Nanotechnology makes biofuel development a cost-effective and ‘green’ process

September 30th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in Singapore and Switzerland have suggested that converting the trash that fills the world's landfills into biofuel could cut global carbon emissions by 80 percent. Biofuels produced from crops have proven controversial because they require an increase in crop production that has its own severe environmental costs.

September 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Moving a step closer towards nanoparticle-based battlefield pain treatment, scientists at the University of Michigan have developed a combination drug that promises a safer, more precise way for medics and fellow soldiers at warfronts to give a fallen soldier both morphine and a drug that could limits morphine's dangerous side effects. The researchers at the Michigan Nanotechnology Institute for Medicine and Biological Sciences (MNIMBS) have used nanotechnology to devise ultra-small polymer particles capable of carrying the drugs into the body.

September 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A group of researchers at the Angstrom Laboratory at Uppsala University in Sweden have discovered that the distinctive cellulose nanostructure of the green Cladophora algae can serve as an effective coating substrate for use in environmentally friendly batteries. "These algae has a special cellulose structure characterised by a very large surface area," said Gustav Nystrom, a doctoral student in nanotechnology and the first author of the research article.

August 26th, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have shown that the juice of reject watermelons can be efficiently fermented into ethanol, which means that watermelon juice can be a valuable source of biofuel. The research was conducted by Wayne Fish and a team of researchers at the USDA-Agricultural Research Service's South Central Agricultural Research Laboratory in Lane, Oklahoma, US.

August 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Engineers at Ohio State University, US, have found a way to double the production of the biofuel butanol, which might someday replace gasoline in automobiles. The process improves on the conventional method for brewing butanol in a bacterial fermentation tank.

July 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in Nevada have developed a new and environmentally friendly process for producing biodiesel fuel from 'chicken feather meal.' Professor Mano Misra and his team at the University of Nevada note that chicken feather meal consists of processed chicken feathers, blood, and innards that have been processed at high temperatures with steam. Presently, feather meal is used as animal feed and fertilizer because of its high protein and nitrogen content.

July 3rd, 2009 Uncle Sam to pond scum: I want you!LOGAN, Utah — Somewhere among the beakers and the bubbling green-tinged tanks in this Utah State University lab, Jeff Muhs is searching for champion pond scum for Uncle Sam. If he and others like him around the country are successful, algae-based biofuel could one day power one of the world's biggest gas guzzlers: the U.S.

July 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - A novel nanotechnology technique can boost the longevity of dental fillings, claims a Medical College of Georgia (MCG) researcher. The tooth-coloured fillings are usually more attractive than silver ones, but the bonds between the white filling and the tooth quickly age and degrade.

June 20th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have said that they are forging ahead in developing replacements for petrochemical fuels that will be cost-competitive and renewable while having a minimal impact on the environment. A consensus is emerging that no one technology will reign supreme and that a range of current and novel methodologies will contribute to meeting biofuel needs, according to a report in Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News (GEN).

June 7th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A research team has developed a new method that converts cellulose into chemical feedstock for fuels and plastic. The researchers, from the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, developed the new method.

April 22nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - In a new research, scientists have concluded that biofuel crops proposed for use in the Hawaiian Islands are two to four times more likely to become invasive pests in Hawaii and other tropical areas when compared to a random sample of other introduced plants. The research was done by scientists with the University of Hawaii Pacific Cooperative Studies Unit, who examined the impact of unregulated planting of biofuel crops for their potential invasiveness and raised concerns about their impacts on Hawaii's environment.

April 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at Singapore's Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (IBN) have become the first to transform the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol, which is a widely used industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel. The IBN researchers report that by using organocatalysts, they activated CO2 in a mild and non-toxic process to produce methanol, a widely used industrial feedstock and clean-burning biofuel.

April 15th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A new study has found that biofuels can hasten climate change, and it will take more than 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost when biofuel plantations are established on forestlands. If the original habitat was peatland, carbon balance would take more than 600 years.

February 2nd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have completely sequenced and analysed the genome of sorghum, a major food and fodder plant with huge potential as a bio-energy crop. The genome data will help scientists in optimising sorghum and other crops not only for food and fodder use, but also for biofuels production.

January 4th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists see marine algae as the most promising bet for a green fuel that would help ease the dependence on fossil fuel and power vehicles of the future. Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of Californa San Diego (UCSD), scientists along with their counterparts from its division of biological sciences are part of an emerging algal biofuel consortium that includes academic collaborators, CleanTECH, public and private partners.