeans, while increasing revenue from the same acreage.
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“Omnivore”: A Car That Can Run on Almost Any Fuel
Posted on Monday, March 2, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 7:27 PM
Lotus reveals flex-fuel engine concept to maximise fuel efficiency when running on renewable fuels or gasoline.Lotus Engineering, the world-renowned automotive consultancy division of Lotus Cars Limited, unveils its latest research into engine efficiency at the 79th International Geneva Motor Show. The Omnivore engine concept has the potential to significantly increase fuel efficiency for sustainable alcohol based fuels, which increases the prospect of a greater amount of vehicle miles travelled using renewable fuels.
The Omnivore concept features an innovative variable compression ratio system and uses a two-stroke operating cycle with direct fuel injection. It is ideally suited to flex-fuel operation with a higher degree of optimisation than is possible with existing four stroke engines.
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Genomatica Makes Methyl Ethyl Ketone from Microbes Ingesting Sugar
Posted on Wednesday, February 25, 2009 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:45 PM
California licensor of technology thinks solvent MEK could get to market in 2010, reviving now-closed ethanol plants and serving global markets.
San Diego-based Genomatica said today it has developed a second chemical using a microbes instead of petroleum.
CEO Christopher Gann told the Cleantech Group that the company engineered a way to produce methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) from microbes ingesting sugar. The MEK can be made in the same fermentation facilities as ethanol plants, providing a use for shuttered or underused plants and removing the capital cost to build dedicated facilities
MEK is an industrial solvent used in paints, coatings or varnishes, especially for the furniture-making industry, that is typically made with petroleum. About half the market goes to about a dozen large buyers and is distributed by railcar, while the rest is typically produced in plants and put into drums.
The worldwide market for MEK is 3 billion dry pounds, or about $2 billion. In the U.S., the market is just 400 million pounds—making the global markets a focus for Genomatica.
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Shredding Stover Helps Make Ethanol Production More Efficient
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:40 PM
Researcher Dennis Buckmaster of Purdue University has hit on a more efficient ethanol production with cellulosic processing. By shredding corn stover instead of the currently-used chopping method, less energy is required because the pieces are smaller, allowing easier and more productive cellulose derivative. Size doesn’t seem to make a difference in cellulose leachate yield, with large shreds comparable to smaller ones.
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Xylose To Biofuel With Commercial Yeasts
Posted on Tuesday, February 24, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:05 PM
Eckhard Boles, co-founder of the Swiss biofuel company Butalco GmbH and a professor at Goethe-University in Frankfurt, Germany, has discovered a new enzyme which teaches yeast cells to ferment xylose into ethanol. Xylose is an unused waste sugar in the cellulosic ethanol production process. The researchers have recently filed a patent application for their process.
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Crambe- A New Biofuel Feedstock
Posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 7:47 PM
An inedible, weedy-looking plant called crambe is the latest competitor to come along and stick a fork in biofuel feedstock scene. Crambe is a drought-tolerant plant that’s economical to grow in the U.S. compared to other biofuel feedstock such as soybeans. The University of North Dakota Energy & Environmental Research Center (EERC) has developed technology that can convert crambe seed oil (and other feedstock) into biofuels that are virtually identical to petroleum fuels. The EERC has just announced a one million dollar grant to demonstrate the commercial viability of the process.
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Via 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), just two steps from Biomass into Biofuel
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:29 AM
Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have reportedly developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into biofuel.
The first step in the process is the conversion of cellulose into the “platform” chemical 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), from which a variety of valuable commodity chemicals can be made. While other groups have demonstrated some of the individual steps involved in converting biomass to HMF, starting with simple sugars, what this group did was show how to do the whole process in one step, starting with biomass itself. In the second step they converted HMF into the promising biofuel 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF). The overall yield for this two-step biomass-to-biofuel process was 9% - 9 percent of the cellulose in the corn stover samples was ultimately converted into biofuel. According to the team, DMF is similar to gasoline and is compatible with the existing liquid transportation fuel infrastructure, having already been used as a gasoline additive.
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Hydrogen from cellulosic material using multilpe enzymes - ORNL
Posted on Monday, February 16, 2009 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:04 PM
Tomorrow's fuel-cell vehicles may be powered by enzymes that consume cellulose from woodchips or grass and exhale hydrogen. Researchers at Virginia Tech, Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL), and the University of Georgia have produced hydrogen gas pure enough to power a fuel cell by mixing 14 enzymes, one coenzyme, cellulosic materials from nonfood sources, and water heated to about 90 degrees (32 C).
The group announced three advances from their "one pot" process: 1) a novel combination of enzymes, 2) an increased hydrogen generation rate -- to as fast as natural hydrogen fermentation, and 3) a chemical energy output greater than the chemical energy stored in sugars – the highest hydrogen yield reported from cellulosic materials.
