Converting Carbon Dioxide into Liquid Fuel with Bacteria

More and more people are becoming aware of the harmful effects of greenhouse gases. Common people and scientists both are gearing up to reduce carbon footprints. Now more investments are available for research in alternative energy. Researchers from theUCLA Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science have genetically been working on a cyanobacterium. Their research paper was published in the Dec. 9 print edition of the journal Nature Biotechnology. They successfully modified a cyanobacterium to consume carbon dioxide and generate the liquid fuel isobutanol. This isobutanol can prove to be of great potential as a gasoline alternative. The whole process happens with the help of sunlight through photosynthesis.

Computer Modeling the Effects of Alternative Fuels

Stephens-Romero is a UC Irvine doctoral candidate in the Advanced Power & Energy Program. His 2060 analysis was published online recently inEnvironmental Science & Technology. Stephens-Romero is painting the picture of future for our benefit, "For the first time, we can look at these future fuel scenarios and say how they're going to impact things like ozone and particulate matter, which have severe effects on people's lungs and quality of life." 

High-Temp Hydrogen Source from Algae

Hydrogen is a strong contender to the generation-next clean and green fuel. Scientists are always trying to eliminate or minimize its drawbacks and maximize its benefits. They want to get rid of the intensive, high-energy process used when we need hydrogen as fuel. Because this process poses hurdle in the progress of hydrogen as clean and reliable alternative fuel. Scientists from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and Oak Ridge National Laboratory are looking towards the wonder known as photosynthesis for some answers. Photosynthesis is the process from which plants generate energy and food in the presence of sunlight. Scientists think that photosynthesis might help providing answers so that we can utilize hydrogen as a fuel.

Commercial Flights Approved for Biofuels by 2010

The International Air Transport Association (IATA)wants to reduce its carbon footprints. That’s why they announced their quest to find a biofuel by 2010 for its commercial flights. Paul Steele was in New Delhi, India. He said to the reporters that IATA is serious about biofuels for commercial flights and it would be certified "by the end of next year". Paul Steele is the head of the environmental initiatives of IATA. As we are all familiar that certification is broadly regarded as a primary technical step that could do away with some of the investment uncertainties plugging the use of high quality biofuels in aviation. IATA chief executive Giovanni Bisignani reaffirms what Paul Steele was saying. Giovanni Bisignani claims, "For the first time, air transport has the possibility of an alternative to traditional jet fuel." 

Dirt-Powered Bacteria Batteries

Bacteria are one of the most abundant organisms on the planet and also one of the most studied. Today, scientists use bacteria for genetics research, antibiotics, and yes! Even biofuels. Recent technological advances have made a battery running on bacteria a reality. Known as microbial fuels cells or MFCs, batteries running on bacteria and other microbes have been keenly researched by scientist for decades

Turning Wastewater into Ethanol

As the world continues to search for alternative fuels to fuel our cars and heat our homes, many different opportunities are being explored and there has finally been a significant breakthrough in turning wastewater into ethanol as an automobile fuel source. Qteros andApplied Clean Tech have teamed up to create abiofuel that will get us that much closer to having another true "green" energy source. Water treatment systems are expensive to run and have presented communities where they are located with some significant challenges. Most notably, what they can do with the sludge that is left over once the wastewater has been treated. Plant managers may no longer faced with the difficult task of figuring out this problem. 10 Comments

Getting Biofuel from the World’s Garbage

There is plenty of garbage on this planet; in fact there is so much garbage that many developed countries are trying to dump their garbage on the lands of lesser developed countries, at a fee of course. But does dumping garbage on other places solve the problem? On the contrary it spreads pollutions and diseases. In fact it is more dangerous to dump garbage in the less developed countries (because there are neither technologies available to process it nor enough awareness). Even creating landfills wastes precious resources. 36 Comments

150mpg Algae-Powered Toyota Prius

First algae fuel-powered vehicle in the world was officially launched in San Francisco. The car, called Algaeus is a modified Toyota Prius, which derives power from green crude, from Sapphire Energy. The car runs on an astonishing 150 miles per gallon of green fuel. But they are aspiring to cross the US on approximately 25 gallons of fuel. 14 Comments

Ethanol Industry Loses Pioneer

The renewable fuel industry received a jolt in the form of Kathy Bryan’s death. She was the founder of BBI International, a global bio fuels consulting and publishing company. She is considered to be a pioneer for the ethanol-based bio fuel industry. In the early 80s when very few people knew about ethanol as a viable alternative fuel she and her family operated a small ethanol plant. She worked for the creation of the Minnesota Ethanol Commission and became its first Chair, where she was instrumental in formulating the state's aggressive ethanol policy, a program so successful it came to be known as the "Minnesota Model". As a board member of the Renewable Fuels Association she lobbied for ethanol at the national level, later on. 4 Comments

Biofuel as a Jet Fuel Alternative?

