Biofuels (main)

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Biofuels


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  • Are Biofuels Crops Sustainable? Featured Article Are Biofuels Crops Sustainable? Are Biofuels Crops Sustainable?
    A Sustained Effort New crops produce biofuels, but are they sustainable? Established in 2007, Oak Ridge National Laboratory's Bioenergy Science Center (BESC)... More »
  • Lebônê Dirt-Powered Battery Featured Article Lebônê Dirt-Powered Battery Lebônê Dirt-Powered Battery
    Lebônê Dirt-Powered Battery Challenge 500 million people in Africa live without power. How does it work: Ordinary soil contains large number of ... More »
  • Algae Might Replace Some U.S. Oil Imports Featured News Article Algae Might Replace Some U.S. Oil Imports Algae Might Replace Some U.S. Oil Imports
    ?Main Image: A June 2010 photo shows raceway ponds in Southern California was taken by the QuickBird satellite. A PNNL study shows that 17 percent of the United States’... More »
  • Fuels From an Ancient Crop Featured Article Fuels From an Ancient Crop Fuels From an Ancient Crop
    ?Main Image: Chemical engineer Akwasi Boateng (right) and mechanical engineer Neil Goldberg (center) adjust pyrolysis process conditions while chemist Charles Mullen... More »
  • Turning Vegetable Oil into Biodiesel Featured Article Turning Vegetable Oil into Biodiesel Turning Vegetable Oil into Biodiesel
    Crops for biodiesel contain between 4% and 62% extractable vegetable oil by weight. Oil is extracted physically, in a mechanical press, or chemically, by the use of an organic... More »
  • Turning Plants Into Biofuels Featured Article Turning Plants Into Biofuels Turning Plants Into Biofuels
    Plant biomass has a low energy density (MJ kg–1) in comparison with fossil fuels. In specific, maize kernels for starch, sugarcane shoots for sucrose, and switchgrass... More »
Recently Updated
ContentImg.jpg Biomass conversion into fuels Last Updated on 2011-12-13 00:00:00 Introduction Biomass, a source of renewable energy, is organic biological material such as wood, wood waste, municipal solid waste, straw, sugar cane, algae, and many other byproducts derived from agricultural and forestry production as well as other sources. Since biomass derives from plants generated by solar energy in the photosynthesis process it can also be defined as the biological material on Earth that has stored solar energy in the chemical bonds of the organic material. The fossil fuels (coal, petroleum crude oil and natural gas) are currently thought to have been formed from prehistoric, ancient biomass buried deeply underground over millions of years of geological time. Therefore, they are not considered to be renewable sources of energy. Production of fuels and other products from biomass Biomass fuel for electric power production The direct... More »
Cellulosic biofuels 1.jpg Cellulosic biofuels (Biofuels) Last Updated on 2011-06-06 00:00:00 Cellulosic biofuels are fuels produced from cellulose (fibrous material) derived from renewable biomass. This article was derived from Congressional Research Service Report RL34738 by Kelsi Bracmort, Randy Schnepf, Megan Stubbs, and Brent D. Yacobucci, January 13, 2011 Cellulosic biofuels are thought by many to hold the key to increased benefits from renewable biofuels because they are made from potentially low-cost, diverse, non-food feedstocks. Cellulosic biofuels could also potentially decrease the fossil energy required to produce ethanol, resulting in lower greenhouse gas emissions. Cellulosic biofuels are produced on a very small scale at this time—significant hurdles must be overcome before commercial-scale production can occur. In the United States, the renewable fuels standard (RFS), a major federal incentive, mandates a... More »
AlgalBiofuel DOE-PNNL.jpg Algae Might Replace Some U.S. Oil Imports Last Updated on 2011-04-13 00:00:00 ?Main Image: A June 2010 photo shows raceway ponds in Southern California was taken by the QuickBird satellite. A PNNL study shows that 17 percent of the United States’ imported oil for transportation could be replaced by biofuel made from algae grown in outdoor raceway ponds located in the Gulf Coast, the Southeastern Seaboard and the Great Lakes. Credit: PNNL. Study: Algae could replace 17% of U.S. oil imports Choosing optimal growing locations limits algal biofuel’s water use High oil prices and environmental and economic security concerns have triggered interest in using algae-derived oils as an alternative to fossil fuels. But growing algae — or any other biofuel source — can require a lot of water. However, a new study shows that being smart about where we grow algae can drastically reduce how much water is needed for algal biofuel. Growing... More »
Barley-NewFuel USDA.jpg Fuels From an Ancient Crop Last Updated on 2011-02-10 00:00:00  ?Main Image: Chemical engineer Akwasi Boateng (right) and mechanical engineer Neil Goldberg (center) adjust pyrolysis process conditions while chemist Charles Mullen (left) loads the reactor with bioenergy feedstock. Source: USDA. New Fuels From an Ancient Crop Barley has been cultivated for thousands of years, yet it doesn’t always make the list when energy experts discuss potential biofuel crops. And bio-oil—a liquid fuel generated when heat breaks down plant matter—is still a low-profile energy alternative. But research by Agricultural Research Service scientists at the Eastern Regional Research Center (ERRC) in Wyndmoor, Pennsylvania, could give a big boost to producing bio-oil from barley feedstocks. As a renewable transportation fuel, bio-oil made from barley byproducts—or any other biofeedstock—has several advantages. The fuel... More »
PlantBiofuels ORNL.jpg Changing Plant Characteristics to Make Biofuels Last Updated on 2011-02-09 00:00:00 A Predictable Change A new technique can change a plant's characteristics to make biofuels. A core objective of Oak Ridge National Laboratory's BioEnergy Science Center is to find ways to wring more energy out of the sugars stored in plants. In addition to developing better enzymes, improved microbes and more effective catalysts, Gerald Tuskan's team of plant biologists is exploring ways to generate more energy from biomass by "persuading" plants to store more sugar and then developing new methods of extracting these sugars. Most of the sugar found in biomass is stored in plant cell walls as cellulose and hemicellulose. The biggest roadblock to extracting sugar from these cell wall polymers has been the difficulty of using biochemical tools to break down the walls. Tuskan, a scientist in ORNL's BioSciences Division, is working with a dozen Oak... More »
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