Biomass
Power from biomass
Quickly Turning Food Waste into Fuel
Written by Peter, on June 28, 2017
Researchers at Cornell University have discovered this new process to generate energy from food waste that is much more efficient than previous methods. Read more »
Sugarcane Genetically Modified for High Biofuel Yield
Written by Peter, on April 7, 2017
A multi-institutional team led by the University of Illinois have genetically engineered sugarcane to produce more oil in its leaves and stems for biodiesel production. The modified sugarcane plants also produces more sugar, which could be used for ethanol production. Read more »
Jet Fuel from Grass
Written by Peter, on April 5, 2017
Researchers at Ghent University in Belgium have developed a process that produces jet fuel from grass. Read more »
Hydrogen Produced from Biomass Powered by Light
Written by Peter, on March 17, 2017
A team of scientists at the University of Cambridge has developed a way of using solar power to generate hydrogen from biomass. Read more »
Fueling Vehicles with Hydrogen from Corn Waste
Written by Peter, on April 8, 2015
Researchers have found a way to make hydrogen fuel by a biological method that uses cheap and abundantly available corn stover (the stalks, cobs and husks) and greatly reduces the time it takes to produce the fuel. Read more »
Cold-tolerant, Oil-Producing Sugarcane
Written by Peter, on February 26, 2014
A team led by researchers at the University of Illinois is using recent advances in plant biotechnology to increase sugarcane's geographic range, boost its photosynthetic rate and turn it into an oil-producing crop for biodiesel production. The team introduced genes into the sugarcane that boost natural oil production in the plant's stems to about 1.5%. […] Read more »
Food and Fuel from Any Plant
Written by Peter, on April 20, 2013
Researchers at Virginia Tech, led by Associate Professor Percival Zhang, have developed a process by which approximately 30% of the cellulose from any plant material (including agricultural waste) can be converted into a starch known as amylose. Amylose can be used in food or as biodegradable packaging. Cellulose and starch have the same chemical composiition […] Read more »
Low-cost Hydrogen from Any Biomass
Written by Peter, on April 19, 2013
Researchers at Virginia Tech have discovered a way to extract large quantities of hydrogen from any plant, a breakthrough that has the potential to be a low-cost, environmentally friendly fuel source. Associate Proffessor Y.H. Percival Zhang and his team have succeeded in using xylose, the most abundant simple plant sugar, to produce a large quantity […] Read more »
Old Process Efficiently Produces Biodiesel
Written by Peter, on February 17, 2013
Scientists at the University of California, Berkeley have discovered that a long-abandoned process, once used to turn starch into explosives, can be used to efficiently produce diesel fuel from plant sources such as corn, sugar cane, grasses and other fast-growing plants or trees. The process of bacterial fermentation was discovered nearly 100 years ago by […] Read more »
New Slant on Biofuel from Trees
Written by Peter, on January 20, 2013
British researchers have identified a genetic trait that causes willow trees to yield five times more biofuel if they grow diagonally, compared with those that are allowed to grow naturally up towards the sky. Scientists led by Dr Nicholas Brereton and Dr Michael Ray, both from the Imperial College London, found that when willows grow […] Read more »
