Archive for category Ethanol

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 Mihai Sandru in Biodiesel, Ethanol, Green Economics 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.”

Startup Proterro Engineers Bacteria For Higher Ethanol-Producing Sugar Yield

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on March 29, 2011

Princeton-based startup Proterro has announced the development of a technology that can produce sugar, the main source for ethanol, by using engineered cyanobacteria, photosynthetic organisms that can produce sucrose through a normally-occurring defense system.

Genetically Modified Switchgrass Offers Bright Perspective on Bioethanol

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on February 15, 2011

Ethanol is already being used to supplement gasoline, as you may already know. Still, researchers are trying to find methods to produce bio-ethanol from plant sources that are both less costly to grow and to process, while at the same time keeping the efficiency into account. Oak Ridge National Laboratory researchers found how newly-modified prairie grass may be the perfect candidate.

Put In Beer and Pop, Get Ethanol – Example of Canada's Newest Waste Recycling Plant

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on February 7, 2011

A plant that will eat up waste pop soda and beer and will output ethanol good for pouring in fuel tanks will be set up by the end of February in Atlantic Canada. The $500,000 pilot plant, is part of a project led by New Brunswick Community College’s bioenergy and bioproducts applied research and technology facility in Grand Falls, New Brunswick, located near the Maine border.

Japanese Researchers Find Ways To Produce Biobutanol More Efficiently

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on November 29, 2010

Butanol can be made greener by the research of a Japanese institute, who developed an energy-saving biobutanol with a density of at least 80 percent. They derived their biobutanol from a 1 percent concentrated butanol and used a zeolitic separation membrane.

ORNL Researchers Find Way to Make Ethanol From Switchgrass Cheaper by Using Neutron Scattering

Posted by Ovidiu Sandru in Ethanol on September 16, 2010

A research aimed to lower the cost of biomass conversion process has been conducted by the researchers from the DOE’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Georgia Tech. The study used small-angle neutron scattering to test the structural impact of an acid pretreatment of lignocellulose from switchgrass.

Fungus Genes Could Help Make Ethanol From Wood Chips and Switchgrass

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Ethanol on September 13, 2010

According to a group of scientists, genes copied from a common fungus could make the production of ethanol from wood chips and grass (abundant materials) much easier. If this experiment will be a success, it could one day help ethanol compete with gasoline.

China's New Bio Energy Research Center will Turn Coal into Biofuels

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Ethanol on September 8, 2010

A new Zealand-based company called LanzaTech which is considered an expert in turning waste into fuel, has recently signed an agreement with Henan Coal, one of the largest coal producers in China and with the Chemical Industrial Corporation for the production of ethanol fuels.

Enerkem Starts Construction of World's First Garbage To Biofuel Plant

Posted by Mihai Sandru in Ethanol on September 2, 2010

All the garbage collected from the city of Edmonton can be used to produce biofuel. Last week, the city officials announced that Enerkem, a company based in Montreal began the construction of a $80 million plant that will be capable to turn the town’s landfill into biofuel.