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Could A Car Run on Sewage Grease?
Posted on Sunday, February 15, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:49 PM
We’re already harvesting methane from sewage and spreading treated sewage solids on farms and open space, so it’s not a stretch to imagine running our cars on biofuel from sewage, too. Specifically, running our cars on sewage grease. The contaminants in trap grease, particularly sulfur, exceed ASTM standards for roadworthy fuel.BioFuelBox Corp. is one company that recently announced a modification in its process for refining waste grease from sewage, to achieve a product that meets ASTM standards - including standards for sulfur.
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Wood-Eating Marine Gribbles For Better Biofuel
Posted on Tuesday, January 27, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:39 PM
A marine bug that eats boat bottoms and pier supports has been identified as the likely key to improving the efficiency of biofuel production.Four-spotted gribbles are able to break down cellulose in wood to make sugar. Scientists are convinced that by mimicking the process they will be able to produce better biofuel.
Research is under way to pinpoint the enzymes produced in the bug's stomach, and the genes that control them, so that the process can be applied to woody biofuel crops such as willow.The investigation is being carried out as part of research by the Sustainable Bioenergy Centre, a £27million initiative announced yesterday that is the biggest public investment in bioenergy research.
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Third Generation Biofuels: Corn with Embedded Cellulase Enzymes
Posted on Friday, January 23, 2009 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:18 PM
A new variety of corn developed and patented by Michigan State University scientists could turn corn leaves and stalks into biofuels far more efficiently than existing techniques for cellulosic biofuels.
The variety of corn has cellulase enzymes embedded in its leaves. This makes it a crop typical of so-called 'third-generation' bioproducts - green fuels and products are made from energy and biomass crops that have been designed in such a way that their very structure or properties conform to the requirements of a particular bioconversion process. The MSU scientists have tricked corn in such a way that it already contains the needed enzymes itself, in its leaves.
An example of such third-generation biofuels are those based on tree crops whose lignin-content has been artificially weakened and reduced, and disintegrates easy under dedicated processing techniques. Low-lignin hybrid trees (poplars) are being developed by several research organisations, amongst them the laboratory of the father of plant genetic engineering, Marc van Montagu of the University of Ghent, Belgium.
Content credit:
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Third Generation Biofuels via Direct Cellulose Fermentation
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:02 PM
Here's an interesting research paper on a new process called Consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) in which cellulase production, substrate hydrolysis, and fermentation are accomplished in a single process step by cellulolytic microorganisms.
According to the paper, CBP offers the potential for lower biofuel production costs
due to simpler feedstock processing, lower energy inputs, and higher conversion
efficiencies than separate hydrolysis and fermentation processes, and is an economically attractive near-term goal for “third generation” biofuel production.
In this review article, production of third generation biofuels from cellulosic feedstocks will be addressed in respect to the metabolism of cellulolytic bacteria and the development of strategies to increase biofuel yields through metabolic engineering.
Read the full research
paper from here (PDF) - note: this document opens as a new document on your machine, not in your browser
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AFEX - A Cost effective Pretreatment For Cellulosic Ethanol
Posted on Thursday, January 22, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:57 PM
A new process invented by Michigan State University helps to increase the yields of cellulosic ethanol at a reasonable premium. Michigan State University comes in with a new patented process. Bruce Dale, University Distinguished Professor of chemical engineering and materials science at the university, has invented a cheap pretreatment process using ammonia, called AFEX (ammonia fiber expansion).
Its 75 percent more efficient than with traditional enzyme treatments says Professor Dale, and is easier and more affordable than acid pretreatments. The process frees up a lot of sugar to be used in the fermentation to produce more ethanol.It's possible to use AFEX to pretreat corn stover (cobs, stalks and leaves) and then hydrolyze and ferment it to commercially relevant levels of ethanol without adding nutrients to the stover. It's always been assumed that agricultural residues such as corn stover didn't have enough nutrients to support fermentation. We have shown this isn't so.
Washing, detoxifying and adding nutrients back into the pretreated cellulose are three separate steps. Each step is expensive and adds to the cost of the biofuel. Breaking down cellulose into fermentable sugars cost effectively has been a major issue slowing cellulosic ethanol production. Using AFEX as the pretreatment process can dramatically reduce the cost of making biofuels from cellulose.
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Proteus, Syngenta Collaborate on Enzyme Development for Biofuels
Posted on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 5:04 PM
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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MKII- A Southern Invention Turns Sewage Algae to Oil
Posted on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 1:28 AM
A Southern invention that turns sewage algae into crude oil is now operational but commercial testing of it is still three months away.The machine, known as the MKII, replicates the way oil is created naturally by pressure and those working on the project say it is 10 years ahead of similar projects worldwide.The oil produced can be refined into petrol, diesel and aviation fuel.
