"Within 25 years, the United States could produce enough biomass to support a bioeconomy, including renewable aquatic and terrestrial biomass resources that could be used for energy and to develop products for economic, environmental, social, and national security benefits."
"Lignin is a natural component of plant cell walls, the scaffolding that surrounds each cell and plays a pivotal role in plants' ability to grow against gravity and reach heights ranging from stubbly grasses to the sky-scraping splendor of redwoods. But lignin is a problem for scientists interested in converting plant biomass to biofuels and other sustainable bio-based products. Lignin makes it hard to break down the plant matter so its carbon-rich building blocks can be converted into forms suitable for generating energy or running automobiles."
"Sass Somekh knows firsthand that biofuels is a market for masochists."
"Back in 2010 and 2011, the general partner of Musea Ventures was putting together the elements to launch White Dog Labs. The company had developed a process for making acetone, butanol and ethanol with an updated version of the Weizman process which helped the British win WWI. It lined up a deal with ADM and was seeking out the funds to build a 25 million gallon demo plant."
Alaska, the great northern frontier of America, is being reshaped by climate change. While rising temperatures are altering its character and landscape, they are also bringing the ravages of wildfires.
"Last month was the hottest May on record and marked the 13th consecutive month to break global temperature records, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration."
"These days, Cathay Pacific trades under the slogan “Life Well Travelled” and the delivery of the first of 48 super-modern, super-quiet, super-chic Airbus 350-900s is another milestone for that branding — but it might as well be “Life Sustainably Travelled” because the plane that arrived in Hong Kong last night on delivery from Toulouse flew on a 10% biofuels blend."
"The University of Illinois compared ethanol production methods with miscanthus, switchgrass and corn stover as feedstocks.
A recent study simulated a side-by-side comparison of the yields and costs of producing ethanol using miscanthus, switchgrass, and corn stover."
"Biofuels such as ethanol are compounds derived from plants that can be used to fuel internal-combustion engines such as those in cars and small machinery. Creating these fuels from plants can reduce the environmental and political problems caused by a reliance on oil. Although much ethanol production, especially in the United States, comes from corn, switchgrass is a promising alternative. It is a North American native grass that can grow on marginal land without the extensive inputs that corn or sugar cane require, and it produces a much better energy yield. Making ethanol from switchgrass, though, is a challenging process."
"Research into sources for biological fuels -- biofuels -- has included everything from chicken fat to wood chips. But processing most of them yields a low net energy ratio -- the amount of energy each unit puts out isn't much more than the energy put into its production. Cost has also been a problem: Techniques for extracting fuels from plant and animal resources are currently expensive, which would be reflected at the fuel pump. But the more researchers crunch the numbers on switchgrass, the more it looks like a good candidate for an alternative fuel source."
"People keep saying the biofuel market isn’t going anywhere, but the folks at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have a new trick up their sleeves. They have developed a new super-hardy strain of the bacteria E. coli, and they have demonstrated that it can make a critical biofuel precursor from switchgrass using a simple, low cost “one-pot” process."
