Archive for category Ethanol

Next-Gen Biofuel Progresses Slowly, Could Match Corn-Based by 2016

Posted by Benji Jerew in Ethanol on March 19, 2013

Setbacks could probably be the best way to sum up the advance of the next generation biofuel production, but these things take time. Ethanol is a major biofuel used here in the US, and is produced from corn. Of course, there could be better uses for agricultural land used to produce corn simply for use [...]

Marginal Lands Deemed Perfect for Sustainable Bioenergy Production

Posted by Leigh Kim in Biodiesel, Ethanol on January 24, 2013

Last week, University of Maryland faculty members and a Ph.D. student from U of M’s Department of Geographical Sciences published research detailing the possibility of using marginal lands for biodiversity research and alternative fuel production. The study, titled “Sustainable bioenergy production from marginal lands in the US Midwest”in the January issue of Nature, describes how [...]

Sorghum-Derived Ethanol Cuts Down Greenhouse Gas Emissions by 50%

Posted by Mila Luleva in Ethanol on December 12, 2012

The U.S Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently added ethanol made from grain sorghum to the group of advanced biofuel. This news was particularly welcomed by companies in Kansas. The Western Plains Energy plant near Oakley is already developing strategies for making their ethanol become ‘advance biofuel’. The company invested in a methane digester utilizing waste. [...]

Fast-Food Lobbyists Fight Biofuel Law

Posted by Leigh Kim in Ethanol on December 8, 2012

American fast-food lobbyists are pushing back again an alternative fuel policy that requires gasoline to contain ethanol, a fuel produced from corn, and are asking Congress to repeal the law. Fast-food customers consume corn in two ways. The hamburger and chicken they eat in their meals come from an animals raised on corn. The fuel [...]

Ethanol-Based Biofuel Spills Could Pollute More Than Ordinary Fuels

Posted by Mila Luleva in Biodiesel, Ethanol, Pollution on November 19, 2012

Outcome Magazine released a report last week, stating that when the biofuel component ethanol is mixed with regular petroleum gas it gives it different fluid-like properties. Researchers at the University of Mitchigan discovered that ethanol-based liquids mix much more actively with water. In case of a possible oil spill, this combination of ethanol-based biofuel and [...]

New Biofuel Technology Produces 2.5% More Corn Bioethanol

Posted by Janina Lazo in Ethanol on November 1, 2012

In response to the food crisis that the first generation biofuel is causing (partially), an industrial producer of enzymes based in Denmark, Novozymes, has recently launched a new enzyme called Novozymes Avantec, which is claimed to produce 2.5% more bioethanol from corn. Biofuel production in the U.S. is mostly generated from corn, and the new [...]

Study Claims EU Biofuel Plan Only Benefits Big Bosses, Not The Environment

Posted by Janina Lazo in Biodiesel, Biogas, Ethanol on October 16, 2012

In its plan to increase biofuel share to 10% by 2020, the European Union (EU) seems to favor the interests of profit-minded big industrial companies rather than the reduction of carbon footprint and fight against climate change. This is the claim of a recent study by Simone Vieri of the University of La Sapienza in [...]

New and Improved Biofuel Production from Agricultural Wastes

Posted by Maria Reyes in Ethanol on July 20, 2012

Researchers from Michigan State University (MSU) develop a new biofuel production process that generates 20 times more energy than currently known methods. The process highlights a novel use of microbes to produce ethanol and hydrogen from agricultural wastes. Gemma Reguera, MSU microbiologist, is the co-author of the study along with Allison Spears, MSU graduate student. [...]

Bacterium Living in Yellowstone’s Hot Springs Studied for Ethanol-Producing Abilities

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on February 24, 2012

Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis, a bacterium that can normally be found in Yellowstone’s hot springs has opened new horizons for scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) who were studying how to produce ethanol from switchgrass in a more viable manner, without relying on plant material-breaking enzymes. A comparative analysis of proteins found in Caldicellulosiruptor obsidiansis grown on four [...]

European Report Expects Diminished Use of Biofuels

Posted by Mike Sandru in Biodiesel, Ethanol, Green Policy on February 2, 2012

One alternative source of energy grows in trees…or almost! I’m talking about plants involved in the production of biofuels, like sugarcane, corn or palm oil. At the time it was discovered, this conversion seemed like a pretty good idea, so governments all over the world a few years ago came up with incentives and tax [...]

Burning Sugarcane Fields Bad for Ethanol's Carbon Footprint, Researchers Find

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on December 19, 2011

Ethanol is already established as a good biofuel source and is being blended with gasoline to make the fossil fuel cleaner-burning. But ethanol that is made from sugarcane crops has been found dirtier than previously thought, if the fields are burned prior to harvesting. The discovery has been made by a team of researchers from [...]

Renmatix Uses Supercritical Water to Turn Biomass into Biofuels

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Biodiesel, Ethanol on October 4, 2011

Wood chips, switchgrass and other non-edible parts of crops, also known as “agricultural waste” have been touted recently as good biofuel sources. However, extracting the necessary sugars that would further on get converted into fuels had been proven hard to accomplish. Renmatix, a Georgia-based company, has found a new process to quickly extract the sugars [...]

Discarded Watermelons Could be Used to Make Ethanol

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on September 27, 2011

Did you know that up to a fifth of all watermelons grown each summer go discarded, only because of their non-uniform shape? It’s not that they’re not good tasting, but us, customers, simply choose not to buy them. Well, it seems they can be used for making ethanol. Wayne Fish, a chemist at the Agricultural [...]

Agave Ethanol Could Replace Petrol Without Displacing Food Crops

Posted by Mircea Sandru in Ethanol on August 9, 2011

In recent years, those voices saying that using corn crops to produce biofuels is a bad idea are increasingly common. Taking into account the concentration of carbon emitted into the atmosphere and the high prices of grain, many people said that corn ethanol proved to be worse than oil. The agave plants nevertheless proved that [...]

Obama Keeps Encouraging Alternative Fuel Industries in Georgetown Speech

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on March 31, 2011

I have always admired Obama’s attitude towards green technologies. During a speech in Georgetown, he continued encouraging the biofuel industry and telling people that “the only way for America’s energy supply to be truly secure is by permanently reducing our dependence on oil.”