Invercargill engineering firm BL Rayners Ltd and Christchurch recycling company Solvent Rescue Ltd have collaborated under the name Solray to develop the machine, which has taken them 18 years to perfect.Solvent Rescue owner Chris Bathurst said the MKII had been operating for the past four months after performing to expectation during its testing phase.
Sewage To Oil
* The machine uses high pressure to turn algae, grown in sewage ponds, into algal sludge.
* The sludge is then processed using pressure, temperature, timing and a secret catalyst to turn it into crude oil.
* The crude oil can then be refined into jet fuel (kerosene), petrol, methane, LPG, diesel, or bitumen.
*The sewage pond water is left clean enough to be re-used by industry.
* The algae absorbs carbon dioxide.
* The process replicates how oil is created naturally, but much faster.
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Renewed Energy: Sugarcane could Fuel the Military Jets?
Posted on Sunday, January 18, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:20 PM
In the fields of lower Alabama, sugar cane may soon become the new cash crop, harvested to fuel the U.S. Air Force.State leaders and privately held Amyris Biotechnologies envisage a $500 million-$600 million venture that would not only grow sugar cane but also refine it to fill up military jets. Officials hope the first gallon could be sold by 2012 or 2013.
The Amyris project - still in its preliminary stages - is staking its success on the Air Force, whose entire fleet is mandated to have the capability of running on a 50-50 mix of petroleum and alternative fuel. Montgomery, Ala., is home to a large Air Force base. Amyris also aims to supply the Air Force with 30% of its alternative fuel needs nationwide, Chief Executive John Melo said this week.
Most biofuels made in the U.S. are in the form of ethanol distilled from corn, which can be grown over large swaths of the country. Sugar cane can also be used to produce ethanol, but Amyris uses centrifuges to separate the hydrocarbons from water, in much the same way that milk is separated in dairy farms. Amyris plans to find partners to build and operate a refinery that would convert sugar cane to jet fuel.
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PermaLink - Renewed Energy: Sugarcane could Fuel the Military Jets?
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Dangers of the Next Generation Biofuels
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 3:40 AM
While a large section of the alt energy industry - especially the bio-energy industry - is optimistic about the next-generation biofuels being in a position to provide transportation fuels in a sustainable manner, a diverse alliance of organizations published
an open letter recently in the U.S. and internationally warning of the dangers of industrially produced biofuels (called agrofuels by critics). The letter explains why large-scale industrial production of transport fuels and other energy from plants such as corn, sugar cane, oilseeds, trees, grasses, or so-called agricultural and woodland waste threatens forests, biodiversity, food sovereignty, community-based land rights and will worsen climate change. With the new Obama Administration slated to take office Tuesday, the letter's originators warn that if Obama's "New Green Economy" runs on agrofuels it may trap the U.S. in a dangerous "Green Bubble" of unrealistic promises from an unsustainable industry.
"This no longer about corn ethanol-turning any plants into fuel is simply not renewable," stated Dr. Rachel Smolker, co-author of the letter and Global Justice Ecology Project agrofuels specialist. "All plants, edible or not, require soils, water, fertilizers and land, all of which are in shortening supply. Yet these unsustainable technologies are commanding the vast majority of renewable energy tax incentives, at the expense of genuine cleaner energy solutions like conservation, efficiency, wind, solar, and ocean power. Additionally, because agrofuel crops rely on fertilizers, 44% of which are imported, they cannot even satisfy the calls for U.S. energy independence."
Now, that's a rather forceful statement. I think their arguments merit more introspection. For instance, take cellulosic ethanol. Even if the entire world's cellulosic feedstock were to be converted to ethanol, from some estimates I made earlier, it would only replace a max of 30% of the total world's transportation fuels. Now, we are never going to be able to use all the available cellulosic biomass, so the total replacement is going to be much less than 30%. In fact, according to some of the studies made by large consulting groups, by 2030, it is likely that cellulosic ethanol will only form less than 20% of the total transportation fuel. Now, if this is all we are going to achieve by massively turning all cellulosic feedstock into ethanol, is the effort worth it?
Possibly, the only silver lining could be algae. Algae are the only feedstock that can completely replace all fossil fuels (at least in theory). And algae do not even have most of the negative effects that the second-gen feedstock have. So, perhaps, just perhaps, it will be algae that will save the world. It should however be pointed out that energy from algae is in the research phase and no company is really producing oil on a commercial scale from algae. But we always have hopes for the future, don't we?
Labels: biodiesel, biofuels, research
PermaLink - Dangers of the Next Generation Biofuels
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Microorganisms of Termite guts offer hints on biofuel
Posted on Sunday, January 11, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 11:06 PM
Researchers have scooped soil near the Quabbin Reservoir in Massachusetts, visited a Russian volcano, and scoured the bottom of the sea looking for microbes that hold the key to new biofuels. Now, they are investigating deeper into the belly of termites.
