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Alternative Energy / Biofuels

Algae Produces more Fat for Biofuels when Starved

Sep 04, 2013 at 16:55 | Futurity

Algae cells make fat quickly, a finding that means they could hold promise as a sustainable, environmentally sound source of oil.Algal lipids from microalgae are one of the…

New Biofuel Created from Bacteria and Fungus

Aug 26, 2013 at 17:09 | Science Progress

By throwing together a common fungus and a common bacterium, researchers are producing isobutanol — a biofuel that gallon-for-gallon delivers 82 percent of gasoline’s heat energy. The more common…

Algae Creeps Slowly Towards Viability

Aug 23, 2013 at 15:23 | James Stafford

Right now algae is simply too expensive to produce—and the process uses more energy than we get back. But by around 2017, with more money being dumped into research, we…

How Much is Too Much Ethanol?

Aug 19, 2013 at 17:22 | Charles Kennedy

The heat is on for ethanol, as the oil industry lobbies the Obama administration to lower the ethanol-gas mandate for 2014, but the folks in Iowa, for one, want to…

Sky’s the Limit – Aviation Biofuels About to Take Off?

Aug 09, 2013 at 17:49 | John Daly

For the past decade, commercial production of jet biofuel has become of major interest to international airlines.Renewable Jet A-1 biofuel has two alluring aspects.First, it is…

Genetically Engineering Jatropha Plants for Large Scale Production

Jul 18, 2013 at 17:13 | Futurity

Scientists have identified the first step toward engineering a more drought-resistant variety of Jatropha, a potential biofuel plant.Jatropha has seeds with high oil content. But the oil’s potential…

A Biofuel Cell that Uses Fungus to Generate Cheap Electricty

Jul 11, 2013 at 17:34 | Brian Westenhaus

In a new concept for biofuel cells Sabine Sané, doctoral candidate in the research training group Micro Energy Harvesting at the Department of Microsystems Engineering (IMTEK) of the University…

Biofuel Breakthrough? Marine Organism can Provide Food and Fuel

Jul 02, 2013 at 16:57 | Brian Westenhaus

Researchers at the University of Bergen and Uni Research of Norway hatched an idea that sounds too good to be true: a common marine species that consumes microorganisms and…

Oil Industry Works Hard to End the E15 Fuel Blend

Jun 12, 2013 at 16:41 | Robert Rapier

I just finished reading a story that made my blood boil. It was about how the oil industry is using dirty tricks to keep the ethanol industry in check. I…

New Enzyme Technology Allows more Ethanol to be Produced from Less Corn

Jun 12, 2013 at 16:38 | Brian Westenhaus

A new enzyme technology allowing the corn ethanol biofuels industry to produce more ethanol with less corn while saving energy and improving profits was announced yesterday.  The technology is…

This Week in Energy: The Ethanol Debacle Heats Up

Jun 07, 2013 at 14:16 | James Stafford

The ethanol debacle heats up ahead of summer; mini nuclear reactors get a boost; Urgent Note for subscribers: Sorry for butting in at the start of…

Exxon’s $100m Algae Investment Falls Flat

May 28, 2013 at 17:08 | Charles Kennedy

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) is cutting its losses on algae biofuels after investing over $100 million only to find that it couldn’t achieve commercial viability. Earlier this…

Investment Boost for Next Generation Biodiesel Project

May 24, 2013 at 16:59 | Charles Kennedy

Japanese-based Itochu Corp., Texas-based Benefuel, and Flint Hills Resources Renewable LLC have launched a joint venture to produce biodiesel fuel from inedible feedstocks in Nebraska, targeting production of 50 million…

Waste Wood: Norway Taps into a Huge Source of Biomass Fuel

May 23, 2013 at 16:52 | Brian Westenhaus

Norwegian senior scientist Øyvind Skreiberg is transforming the chopped-off branches and tops of felled spruce trees into a fine powder that is then pressed into high-energy pellets.  The transformation…

Producing Diesel on Demand from Modified Strain of E. Coli Bacteria

Apr 26, 2013 at 16:08 | Brian Westenhaus

A team from the University of Exeter, with support from Shell, has developed a method to make bacteria produce diesel on demand.  Sounding a bit like science fiction the…

CBO Set to Assess the Use of Ethanol Blends

Apr 25, 2013 at 17:02 | Bruce Krasting

I got a laugh reading this one from the CBO (Link).The cost of the…

Big Numbers, Big Profits: The Fleetingly Lucrative RIN Trade

Apr 19, 2013 at 15:29 | Editorial Dept

Renewable energy credits, or RINs, are one of the hottest things on the energy market right now because they are making up for a shortfall of refining capacity to blend…

Government Regulations Harming US Refiners

Apr 11, 2013 at 16:57 | Robert Rapier

March was a challenging month for refiners. Three weeks ago I discussed the issue of the looming ethanol blend wall, which is leading to soaring costs for refiners as they…

Turning Fruit Trees into Biofuel

Mar 26, 2013 at 17:55 | Brian Westenhaus

Fast growing trees, especially the poplars are being studied as they produce a large body of biomass per area.  Poplars and willows are leading candidates as biofuel crops that are…

Ethanol Mandate: Jumping the Gun in a Big Way

Mar 14, 2013 at 18:13 | Charles Kennedy

US consumers aren’t sure the ethanol math is adding up here as they prepare for this year’s new federal mandate—they’re also not sure whether it’s good for their car engines.

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