Boosting production of biofuels such as ethanol could be an important step toward reducing global consumption of fossil fuels. However, ethanol production is limited in large part by its reliance on corn, which isn't grown ...
Biochemistry
Jun 25, 2021
2
1068
(Phys.org) —While the powerful solvents known as ionic liquids show great promise for liberating fermentable sugars from lignocellulose and improving the economics of advanced biofuels, an even more promising candidate ...
Materials Science
Aug 18, 2014
0
2
(Phys.org) —Catalysis may initiate almost all modern industrial manufacturing processes, but catalytic activity on solid surfaces is poorly understood. This is especially true for the cellulase enzymes used to release fermentable ...
Biochemistry
Apr 7, 2013
0
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Taking a chemical approach, researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison have developed a two-step method to convert the cellulose in raw biomass into a promising biofuel. The process, which is described ...
Feb 10, 2009
2
0
As the world searches for and demands more sustainable sources of energy and materials, plant biomass may provide the solution by serving as a renewable resource for biomaterials and biofuel production. However, until now, ...
Materials Science
Jan 31, 2022
0
542
Researchers have developed a new process that could make it much cheaper to produce biofuels such as ethanol from plant waste and reduce reliance on fossil fuels.
Materials Science
Jan 14, 2020
3
185
Fuels made from agricultural or forestry wastes known as lignocellulosic biomass have long been a champion in the quest to reduce use of fossil fuels. But plant cell walls have some innate defenses that make the process to ...
Materials Science
Aug 2, 2019
0
104
Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) made the surprise discovery that a metabolic pathway to take up CO2 exists and functions in a microorganism capable of breaking down ...
Biotechnology
Nov 1, 2016
3
456
The falling price of gasoline at the pumps may warm the hearts of consumers but it chills the souls of scientists who recognize that humankind must curtail the burning of fossil fuels to reduce the threat of climate change. ...
Biotechnology
Jan 14, 2016
1
682
A team of investigators at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Michigan State University have created a process for making the work environment less toxic—literally—for the organisms that do the heavy lifting in the ...
Biotechnology
Jul 2, 2015
0
35