The otherwise dreaded insect is a model bug bioreactor, adept at the difficult task of breaking down wood and turning it into fuel. Learning the secret of that skill could open the door to creating a new class of plant-based fuels to offset the nation's reliance on petroleum products.
In a study published last year, Leadbetter and others explored a small sample of termite gut bacteria genes, and found 1,000 involved in breaking down wood.The new study, which focuses on one of the most voracious of the 2,600 termite species,shows how a partnership within termite guts helps explain wood digestion.
The microorganism, called
P. grassi, breaks down cellulose, a component of wood. A bacterium that lives inside that microorganism provides nitrogen, necessary for life but scarce in wood. Researchers have sequenced the genes of the bacteria and some of the protozoa, and are now analyzing the ones involved in digesting cellulose — in hopes of better understanding the secrets of the digestion process.
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New Biofuel Made of coffee grounds leftovers
Posted on Thursday, January 8, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:48 AM
Coffee and biofuels just became one. A team of experts from the University of Nevada have managed to obtain diesel fuel from coffee grounds leftovers.
It's not even hard to do, claimed the team, comprised of Mano Misra, a professor of engineering, Narasimharao Kondamudi, and Susanta K. Mohapatra. They stated having employed regular chemistry techniques both in order to extract the oil they needed for the process from the coffee grounds and to turn it into fuel. Also, the whole process did not require more energy than the typical fuel manufacturing, and the price of the biofuel was estimated at about one dollar per gallon (some 22 cents per liter).
Based on 50 pounds (23 kg) of material bought from Starbucks stores, their analyses indicated that some 10-15% of the coffee waste weight represented extractable oil. But obtaining the waste may prove harder than extracting its oil, since there are only a few places this could be bought from, such as the bulk roaster that the researchers will use for their program.But coffee won't be the next major breakthrough in fuel industry. Actually, all the coffee waste on the planet could only produce about 1% of the US diesel requirements for a year.
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Jet test should spark quest for new biofuels
Posted on Friday, January 2, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 6:56 AM
AN Air New Zealand jet thundered through the sky on a two-hour flight this week — on a 50-50 blend of ordinary fuel and one made of seeds from the African desert. The successful flight was promising for the airline industry, and truly exciting for the environment and the hope for national fuel autonomy.Tuesday's test was the first commercial air flight to use fuel from the jatropha weed . Each jatropha seed produces between 30 and 40 percent of its mass in oil.
Labels: biofuels, jatropha, oilseeds
PermaLink - Jet test should spark quest for new biofuels
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Wood into Sugar: A New Source for Biofuels.
Posted on Saturday, November 1, 2008 posted by posted by visa @ 6:00 AM
Max Planck Institute for Coal Research in Germany have made a breakthrough by converting wood into sugar molecules, which can then be used to produce ethanol, a biofuel. The new method comes as researchers in Germany are stepping up their efforts to find innovative ways of tapping bioenergy sources to address growing concerns about the merits of using food crops or agricultural land for biofuels because of their impact on food prices and the environment.
Additional research areas include looking for breakthroughs in technology to turn wood into gas or other forms of energy, to use biomass for cooling, and to use old wood to prepare pellets.
For the method of conversion and moreLabels: biofuels, ethanol, research
PermaLink - Wood into Sugar: A New Source for Biofuels.
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Jet fuel from using 100 percent renewable feedstock
Posted on posted by posted by visa @ 5:56 AM
Energy & Environmental Research Center of North Dakota says it has produced a sample of a 100 percent renewable jet fuel. The research was funded by U.S. Department of Defense’s Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to meet its requirement for JP-8 jet fuel. The researchers added that they can also make it for Jet A, commercial aviation equipment. They also added that algal-oil-to-fuel projects research is also being conducted.
Source:
http://www.biomassmagazine.com/article.jsp?article_id=2139 Labels: biofuels, research
PermaLink - Jet fuel from using 100 percent renewable feedstock
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World's First Commercial Aviation Using Biofuels Closer to Reality
Posted on Thursday, October 30, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:58 PM
The world's first commercial aviation flight powered by a sustainable second-generation biofuel moved a step closer this week.
The jatropha-based fuel to power one of four engines on the Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400, has arrived at the Rolls-Royce facility in Derby, UK, for testing prior to the flight.
Preliminary data shows the fuel meets all required specifications for use in commercial aviation and a technical team led by Rolls Royce is now putting the fuel through a rigorous testing process to further validate its specifications.
