SCIENCE

Offshore Membrane Enclosures for Growing Algae (OMEGA). "The OMEGA system is being investigated by NASA as an alternative way to produce aviation fuels." 

Ocean microbes display a hidden talent: Releasing countless tiny lipid-filled sacs. "Prochlorococcus is making organic carbon from sunlight and then packaging it up and releasing it into the seawater around it," says Chisholm. "What we need to figure out now is, Why and how? And what role do these vesicles play in ocean food webs and the ocean carbon cycle?"

Life Cycle Impacts of Biomass Electricity in 2020. "Scenarios for Assessing the Greenhouse Gas Impacts and Energy Input Requirements of Using North American Woody Biomass for Electricity Generation in the UK."

Scientists Turn Algae Into Crude Oil. PNNL researchers can quickly produce a viable algal-biofuel cheaply and efficiently. "The driving force for adopting any kind of fuel is ultimately whether it's as cheap as the gasoline we're using now."

 

IMPACT 

Impact of bioenergy crops in a carbon dioxide constrained world. Policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions can stimulate production of bioenergy crops. This increased production can lead to loss in forestland and unmanaged land, decrease yield of food crops, and increase price of food crops.

Evaluating environmental consequences of producing herbaceous crops for bioenergy. Many environmental issues associated with producing and converting energy crops to fuel and electricity can be mitigated by switching to more efficient sources of biomass. The DOE focused this report on studying the high-yielding, nurient-effificent herbaceous crop "switchgrass."

 

 

 

 

 

Don't forget to email us your comments and suggested topics at [email protected]!

Policy

Growing Eucalyptus for Energy

Renewable Policy Update for China. "As with the rest of the global renewable energy sector, China's renewables policy has evolved considerably over recent years. Here are the latest major developments and market trends."

Japan's Next Generation of Renewable Energy. "If the Yokohama exhibition is any indication, the generation of biofuels is one of the main areas of research for many Japanese institutes."

Countries Pledge Global Support for Clean Energy. "The United States and dozens of other countries have pledged hundreds of millions of dollars toward clean energy initiatives to help battle climate change, U.S. Energy Secretary Stephen Chu said on Tuesday."

800 Million Gallons of Biodiesel. The Environmental Protection Agency has announced it will require the domestic use of 800 million gallons of biodiesel in 2011.

 

 

SPOTLIGHT: Algenol Biofuels: A modern company researching algal-produced biofuels. "The Company’s technology is a unique two-step process that first produces ethanol directly from the algae and then converts the spent algae biomass to biodiesel, gasoline and jet fuel." FURTHER READING Grow Your Own Energy. "Algae can be grown in wastewater, the algae clean the wastewater by removing nutrients and pollutants from it."  Engineers Tap Algae Cells for Electricity. "It may be the beginning of the production of “high efficiency” bioelectricity. This will be a clean and green source of energy but minus carbon dioxide." Microalgae-to-biofuel Process Skips Extraction. "Illinois-based Unitel Technologies Inc., says it has developed a microalgae-to-biofuel process that skips drying and oil extraction altogether, representing a faster, cheaper and less energy-intensive route to clean fuels. Advanced Biofuels. An advanced biofuel is defined as a renewable fuel—other than ethanol derived from corn starch—that is derived from renewable biomass and achieves a 50 percent greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction. YouTube - Next Big Bio-Fuel - ALGAE. Bryan Garner, News Channel 5 visits a farm in Fellsmere that produces algae which replaces crude oil.