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UrduScientists seeking to unravel the details of how plants produce and accumulate oil have identified a new essential component of the assembly line–a particular sterol that plays a key role in the formation of oil droplets. The findings may suggest new ways to engineer the oil content of a variety of plant tissues for potential applications in bioenergy, chemical engineering, and nutrition.
Tag: Bioenergy
Green Diesel for the Road Ahead
A new report led by PNNL identifies the top 13 most promising waste- and biomass-derived diesel blendstocks for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, other pollutants, and overall system costs.
Waste to Energy: Biofuel from Kelp Harvesting and Fish
Using existing fish processing plants, kelp and fish waste can be converted to a diesel-like fuel to power generators or fishing boats in remote, coastal Alaska.
Calling all couch potatoes: this finger wrap can let you power electronics while you sleep
A new wearable device turns the touch of a finger into a source of power for small electronics and sensors. Engineers at the University of California San Diego developed a thin, flexible strip that can be worn on a fingertip and generate small amounts of electricity when a person’s finger sweats or presses on it. What’s special about this sweat-fueled device is that it generates power even while the wearer is asleep or sitting still.
The best bioenergy crops for the North Carolina Piedmont
Research shows options with high yield and low water use
DOE Awards $45.5 Million for Projects to Advance Biotechnology Research
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today awarded $45.5 million for research projects geared towards understanding and harnessing nature’s biological processes to produce clean biofuels and bioproducts.
Mary Dunlop: Then and Now / 2011 Early Career Award Winner
Mary Dunlop leads a team at Boston University that uses multi-disciplinary approaches to improve the amount of biofuel that certain microbes can produce. These microbes can produce replacements for gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
Shrub willow as a bioenergy crop
Research highlights shrub willow’s ability to store carbon, provide ecosystem services, and adapt to different geographical regions.
Biocrude Passes the 2,000-hour Catalyst Stability Test
A large-scale demonstration converting biocrude to renewable diesel fuel has passed a significant test, operating for more than 2,000 hours continuously without losing effectiveness.
Alloy-Forming Duo Unites to Amp Up Possibilities for Ethanol
Scientists have developed a novel catalyst that converts pure ethanol into a highly valued class of alcohols that can serve as building blocks for everything from solvents to jet fuel.
The Root of Microplastics in Plants
Micro- and nanoplastics were not absorbed by plant cells but did attach to the root cap. This could bode well for future cleanup of contaminated environments, but not well for root crops, like carrots.
From Blooms to Biocrude
PNNL researchers are contributing expertise and hydrothermal liquefaction technology to a project that intercepts toxic algae blooms from water, treats the water, and concentrates algae for transformation to biocrude.
Not Your Average Refinery
PNNL researchers outline how to convert stranded biomass to sustainable fuel using electrochemical reduction reactions in mini-refineries powered by renewable energy.
Danforth Center Scientists Collaborate On $13 Million Bioenergy Project
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) awarded a five-year, $13 million grant to a nationwide research project to genetically strengthen Thlaspi arvense, commonly known as pennycress, for use in sustainable energy efforts.
Digging into the Roots of Phosphorus Availability
Scientists do not fully understand the mechanisms that plants use to extract phosphorus from soil and incorporate it into their biomass. Now, researchers have developed a new technique to visualize the activity and distribution of enzymes that mobilize phosphate around plant roots.
Love-hate relationship of solvent and water leads to better biomass breakup
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory used neutron scattering and supercomputing to better understand how an organic solvent and water work together to break down plant biomass, creating a pathway to significantly improve the production of renewable biofuels and bioproducts.
How to Tackle Climate Change, Food Security and Land Degradation
How can some of world’s biggest problems – climate change, food security and land degradation – be tackled simultaneously? Some lesser-known options, such as integrated water management and increasing the organic content of soil, have fewer trade-offs than many well-known options, such as planting trees, according to a Rutgers-led study in the journal Global Change Biology.
Science Snapshots July 2020
Berkeley Lab Science Snapshots July 2020
New Effort to Link Plant Genes to Functions in Bioenergy Crops
A new Quantitative Plant Science Initiative led by Brookhaven Lab aims to decode the functions of genes and their impacts on productivity to guide efforts to develop sustainable bioenergy crops.
Breathing New Life into an Old Question: What Plants’ Emissions Tell Us about their Cell Walls
Plants emit gases like methanol and acetic acid that are not directly related to photosynthesis but that have an unknown origin. Researchers have found a possible source: natural chemical modification in the cellulose in plant cell walls and accompanying metabolic changes.
Smart Farms of the Future: Making Bioenergy Crops More Environmentally Friendly
Farmers have enough worries – between bad weather, rising costs, and shifting market demands – without having to stress about the carbon footprint of their operations. But now a new set of projects by scientists at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) could make agriculture both more sustainable and more profitable.
Seeing starch: Novel technique enables gentle observation of biofuel materials
Scientists at the Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory have developed a new method to peer deep into the nanostructure of biomaterials without damaging the sample. This novel technique can confirm structural features in starch, a carbohydrate important in biofuel production.
Biofuel producers make significant gains in efficiency, productivity and conservation, Argonne survey shows
The nation’s biofuel producers have made significant gains in both energy efficiency and water conservation in recent years, according to a comprehensive survey conducted by Argonne National Laboratory.
Decoding plant chatter could lead to stronger crops
Researchers will use a $2.25 federal grant to study how cells communicate within plants, and between plants and pathogens, to develop crops that are resilient to disease and other stresses. The work also could play a role in reengineering plants and microbes to improve biofuel production.
How Many Copies Does It Take to Change a Trait?
New research shows that the number of copies of genes in a poplar tree affects its traits. Scientists developed a group of poplar trees in which different plants have DNA segments that are repeated or deleted.
Danforth Center to Lead DOE-Funded Research to Harness Untapped Reservoir of Plant Genes in Quest for Bioenergy Crops
The U.S. Department of Energy has selected Danforth Center Principal Investigator James Umen, Ph.D., to lead a multi-institutional collaboration that will predict functions for hundreds of uncharacterized plant genes that could be important to stress tolerance in a range of potential bioenergy crops.