More from
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Green Gasoline, Green Diesel, Green Jet Fuel - Biofuel Breakthrough
Posted on Thursday, June 19, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:04 AM
Researchers have made a breakthrough in the development of "green gasoline," a liquid identical to standard gasoline in energy contant yet created from sustainable biomass sources like switchgrass and poplar trees. The discovery could transform the renewable fuel economy by eliminating the need to grow corn for ethanol and rescue America from importing expensive and dwindling foreign oil supplies. The latest pathways to produce green gasoline, green diesel and green jet fuel are found in a report sponsored by NSF, the Department of Energy and the American Chemical Society entitled "Breaking the Chemical and Engineering Barriers to Lignocellulosic Biofuels: Next Generation Hydrocarbon Biorefineries" released April 1 (http://www.ecs.umass.edu/biofuels/). In the report, Huber and a host of leaders from academia, industry and government present a plan for making green gasoline a practical solution for the impending fuel crisis.
Full report from here - Green Gasoline Biofuel Breakthrough
Labels: biofuels, biomass, diesel, gasoline
PermaLink - Green Gasoline, Green Diesel, Green Jet Fuel - Biofuel Breakthrough
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Renewable Gasoline from Sapphire Energy Using Algae
Posted on Thursday, June 12, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:11 PM
As ethanol and biodiesel help to allay some of the strain caused by increasing core commodity prices and imported oil nearing $140 a barrel, research conducted on biomass feedstocks such as algae continues to gain traction as a viable means for “closing the loop” on energy sustainability. One company in particular is striving to meet this goal.
San Diego, Calif.-based Sapphire Energy was founded in 2006 on the basis of this principle philosophy when it debuted its “green crude”, a gasoline equivalent refined from algae that comes in light and heavy fractions; the light being gasoline and a heavy being kero-disel (or jet aircraft fuel). Although it won’t divulge its production process specifically, according to Sapphire Chief Executive Officer Jason Pyle, the company is producing 91 octane gasoline built on the platform that uses nothing more than sunlight, carbon dioxide and complex photosynthetic microorganisms.
Source:
Sapphire Energy unveils world’s first renewable gasolineLabels: biofuels, gasoline
PermaLink - Renewable Gasoline from Sapphire Energy Using Algae
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Low-protein Wheat Used in Western Canada as Ethanol Feestock
Posted on Monday, May 5, 2008 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:55 PM
While the United States is using corn as the primary feedstock for ethanol and Brazil has been concentrating on sugar cane, the left-half of Canada is considering wheat. The Western Canadian Wheat Growers Association hopes that the creation of fuel from wheat will help Canada's wheat farming community make a bit more profit, as corn-based ethanol has done (for good or for bad) for other farmers. Many farmers in Canada only plan to use low-protein wheat or damaged crops which are not suitable as food for the fuel feedstock. Still, the food-or-fuel debate looms large. There are a few issues with using wheat, but nothing that is insurmountable, or at least so
this post thinks.
Labels: biofuels
PermaLink - Low-protein Wheat Used in Western Canada as Ethanol Feestock
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Tricoderma reesei Fungus Breaks Down Cellulose, Could Boost Biofuels
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:55 PM
Although plants and bacteria get most of the biofuel research dollars and media column inches, fungus, a kingdom of organisms that excels at breaking down fibrous cellulose, could provide some innovation for cheap and easy cellulosic biofuel production. Researchers from Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Department of Energy Joint Genome Institute have sequenced the genetic code of Tricoderma reesei, a fungal strain...
Novozymes, the Danish biotech giant, which controls 47 percent of the global enzyme market, collaborated on this study. Novozymes’ director of research activities in second-generation biofuels, Joel Cherry, called this achievement “a major step towards using renewable feedstocks for the production of fuels and chemicals.”
T. ressei’s enzyme-producing genes are believed to be clustered together, which researchers think could account for the fungus’ efficiency at enzyme production.
More from
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Videos of Algae to Oil, Biodiesel, Hydrogen & Ethanol
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:54 PM
A collection of videos and video links regarding the turning of algae into oil, hydrogen, ethanol and other useful fuels
From this peswiki page
hereLabels: biofuels, ethanol, hydrogen
PermaLink - Videos of Algae to Oil, Biodiesel, Hydrogen & Ethanol
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Virgin Atlantic, Boeing, GE Aviation & Imperium Renewables Test Biofuel
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:18 AM
Virgin Atlantic and its partners Boeing, GE Aviation and Imperium Renewables Inc. have demonstrated that a commercial airliner using renewable fuel can fly. On Feb. 24, a Boeing 747 jumbo jet flew from London to Amsterdam, burning a mix of 20 percent biofuel containing babassu and coconut oils, and 80 percent standard jet fuel in one of its four engines without any modifications to the aircraft. Technical advisors were on board, collecting and recording flight data for analysis, which will be used in future research and the development of next-generation biofuels. Boeing will also use the findings in another demonstration flight later this year.
