URBANA -- Researchers at the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) at the University of Illinois have discovered widespread occurrence of plant-parasitic nematodes in the first reported nematode survey of Miscanthus and switchgrass plants used for biofuels. Lead researcher Tesfamariam Mekete, a U of I post-doctoral research associate, sa...

ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Aurora Biofuels, Inc. said it has secured an additional $15 million in a recent funding round led by Oak Investment Partners, with the continued support of Gabriel Venture Partners and Noventi Ventures. This third round of financing brings the total amount of money raised by the comp...

British Columbia's green economy could grow into a $27-billion-per-year green giant by 2020, according to a new report from the Globe Foundation. B.C. could become a "living laboratory" for green-sector growth that would add value to the provincial gross domestic product (GDP) more than twice as fast as the economy as a whole, John W...

AMSTERDAM -- Within a decade, passenger planes will be flying on jet fuel largely made from plants -- flax, marsh grass, even food waste -- as airlines seek to break away from the volatile oil market and do their part to fight climate change, aviation experts said Wednesday. Though biofuels are still in the experimental stage, the projected sh...

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands -- The economic recovery under way means energy usage will rise, creating the need for a revolution in the use of biofuels, officials said in the Netherlands. Nobuo Tanaka, executive director of International Energy Agency, told an audience at a biofuels conference in Amsterdam, Netherlands, that biofuels were part of a ...

In the latest attempt by a supermarket to improve its environmental credentials, Sainsbury's has announced plans to to generate energy from its food and packaging waste to heat customers' homes. The announcement comes as the UK government is in the final stages of developing a new payout scheme for renew...

MADISON, WI -- The emergence of biofuels into agricultural systems presents new opportunities for farmers to improve economic return while providing critical ecosystem services. Integrating perennial crops can help meet food, fuel and fiber needs, but will require an understanding of biomass productivity on specific landscape positions and en...

Several times in recent months Bill Levy has sat in meetings listening to technology developers try to pry funds from venture capitalists for alternative energy plants. In most cases, the developers have grandiose plans for turning biomass into energy. But few, he said, realize what is involved.

For decades, farmers have been trying to find ways to get more energy out of the sun. In natural photosynthesis, plants take in solar energy and carbon dioxide and then convert it to oxygen and sugars. The oxygen is released to the air and the sugars are dispersed throughout the plant — like that s...

Tiny Dove Creek has a new spot for renewable energy and jobs, paid for in part by Obama’s stimulus package. San Juan Bioenergy will get nearly $300,000 for its bioenergy production plant. It won’t create all that many jobs — the facility’s chief technical officer, Nathan Morris, said he can’t quanti...

A new biodiesel project, Golden State Biofuel, is under development in southern California. Located in Indio, Calif., Golden State Biofuel is finalizing the permitting phase for its 1 MMgy biodiesel refinery being positioned in a preexisting Indio building. Randall Lichner, chief operating officer for Hawaii Bioenergy -- the pa...

Bentley will sell 1 in every 2 cars able to run on eco E85 bioethanol by the end of the year. Engineering boss Dr Ulrich Eichhorn told Car Dealer Magazine the green fuel changes made to the Supersport W12 engine will, over the next few months, extend to the rest of the Continental range. ‘Independent evidence suggests the ...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), today announced that a total of $1,644,242.64 is coming to eight Iowa biorefineries to promote production of advanced biofuels. These payments were authorized under section 9005 Bioenergy Program for Advanced Biofuels in the Food, Conservation and Energy Ac...

As scientists search for more efficient ways to convert woody biomass, such as woodchips and corn stalks, into liquid fuel, one group of researchers is looking for clues in an unusual place: inside the gut of the gribble. This marine crustacean is a notorious wood-eater. It’s the size of a small ant and pale white, with black button eyes...

The University of Toronto will use a portion of an $8.2 million award from the Ontario Research Fund’s Research Excellence Program to develop a bark biorefinery that will produce green adhesives and biobased foams from tree bark. Associate Professor of Forestry Ning Yan and Professor Mohini Sain are leading a multidisciplinary team in de...

FREDERICTON -- The provincial government has announced $3.5 million in funding for 16 projects designed to reduce industrial greenhouse gas emissions. "Investments such as this will ensure that New Brunswick continues to be a promoter of environmental sustainability, which we must achieve to remain positioned to be self-sufficient by 2026...