Biofuel
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Nebraska State Fair turns deep fried food oil into biofuel
Posted by admin2 on 06 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Robert Byrnes’ Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems collects used vegetable oil from food vendors at the Nebraska State Fair. The oil is then converted it into biofuel.
When he found out that many of the vendors were hauling their used vegetable oil to a trash bin, he decided to ask State Fair officials if he could collect the used vegetable oil to convert into biodiesel. The recovered fryer oil is recycled by Nebraska Biofuel. It began collecting the used vegetable oil in 2006. Each gallon recovered reduces carbon dioxide emissions by four pounds.
E85 to be sold in more Valero stations
Posted by admin2 on 03 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Ethanol
Valero Energy Corporation announced that its new Corner Store filling stations will offer E85 ethanol blends along with other gasoline blends.
“There are already millions of Flex Fuel vehicles on the road, and there’s a growing market for E-85,” said Gary Arthur, President of Valero’s Retail Division. “As Valero builds new Corner Stores, we will continue to introduce E-85 sales to satisfy this growing demand.”
Canada to build waste-to-biofuel plant
Posted by admin2 on 02 Sep 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Construction of the world’s first industrial-scale waste-to-biofuel plant began in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada on August 31st.
Privately-owned Enerkem Inc said the C$80 million ($75 million) facility in Edmonton, Alberta, will produce enough biofuel to keep more than 400,000 cars a year running on a 5 percent ethanol fuel blend.
Daihatsu and Toyota develop new green mini-car
Posted by admin2 on 31 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Ethanol
Daihatsu and Toyota have joined forces to develop a mini-car that runs on gasoline and water-containing ethanol.
In bioethanol production, water is removed from the so-called ethanol broth that results from the fermentation of sugars in plants and other biomass. But even with the water, this broth holds promise as a fuel because it cuts down on the carbon dioxide emissions associated with bioethanol production.
Jatropha genome sequence completed
Posted by admin2 on 26 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Life Technologies Corporation and SG Biofuels, Inc. announced that they have completed the sequencing of the Jatropha curcas genome. This advance will accelerate the development of more efficient biofuels.
Working in strategic alliance with Life Technologies, SG Biofuels will use the sequence to generate a high quality Jatropha reference genome. The genome will be compared to sequences generated from SG Biofuels’ germplasm library of more than 6,000 unique Jatropha genotypes – the largest and most diverse collection of Jatropha germplasm in the world – to identify molecular markers and trait genes to accelerate development of elite cultivars with vastly superior yields and profitability. This work will also advance the introduction of transgenic plants with further improved traits.
Scottish scientists develop whiskey-based biofuel
Posted by admin2 on 21 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Edinburgh Napier University scientists have developed a whiskey byproduct-based superfuel that can power cars.
It uses the two main by-products of the whiskey production process – ‘pot ale’, the liquid from the copper stills, and ‘draff’, the spent grains, as the basis for producing the butanol that can then be used as fuel,” the researchers said in a statement.
With 1,600 million liters of pot ale and 187,000 tons of draff produced by the malt whiskey industry annually, there is real potential for bio-fuel to be available at local garage forecourts alongside traditional fuels. Unlike ethanol, the nature of the innovative bio-fuel means ordinary cars could use the more powerful fuel instead of traditional petrol.
Roadside flowers could be used for biofuel
Posted by admin2 on 13 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
North Carolina State University researchers and the organization “Freeways to Fuel” are studying ways to convert flowers that grow along highways, such as canola and sunflower, into biofuel.
Already, researchers have grown successful harvests in experimental plots. In some cases, they have been able to produce 550 pounds of sunflower seeds and 40 gallons of biodiesel per acre. Ultimately, Veal hopes enough fuel can be made to power N.C. Department of Transportation vehicles.
New Orleans program to provide biodiesel training for youth
Posted by admin2 on 05 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Jobs & Careers
Operation Reach, Inc. is seeking funding to provide biodiesel training to local low-income youth in the New Orleans area.
According to Hamilton Simons-Jones, Operation Reach’s chief development officer, the GYBP is now in its second year. “We originally formed this project about a year and half go to accomplish two things,” he said. “One is to be a small, biodiesel social enterprise that converts used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel as a …local/regional business run by the nonprofit. The second is to develop green job training…and [expose local] youth to biodiesel…and really use that [experience] as an introduction not only to overall environmental awareness, but also more concrete job training.”
Cellulosic biomass converted into jet fuel
Posted by admin2 on 03 Aug 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel, Biomass
Colorado-based Gevo has successfully converted fermentable sugar from cellulosic biomass into isobutanol and eventually to paraffinic kerosene (jet fuel).
The company, which is funded with a $1.8 million grant from the US Departments of Energy and Agriculture Biomass R&D Program, said it converted fermentable sugars from cellulosic biomass into isobutanol, which was converted to isobutylene and paraffinic kerosene.
Butter could be the next biofuel
Posted by admin2 on 28 Jul 2010 | Tagged as: Biofuel
Researchers are studying the possible use of butter, spoiled or non-food grade, as a biofuel.
Scientists recovered the fat from a quarter-ton of butter, 1 billion pounds of which are produced annually, and converted it into the fatty acid esters that constitute biodiesel. The resulting material met all but one of the official test standards for biodiesel, they said, only failing because of a slightly excessive sulfur content, and with further purification or by blending with biodiesel from other sources, butter biodiesel could add to the supply of bio-based fuel for diesel engines, the ACS said.