Seattle-based biodiesel producers Imperium Renewables prepared the biofuel, which must stay liquid in frigid, high-altitude temperatures.
Prior to the flight, extensive laboratory and static-engine testing was conducted to evaluate the energy and performance properties of the biofuel.
Full story
hereLabels: airlines, biofuels
PermaLink - Virgin Atlantic, Boeing, GE Aviation & Imperium Renewables Test Biofuel
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Biodiesel Report - Blog Review @ NewNergy
Posted on Wednesday, May 23, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:05 AM
Biodiesel ReportThe Biodiesel Report blog is a well-known blog in the biodiesel and alternative energy domains, partly because it was one of the earlier blogs in the field of biodiesel to arrive on the scene.
The very updation frequency could have been higher - especially given the lovely pics and the useful and detailed articles that are posted in the blog.
The major categories in which postings are made are: Biodiesel, Biodiesel Car, Motorcycle & Trucks, Biodiesel Companies, Biodiesel Conversions, Biodiesel Engine, Biodiesel Kit, Biodiesel Legislation, Biodiesel Production...
Some of its posts will delight those who look for the rare-to-find news items - such as the one on
Earthrace Biodiesel Powered TrimaranBiodiesel ReportLabels: biodiesel, biofuels, blog-reviews
PermaLink - Biodiesel Report - Blog Review @ NewNergy
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Biodiesel Blogs - Energy Blogs Review
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:58 AM
Biodiesel BlogNews and information about Biodiesel & alternative fuels.
A prominent blog for the energy and biodiesel domain, the Biodiesel Blog has been active since Feb 2004.
Though the posts are not very frequent, the content of each post is quite useful. The posts have a focus on what is happening in the biodiesel domain across the globe. It also comprises a useful and long blog roll.
The Biodiesel BlogLabels: biodiesel, biofuels, blog-reviews
PermaLink - Biodiesel Blogs - Energy Blogs Review
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Former Miller Brewing Site Converting to Ethanol Plant
Posted on Monday, May 14, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 4:47 AM
Former Miller Brewing Site Converting to Ethanol PlantMay 8, 2007
Pall-times.com
reports that a former Miller Brewing Company site is being converted into a 114MMgy ethanol facility in New York. Northeast Biofuels plans to use local corn for 25% of their needs. The new plant should indirectly produce about 1,500 jobs.
Via
this post @ Biodiesel InvestingLabels: biofuels, ethanol
PermaLink - Former Miller Brewing Site Converting to Ethanol Plant
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Molecular visualization of the bioconversion process
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 4:45 AM
Molecular visualization of the bioconversion processThe tools available for the hunt for renewable energy are very 21st Century. New tools include robotics, mass spectrometers, laser imagers, and data collection and analysis devices. As a result, communications can be digital and more visual than ever before, speeding questions and understanding at warp speed around the globe.
The Society of Industrial Microbiology convened their 29th Symposium on Biotechnology for Fuels and Chemicals in Denver recently which was hosted by the federally-financed National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). One of the highlights of the symposium was a tour that included visits to its biochemical and thermochemical labs and pilot plants for converting an array of feedstock into sugars and ethanol.
One stop was in a research area where high tech imaging devices are employed to analyze cell and molecular structures involved in the bioconversion process. Data collected from such imaging devices can be used to build accurate models and animations to aid understanding. This
post from Bioconversion blog provides more details on these high-tech imaging devices and the impact they will have...
Labels: biofuels, research, technology
PermaLink - Molecular visualization of the bioconversion process
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Turning oil refineries into biorefineries: the BIOCOUP project
Posted on Tuesday, May 8, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 11:01 AM
Turning oil refineries into biorefineries: EU launches BIOCOUP projectMay 08, 2007, Biopact
Adapting existing mineral oil refineries for use as biorefineries is the goal of an ambitious new EU funded project called
BIOCOUP.
BIOCOUP is supported by the European Commission through the Sixth Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, under the theme 'Sustainable development, global change and ecosystems'. Its aim is to develop a chain of process steps, which would allow biomass feedstocks to be co-fed to a conventional oil refinery. Energy and oxygenated chemicals will be co-produced as well as bio-liquids. The overall innovation derives from the integration of bio-feedstock procurement with existing industries (energy, pulp and paper, food) and processing of upgraded biomass forms in existing mineral oil refineries.
Read
more from this post @ BiopactLabels: biodiesel, biofuels
PermaLink - Turning oil refineries into biorefineries: the BIOCOUP project
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Ethanol: Behind the Buzz
Posted on Sunday, April 22, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:04 AM
Ethanol: Behind the Buzz By Keith Lieberthal - TheStreet.com, 19 Apr 2007
From the White House to Wall Street, ethanol has moved to the heart of national debate about energy...Its champions promise that it will win energy independence for the U.S.; aid its farmers; weaken hostile oil-subsidized regimes in Tehran, Caracas and Moscow; and better the environment. But the skeptics see little more than a massive agricultural subsidy dressed in patriotic and green rhetoric.
