While ethanol made from corn is the most common alternative fuel in the U.S., concern continues to grow that the use of food crops for fuel production may lead to increased food prices or shortages. The use of non-edible corn stalks, corn cobs, and other plant material would be preferable, but these require special processing […]
Researchers at the University of Georgia have found a way to transform carbon dioxide in the atmosphere into a variety of useful industrial products. Their discovery may soon lead to the creation of biofuels made directly from carbon dioxide in the air – one of the major driving forces of global climate change. Details about […]
A detailed new study on greenhouse gas emissions from oil palm plantations has calculated a more than 50 percent increase in levels of carbon dioxide emissions than previously thought – and warns that the Western world’s demand for “green” biofuels could be costing the Earth. The findings, by researchers at the University of Leicester (UK), […]
Biofuels might not be so “green” after all, say researchers at MIT, who have been doing some calculations based on the complete carbon footprint of fossil fuels and their biofuel equivalents. They contend that when a biofuel’s origins are factored in – for example, taking into account whether the fuel is grown in a clear-cut […]
Agricultural cropping typically has a significant warming effect on local climates, but a report in Nature Climate Change indicates that Brazilian sugarcane biofuel crops cool the local climate at around the same levels as natural vegetation. Scientists from the Carnegie Institution’s Department of Global Ecology said the double ecological benefit came about from sugarcane’s ability […]
Corn is not a viable biofuel source, says a new report released today by Food & Water Watch, the Network for New Energy Choices, and the Vermont Law School Institute for Energy and the Environment. The report claims that the corn ethanol refinery industry will not significantly offset U.S. fossil fuel consumption without unacceptable environmental […]
A big step towards viable biofuel refining was taken this week, with scientists claiming to have directly converted the natural sugars in plant matter into a promising surrogate for petroleum-based chemicals. The faux fossil fuel is hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), which the researchers say can be derived from glucose and fructose. Importantly, the HMF from glucose contains […]
With controversy surrounding the economics of biofuel production and nagging doubts about its large-scale sustainability, researchers have now turned their attention to ways of producing biofuels more efficiently. Looking at ethanol production, Purdue University researchers say they have discovered that particles from cornstalks undergo previously unknown structural changes when processed to produce ethanol. They found […]
Proteins like to keep themselves busy, and one of the tasks they perform is the discharging of excess energy generated during metabolism. Usually, this is done by ferrying electrons to chemicals outside the cell, thus maintaining energy flow in the cell and keeping the cell alive. Now, scientists from the Department of Energy’s Pacific Northwest […]
