Biotech

Making Eco-Friendly Diesel Fuel from Butter

ScienceDaily — The search for new raw materials for making biodiesel fuel has led scientists to an unlikely farm product -- butter.

Drilling Down to the Nanometer Depths of Leaves for Biofuels

In a paper appearing online in the journal Plant Physiology, a team from Lawrence Livermore led by Michael Thelen, in collaboration with researchers from Lawrence Berkeley National Lab and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, has used four different imaging techniques to systematically drill down deep into the cells of Zinnia elegans.

Plastic Doesn’t Grow on Trees, But it Grows in Grass Now

With the help of genetically engineered microbes, scientists have created plants that can churn out “green” plastic that might some day replace the petroleum-based kinds used in everything from ballpoint pens to disposable food containers.

Biofuel chemistry more complex than petroleum, researchers say

Understanding the key elements of biofuel combustion is an important step toward insightful selection of next-generation alternative fuels.

Ultrasound Speeds Up Biodiesel Production

The same technology used to image fetuses in the womb could lower the cost of biofuels.

Engineers Generate Electricity by Tapping Into Algae Cells

ScienceDaily — In an electrifying first, Stanford scientists have plugged in to algae cells and harnessed a tiny electric current. They found it at the very source of energy production -- photosynthesis, a plant's method of converting sunlight to chemical energy. It may be a first step toward generating "high efficiency" bioelectricity that doesn't give off carbon dioxide as a byproduct, the researchers say.

Virus Helps Researchers Split Water into Hydrogen and Oxygen

Viruses generally get a bad rap, but they can also be very helpful little machines. For instance, bacteriophages have been engineered to clear up infections that seemed otherwise untreatable, and genetic material from viruses has been used to ease biofuel production.

Artificial leaves could provide cheap energy

Artificial leaves that mimic nature could in future provide a cheap way of generating hydrogen from sunlight and water, it was claimed.

More, Better Biodiesel

Yields of biodiesel from oilseed crops such as safflower could be increased by up to 24 percent using a new process developed by chemists at UC Davis. The method converts both plant oils and carbohydrates into biodiesel in a single process, and should also improve the performance characteristics of biodiesel, especially in cold weather.

Agricultural Scientists Sequence Genome of Grass That Can Be a Biofuel Model Crop

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists and their colleagues at the Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute have announced that they have completed sequencing the genome of a kind of wild grass that will enable researchers to shed light on the genetics behind hardier varieties of wheat and improved varieties of biofuel crops

Gene discovery to increase biomass needed for green fuel

Manchester scientists have identified the genes that make plants grow fatter and plan to use their research to increase plant biomass in trees and other species - thus helping meet the need for renewable resources.

Soybean Genome Sequenced: Analysis Reveals Pathways for Improving Biodiesel, Disease Resistance, and Reducing Waste Runoff

Soybean, one of the most important global sources of protein and oil, is now the first legume species with a published complete draft genome sequence. The sequence and its analysis appear in the January 14 edition of the journal Nature.

Engineered Tobacco Plants Have Biofuel Potential

Researchers from the Biotechnology Foundation Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have identified a way to increase the oil in tobacco plant leaves, which may be the next step in using the plants for biofuel. Their paper was published online in Plant Biotechnology Journal.

Mad Science? Growing Meat Without Animals

Winston Churchill once predicted that it would be possible to grow chicken breasts and wings more efficiently without having to keep an actual chicken. And in fact scientists have since figured out how to grow tiny nuggets of lab meat and say it will one day be possible to produce steaks in vats, sans any livestock.

Can Nanotubes Help Your Garden Grow?

When we think of nanotubes, we often think of solar panels and physical science. However, it appears that nanotubes can also provide valuable help to plants as a fertilizer. Just add carbon nanotubes, say researchers at the University of Arkansas in Little Rock, and you can get plants that grow faster and bigger than their counterparts.