Oct
22
Germans Look to Straw For Fuel
October 22, 2013 | 1 Comment
Researchers at the TLL (Thueringian regional institute for agriculture), the DBFZ (German biomass research center) and the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research (UFZ) think now that from a total of 30 million tons of cereal straw produced annually in Germany, between 8 and 13 million tons of it could be used sustainably for energy or […]
Oct
17
Can Tobacco Be a Good Thing?
October 17, 2013 | 1 Comment
Ruth Sanz-Barrio has demonstrated, for the first time, the viability of using specific tobacco proteins (known as thioredoxins) as biotechnological tools in plants increasing the amount of starch produced in the tobacco leaves by 700% and fermentable sugars by 500%. Barrio, an agricultural engineer of the NUP/UPNA-Public University of Navarre and researcher at the Institute […]
Oct
16
Rust Gets Research Closer to Artificial Photosynthesis
October 16, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Chemists at Boston College have achieved a series of breakthroughs in their efforts to develop an economical means of harnessing energy using artificial photosynthesis with a nickel iron oxide component. By narrowing the voltage gap between the two crucial processes of oxidation and reduction the team reports it has come within two-tenths of a volt […]
Oct
15
Sun and Sewage Make Hydrogen Fuel
October 15, 2013 | 1 Comment
A research team led by Yat Li, associate professor of chemistry at the University of California, Santa Cruz (UCSC) has developed the solar-microbial device that uses only sunlight and wastewater to produce hydrogen gas. The results could provide a sustainable energy source while improving the efficiency of wastewater treatment. Maybe the sewer bills could go […]
Oct
10
Foam Could Produce Lots More of Already Found Oil
October 10, 2013 | Leave a Comment
Rice University scientists describe in great detail and more precisely how bubbles form, evolve and act and in turn how they could be used to extract more oil from already discovered fields. In a new study led by Rice chemical and biomolecular engineer Sibani Lisa Biswal associate professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering with lead […]