Science and Enterprise

Tag: biofuels

  • Energy Dept. to Fund $102M for Small Business Research

    The U.S. Department of Energy says it will fund research projects by 104 small businesses in the U.S. to develop energy-related technologies for market. The grants, made under the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs, total $102 million. The projects cover technologies applying to energy efficiency, particularly for industrial…

  • DARPA Awards $8 Million Synthetic Biology Contract

    The Department of Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has awarded an $8 million contract to Amyris Inc. of California for tools to expand the scope of Amyris’s industrial synthetic biology technology across various biological platforms and cell types. DARPA awarded the contract under its Living Foundries research program. With the Living Foundries program, DARPA…

  • Cellulosic Biofuel Process Close to Cost-Competitive

    Chemical engineers at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana have devised a process for producing biofuels from non-food feedstocks they say is nearly cost-competitive with fossil fuels. An economic analysis of the process developed in the lab of Purdue’s Rakesh Agrawal is described in the journal Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery (paid subscription required). This method,…

  • International Consortium Studies Corn Genome

    A collaboration of genetic and agricultural scientists from the U.S., Mexico, France, Kenya, and China have conducted a comprehensive analysis of the corn genome. The team, led by researchers from Cornell University and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, and funded by USDA and National Science Foundation, published their findings online in the journal Nature Genetics…

  • Canadian Universities Get $22M for Automotive Research

    The AUTO21 Network of Centres of Excellence, a Canadian auto industry research program, will get an infusion of $22 million to fund a series of new projects at Canadian universities for the next two years. The Canadian government will contribute $10 million to the fund, with manufacturers, parts makers, and materials suppliers proving the remainder.…

  • Microbe Found to Survive Ionic Liquid for Biofuel Processing

    Researchers from the U.S. Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) of the Department of Energy have isolated a tropical microbe that can endure high concentrations of ionic liquids, the solvents used to process cellulosic biomass into economical commercial biofuels. The team led by the institute’s Michael Thelen reported its findings this week online in the journal Proceedings…

  • Forest Biofuels Unsustainable, Could Boost Greenhouse Gases

    An analysis by researchers in Europe and the U.S. indicate that large-scale biofuel production from forest biomass is unsustainable and will increase greenhouse gas emissions. The findings appear online in the journal Global Change Biology/Bioenergy. The report, an invited analysis by the journal, was led by the Max-Planck Institute for Biogeochemistry in Germany, Oregon State…

  • Algae Biofuel Start-Up Secures $144M for Demo Plant

    Sapphire Energy in San Diego says it received the last installment of its series C financing — the third round of funding after initial start-up — valued at $144 million. The company develops biofuels from algae and bacteria, and the new financing is expected to fund a demonstration production plant in Luna County, New Mexico.…

  • Carnegie Institution Adds Four New Crop Databases

    The Carnegie Institution of Science says its Plant Metabolic Network, based in Stanford, California, has added online databases on the biochemical pathways controlling the metabolism of corn, soybeans, wine grapes, and cassava. The new additions offer a detailed view of the chemical reactions taking place in the cells of these four commercially important crops. The…

  • Study Shows Increased Heat Boosts Biochar as Soil Additive

    A research team at Rice University in Houston, Texas has found that heating biochar — charcoal added to topsoil to enhance plant growth — to 450 degrees Celsius increases its ability to deliver water and nutrients to the targeted crops. Their findings appear online this week in the journal Biomass and Bioenergy (paid subscription required).…