What's the real story?
Read from this detailed report from The Street
Labels: biofuels, ethanol
PermaLink - Ethanol: Behind the Buzz
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Conoco, Tyson Alliance on biodiesel from Animal Fat
Posted on Saturday, April 21, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:24 AM
Conoco, Tyson Alliance on biodiesel from Animal FatConoco-Phillips and Tyson Foods have announced plans to team up to make biodiesel fuel out of animal fat, according to a report @ The Wall Street Journal
Tyson produces over 300 million gallons of beef, pork and chicken fat each year. The company plans to ship about 60 percent of its fat to a Conoco-Phillips plant for processing. The remaining 40 percent will be used in cosmetics, soap and pet food, as it is now.
Labels: biodiesel, biofuels, fuel-from-animals
PermaLink - Conoco, Tyson Alliance on biodiesel from Animal Fat
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To Save Earth, We Need a Freeze on Biofuels
Posted on Thursday, March 29, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:08 AM
If we want to save the planet, we need a five-year freeze on biofuelsGeorge Monbiot, March 29, 2007
"Oil produced from plants sets up competition for food between cars and people. People - and the environment - will lose.
It used to be a matter of good intentions gone awry. Now it is plain fraud. The governments using biofuel to tackle global warming know that it causes more harm than good. But they plough on regardless. In theory, fuels made from plants can reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by cars and trucks. Plants absorb carbon as they grow - it is released again when the fuel is burned. By encouraging oil companies to switch from fossil plants to living ones, governments on both sides of the Atlantic claim to be "decarbonising" our transport networks," says George Monibot in this interesting opinion piece
Read
the full article from the Guardian here @ ZNet Science
Labels: biofuels
PermaLink - To Save Earth, We Need a Freeze on Biofuels
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ANSI, NIST holds meeting on biofuels standardization
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:52 AM
ANSI, NIST holds meeting on biofuels standardization The United States and the European Union have expressed strong interest in making biofuels a commodity for trade. Compatible standards will be among the chief topics of discussion at the upcoming EU-U.S. Summit in Washington, D.C., which intends to launch a new trans-Atlantic economic partnership aimed at harmonizing regulations, technical standards, environmental protection and trade security.
In advance of the Summit, the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) held a March 28, 2007 meeting to develop input related to biodiesel and bioethanol standardization issues. Input developed will be used to inform the U.S. delegation to the EU-U.S. Summit, as requested by the U.S. Department of State.
Read
more from the invitation for this meeting here @ Reliable Plant
Labels: biofuels, events
PermaLink - ANSI, NIST holds meeting on biofuels standardization
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U.S. Auto Chiefs Ask Bush for Incentives on Biofuels
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 5:04 AM
U.S. Auto Chiefs Ask Bush for Incentives on BiofuelsBy Gopal Ratnam, Bloomberg
March 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. automakers' chief executive officers urged President George W. Bush to back incentives to bring ethanol and biodiesel to more pumps as the companies boost output of so-called flex-fuel vehicles.
Half the vehicles made by General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co., and DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler by 2012 could be able to run on biodiesel or E85, a blend of 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline, the CEOs said in a statement.
Read
the full news report from here @ Bloomberg
Labels: autos, biofuels, ethanol
PermaLink - U.S. Auto Chiefs Ask Bush for Incentives on Biofuels
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Alberta biofuels plant to weave straw into gold
Posted on Monday, March 26, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:11 AM
Alberta biofuels plant to weave straw into gold23 Mar 2007
RIMBEY -- A central Alberta town is on track to build a plant that will turn straw and municipal waste into millions of litres of biofuel each year.
Rimbey Mayor Dale Barr said construction on the plant could start as early as this summer, with an estimated cost of about $30 million.
Read the
full report from here @ the Calgary Sun
Labels: biofuels, waste
PermaLink - Alberta biofuels plant to weave straw into gold
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BIO World Congress: Biofuels poised for exceptional growth
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 8:53 AM
BIO World Congress: Biofuels poised for exceptional growth March 26, 2007
ORLANDO, FL - The biofuels industry stands poised for exceptional growth and ethanol is the most promising over the long term, keynote speakers said at BIO’s World Congress in Orlando yesterday.
Thousands of biotech industry executives, scientists, and economic development specialists gathered at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort for the event which started Wednesday and runs through Saturday. The congress is focused on industrial biotechnology and bioprocessing.
