Apr
11
University of California – Santa Barbara researchers have proven that tough, woody lignin can be broken down in an anaerobic environment. It’s a tough material, lignin is the structural biopolymer that gives stems, bark and branches their signature woodiness. Its one of the most abundant terrestrial polymers on Earth, lignin surrounds valuable plant fibers and […]
Mar
15
Helping Switchgrass Reach Its Low Cost Biofuel Potential
March 15, 2023 | Leave a Comment
Michigan State University researchers have solved a puzzle that could help switchgrass realize its full potential as a low-cost, sustainable biofuel crop and divert some of our dependence on fossil fuels. The new knowledge has been published in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science. Among switchgrass’s attractive features are that it’s perennial, low maintenance and […]
Mar
2
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment researchers have successfully demonstrated precision gene editing in miscanthus, a promising perennial crop for sustainable bioenergy production. The biologists at the Center for Advanced Bioenergy and Bioproducts Innovation (CABBI), a Bioenergy Research Center (BRC) funded by the U. S. Department of Energy, edited the […]
Jan
5
Explaining How Biomass Could Replace All Of Aviation Fuel
January 5, 2023 | Leave a Comment
Arizona State University research shows a pathway toward full decarbonization of U.S. aviation fuel use by substituting conventional jet fuel with sustainably produced biofuels. The study found that planting the grass miscanthus on 23.2 million hectares of existing marginal agricultural lands – land that often lays fallow or is poor in soil quality – across […]
Jan
3
New Microbe Fixes Nitrogen To Make Methane And Fertilizer
January 3, 2023 | Leave a Comment
Open Image…Save ImageOpen Image (using #TmpD/ia)… Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology scientists have successfully enhanced cultivation of a microorganism that can fix nitrogen (N2) while producing methane (CH4) and ammonia (NH3) and investigated exciting details of its metabolism. Carbon and nitrogen are essential elements of life. Some organisms take up key positions for the cycling of both of them […]