http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. In the search for the fuels of tomorrow, Swedish researchers are finding inspiration in the sea. Not in offshore oil wells, but in the water where blue-green algae thrive. http://phys.org/news282421601.html Biology Wed, 13 Mar 2013 19:28:05 EST news282421601 That day-old Starbucks croissant may not need to go into the garbage after all. A new technique developed by Carol S. K. Lin, a biochemical engineer at the City University of Hong Kong, could turn uneaten pastries and coffee grounds into chemicals which could be used to formulate bioplastics and other substances. Lin presented her research team's findings in August at the 244th national meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). http://phys.org/news267106461.html Chemistry Mon, 17 Sep 2012 13:50:01 EST news267106461 The earth's limited surface is expected to stretch to everything: food for soon to be nine billion people, feed for our beef cattle and fowl, fuel for our cars, forests for our paper, cotton for our clothes. What is more, the earth's forests are preferably to be left untouched to stabilise the climate. Human ecologist and economist Kenneth Hermele will shortly be defending a thesis at Lund University, Sweden, in which he demonstrates that the struggle for land is intensifying rapidly. http://phys.org/news267096620.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 Sep 2012 10:30:36 EST news267096620 (AP)—The eruption of the long-simmering Volcan del Fuego terrified nearby villagers but it has become a major draw for visitors in the nearby colonial city of Antigua. http://phys.org/news266835261.html Space & Earth Fri, 14 Sep 2012 09:54:39 EST news266835261 (Phys.org) -- Until recent decades the Atlantic Rainforest covered a large area of today’s Brazil from Amazonas to present-day Argentina. In the 1970s, after years of deforestation, this rain forest was almost completely destroyed, mainly replaced by cattle pastures. This study reveals an unexpected aspect of deforestation. http://phys.org/news264147917.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Aug 2012 07:26:03 EST news264147917 The world's first industrial plant producing biofuels from seaweed will be built in the northeastern Brazilian state of Pernambuco in late 2013, the official in charge of the project said Thursday. http://phys.org/news261937326.html Technology Thu, 19 Jul 2012 17:22:20 EST news261937326 Finding renewable and economic sources of energy are one of the most important concerns for the continuation of the human species. New research, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels, has produced a novel strain of yeast with improved xylose tolerance and metabolism, and consequently improved ethanol production. http://phys.org/news261758953.html Biology Tue, 17 Jul 2012 20:00:01 EST news261758953 A Shell subsidiary that makes biodiesel in Brazil has dropped controversial plans to buy sugar cane grown on land taken from indigenous people, according to Survival International. http://phys.org/news258865593.html Space & Earth Thu, 14 Jun 2012 04:06:37 EST news258865593 An invasive plant may have saved an iconic Australian lizard species from death at the hands of toxic cane toads, according to research published in the March issue of The American Naturalist. It's an interesting case of one invasive species preparing local predators for the arrival of another, says Richard Shine, a biologist at the University of Sydney who led the research. http://phys.org/news249131290.html Biology Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:08:38 EST news249131290 Brazil is on course to dislodge the United States as the world's top producer of biotech crops in the coming years, a leading promoter of farm biotechnology said Tuesday. http://phys.org/news247848608.html Biology Tue, 07 Feb 2012 14:50:17 EST news247848608 (PhysOrg.com) -- In order to wean themselves from their dependence on oil derived from fossil fuels, many countries, consortiums, and other groups have put incentives in place for the growing of plants that could be used to create biofuels. Brazil is one example, they have converted much of their infrastructure to using fuel made from sugar cane. The United States is another example; the government offered subsidies and tax advantages for farmers who grow corn, to promote the production of ethanol. In Europe, the EU back in 2009 enacted laws that stipulated that renewable energy sources such as those derived from plants should make up a minimum of 10% of all fuels used for transportation purposes in the Eurozone by 2020. Unfortunately, it appears, according to a leaked report obtained by EurActiv, that the EU believes initial environmental impact reports were flawed and as a result the governing body is about to revise its estimates regarding the true environmental impact; a move that could have a major implications regarding the future of biofuel use in Europe. http://phys.org/news247136104.html Technology Mon, 30 Jan 2012 10:00:01 EST news247136104 After a series of bitter political fights, the US Congress allowed a subsidy for ethanol fuel to expire at the end of 2011, ending a program harshly criticized by environmentalists and others. http://phys.org/news245836907.html Technology Sun, 15 Jan 2012 08:10:01 EST news245836907 Cuba will open its first electricity plant using sugar cane as a biofuel hoping eventually to meet 30 percent of its energy needs from the fuel source, the official Granma daily said Thursday. http://phys.org/news243800800.html Technology Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:26:59 EST news243800800 Costs for second-generation ethanol processing, which will ease the stress on corn and sugarcane, are unlikely to be competitive until 2020, according to a unique Queen's University study. http://phys.org/news241098327.html Technology Mon, 21 Nov 2011 12:20:01 EST news241098327 A US judge has ordered a ban on growing genetically modified beets in the United States until the Department of Agriculture fully investigates their environmental impact. http://phys.org/news201149898.html Biology Mon, 16 Aug 2010 05:30:01 EST news201149898 Ever since its arrival in Australia, the poisonous cane toad has been killing native predators such as the northern quoll, a cat-sized marsupial. Now scientists have found a clever way to save the endangered quoll: training it to detest the taste of toad so it won't get poisoned. http://phys.org/news190868971.html Biology Mon, 19 Apr 2010 04:09:53 EST news190868971 Scientists in Wisconsin are reporting discovery of a way to lower the cost of converting wood, corn stalks and leaves, switch grass, and other non-food biomass materials into ethanol fuel. They describe their process, which reduces amounts of costly enzymes needed to break down tough fibrous cellulose matter in biomass for fermentation into alcohol, here today at the 239th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society (ACS). http://phys.org/news188737977.html Chemistry Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:13:17 EST news188737977 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of researchers led by University of California, Riverside (UCR) Professor of Chemical Engineering Wilfred Chen has constructed for the first time a synthetic cellulosome in yeast, which is much more ethanol-tolerant than the bacteria in which these structures are normally found. http://phys.org/news176054068.html Biology Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:54:52 EST news176054068 (PhysOrg.com) -- A strain of yeast that thrives on turning sugar cane into ethanol for biofuel has had its genome completely sequenced by researchers at Duke University Medical Center. http://phys.org/news174073888.html Biology Tue, 06 Oct 2009 18:52:08 EST news174073888 Angola will begin planting sugar cane for the first time in more than 30 years this month as the oil-rich country takes its first step toward biofuels. http://phys.org/news171047751.html Technology Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:50:04 EST news171047751 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new way to make paper more easily and cheaply from bagasse, the fibrous sugar cane waste from sugar production, than from trees has been discovered by a Queensland University of Technology researcher. http://phys.org/news155537317.html Chemistry Fri, 06 Mar 2009 04:49:01 EST news155537317