Read the
full report here @ Check Biotech
Labels: biofuels, biotechnology, ethanol, events
PermaLink - BIO World Congress: Biofuels poised for exceptional growth
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Could crops support biofuel need? Breakthroughs needed?
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 7:04 AM
Could crops support biofuel need? Breakthroughs needed? March 26, 2007, By Jerry W. Jackson, Check Biotech
Scientists and researchers are grappling for more breakthroughs before ethanol, biodiesel and other fuels of the future are produced in large enough quantities at prices low enough to revolutionize the country's energy independence.
But a concerted effort could enable farms and forests to eventually generate more than 100 billion gallons of biofuel a year, enough to replace the amount of gasoline the United States imports annually, was the opinion from the National Agricultural Biotechnology Council (USA). Read
more from this news report @ Check Biotech
Labels: biofuels, ethanol, inventions
PermaLink - Could crops support biofuel need? Breakthroughs needed?
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Biodiesel could fuel canola explosion in California
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 4:07 AM
Biodiesel could fuel canola explosionby Bob Johnson, Check Biotech
Canola may provide California growers with a new alternative to other grain crops because its oil seeds are a major source of biodiesel. The crop is similar to wheat in terms of planting and harvesting dates.
And if biodiesel use increases as expected, there could be enormous demand and significant price increases for canola, says
this report from Check BiotechLabels: biodiesel, biofuels, canola, oilseeds
PermaLink - Biodiesel could fuel canola explosion in California
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Biofuels launch 'third wave' to help meet increasing energy demand
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 2:21 AM
Biofuels launch 'third wave' to help meet increasing energy demandMarch 22, 2007
By Paul Elias Associated Press
SAN FRANCISCO —
Thousands of corporate executives and scientists gather this weekend in Orlando, Fla.,for an industry trade show specifically aimed at touting biotechnology's so-called third wave, industrial applications. The word on everyone's lips: ethanol. After decades of unfulfilled promise and billions in government corn subsidies, energy companies may finally be able to produce ethanol easily and inexpensively thanks to breakthroughs in biotechnology, says this article.
Read the
full news report from here @ Times Argus
Labels: biofuels, biotechnology, ethanol, events, research
PermaLink - Biofuels launch 'third wave' to help meet increasing energy demand
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Manure to become energy in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Posted on Saturday, March 10, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 9:20 PM
Manure to become energy in Mount JoyBy Patrick Burns, Staff
Intelligencer Journal
Mar 09, 2007
LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. - EnergyWorks, of Annapolis, Md., has agreed to build an anaerobic digestion plant on a poultry farm that would produce biogas from waste created by the chickens.
The plant will produce an odorless, colorless gas similar to natural gas that is produced when animal waste is decomposed by bacteria in the absence of oxygen.
More from this news report @ Lancaster Online
Labels: animal-waste, biofuels, biogas, waste
PermaLink - Manure to become energy in Lancaster, Pennsylvania
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UK Company Installs 100% Biodiesel Pumps for its Fleet
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:48 AM
UK company installs 100% biodiesel pumps for its fleet09 March 2007
A UK company, Sandtoft, has taken the radical step of installing 100 percent biodiesel pumps and storage tanks at its Doncaster HQ. The move represents the first benchmark in ambitious plans to convert all of the company’s fleet vehicles to 100 percent biodiesel within three years.
The Sandtoft pumps dispense 100 percent Rapeseed Methyl Ester (RME) biodiesel, which is produced to EN14214 quality standards and derives from oilseed rape.
Read more from here @ Biofuel Review
Labels: biodiesel, biofuels, rapeseed-oil
PermaLink - UK Company Installs 100% Biodiesel Pumps for its Fleet
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Canadian Research Project To Determine Best Biodiesel Fuel Blend
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:32 AM
Research Project To Determine Best Biodiesel Fuel Blend09 March 2007
A two year research project by the University of Saskatchewan Engineering Department will help the city determine the best biodiesel blend to use in it's buses.
Transit Manager Jeff Balon says two conventional diesel buses and two electric hybrid buses are being used to test the effect of low sulphur diesel, and 5 per cent canola biodiesel blend.
Read more from here @
Saskatoon HomepageLabels: biodiesel, biofuels, research
PermaLink - Canadian Research Project To Determine Best Biodiesel Fuel Blend
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Hoover, AL turns old grease to biodiesel
Posted on posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 10:28 AM
Hoover, AL turns old grease to biodieselMarch 10, 2007
After President Bush visited Hoover in September and praised the city for its use of ethanol in city vehicles, Mayor Tony Petelos said city leaders decided to seek more ways to use alternative fuels.
The city this week launched a new initiative, making its first batch of biodiesel fuel from leftover cooking oil.
Read more from
this Al.com reportLabels: biodiesel, biofuels, wvo
PermaLink - Hoover, AL turns old grease to biodiesel
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