Jan 25 2012
Biofuels
News 1: New Study: Biofuel From Seaweed – It’s All About The Microbes
http://earthfix.kuow.org/energy/article/new-study-biofuel-from-seaweed-its-all-about-the-m/
Seaweed is believed to be an ideal feedstock for biofuel for it grows faster and produces more biomass than corn. More importantly, it doesn’t compete with other food crops for water or farmland. Microbes are crucial in breaking down seaweed to make fuel like ethanol. A new research published in the journal Science claims that engineered microbes which can convert the sugars in seaweed into biofuel in a single step was developed by a team of researchers in Berkeley, California. These microbes could make the seaweed biofuels industry possible. Right now the company has started a pilot project to produce a few thousand gallons of ethanol from its Chile seaweed farm this year, hoping to bring seaweed biofuel to market within the next four years.
News 2: Edinburgh start-up to make whisky biofuel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-16701335
A new company called Edinburgh Napier University’s Celtic Renewables Ltd has been formed in Edinburgh to produce biobutanol and other biofuels made from whisky by-products on an industrial scale. The main feedstocks for this fuel generating process are the two main by-products of whisky production – ‘pot ale’ and ‘draff’. The company suggested that biobutanol is user-friendly and provides more power output than the traditional bioethanol, making it desirable to be used as a direct substitute for fossil-derived fuel. The founder of Celtic Renewables considers the whisky industry to be a ripe resource for developing biobutanol while other entrepreneurs rank this program as an innovative, beneficial and environmentally friendly one.