The seeds of a humble weed could lower a jet fuel's cradle-to-grave carbon emissions by 84 percent. Camelina sativa is an oilseed crop and it might be used as fuel in aircrafts in the near future. A study conducted at Michigan Technological University claimed that Camelina has shown to be one of the more promising alternatives to petroleum jet fuel. They studied the whole process i.e. from planting to airplane’s tailpipe. David Shonnard, Robbins Chair Professor of Chemical Engineering, studied the carbon dioxide emissions of jet fuel made from Camelina oil. He elaborates, "Camelina jet fuel exhibits one of the largest greenhouse gas emission reductions of any agricultural feedstock-derived biofuel I've ever seen. This is the result of the unique attributes of the crop – its low fertilizer requirements, high oil yield, and the availability of its co-products, such as meal and biomass, for other uses." 20 Comments

NRDC: The Right Way to Use Biofuels

When we think about sources of alternative energy, we often feel a rush of positive thoughts engulfing us. We often think that while developing alternative sources of energy we are doing nothing wrong. But building up new sources of alternative energy is a double edged weapon. If we don’t tread cautiously we might hurt ourselves in the process. Caution should be exercised if we are going for biofuels as alternative source of energy. USA can boast of beautiful flora and fauna. We have the wild lands of the Cumberland Plateau in the southeast and formidable Rocky Mountains and Alaska's Tongass National Forest. Wildlife and natural forests of these places are rich and varied. But big businesses are trying to inflict irreversible damage to these pristine places in the guile of electricity and biofuels. We know that once destroyed we will never be able to restore the flora and fauna of these places to its former glory. So we have to be aware of those alternative energy resources that do more harm than good. 7 Comments

New Hope For Biomass Fuels

Biomass fuel is liquid, solid, or gaseous fuel produced by conversion of biomass. They are actually organic materials produced by plants, animals, or microorganisms. Those plants animals or microorganisms can be burned directly as a heat source or they can be converted into a gaseous or liquid fuel. Scientists are looking to biomass for sources of alternative fuels. Biomass can be directly converted to energy (not appealing for an environmentalists or non compatible to modern day living) or converted to liquid or gaseous fuels such as ethanol, methanol, methane, and hydrogen. 6 Comments

New Way to Convert CO2 into Methanol

Scientists are continuously working on to find an alternative to fossil fuels. We are familiar with the side effects of fossil fuels and its impact on environment. Right now the fossil fuels seem to be necessary evil we can’t do without. Scientists want alternative fuels that have none of the ill effects of traditional fuels. 19 Comments

Economical Biodiesel Fuel from Algae

We all want to live in a clean and green world and breathe pollution free air. For this kind of environment we desperately need a fossil fuel free world. Scientists are toiling hard to come up with alternative fuels which can replace conventional fuels. One such study was presented at the 237th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society. This study throws interesting light on the first economical, eco-friendly process to transform algae oil into biodiesel fuel. The scientists are quite hopeful that one day America will become independent of fossil fuels. Ben Wen is the lead researcher and vice president of United Environment and Energy LLC, Horseheads, N.Y. According to him, "This is the first economical way to produce biodiesel from algae oil. It costs much less than conventional processes because you would need a much smaller factory, there are no water disposal costs, and the process is considerably faster." 14 Comments

Turning Sunlight Into Liquid Fuel

We have been hearing about artificial leaves and artificial trees for energy generation for quite sometime. Our life giver green plants are performing this function called photosynthesis for millions of years. The green plants trap sunlight energy and convert it into electrochemical energy. Now scientists want to imitate the process of photosynthesis to produce clean and green liquid fuels from carbon dioxide and water. 8 Comments

Eco-Friendly Fuels at I-5 Rest Stops

Common man and policy makers both are increasingly being made aware of the importance of clean and green fuels in near future. The governors of 3 states have come forward with a plan to transform Interstate 5 from a freeway dotted by gasoline burners to a sanctuary for eco-friendly cars and trucks. The people chalking out this plan are Marty Brown, Gregoire's legislative liaison, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski. 1 Comment

Trans-America Journey Powered by Waste Vegetable Oil

We love to read about different travelers and their adventures, wishing secretly that we could be in their shoes. Here is a young traveler, Stacy Jurich, 2006 graduate of Ohio State University. She is on a 3 ½ month journey across the country, driving her 1981 Mercedes across America. So what is new? She is driving a Mercedes using waste vegetable oil as fuel hence promoting use of alternative fuel. She lives in Toledo, Ohio where she shoulders the responsibility of running a non-profit organization known as "Toledo Choose Local." This non-profit organization promotes self sustenance using local resources. 5 Comments

Hydrogen Fuel From Non-food Sources

Tomorrow our vehicles may derive power by enzymes. These enzymes may originate from the cellulose of woodchips or grass and instead of emitting poisonous gases they will exhale hydrogen. We know that when hydrogen is burned, the only emission it makes is water vapor, so a key benefit of hydrogen fuel is that when burned, carbon dioxide (CO2) is not produced. Clearly, hydrogen is less of a pollutant in the air because it omits little tail pipe pollution. Hydrogen also has the potential to run a fuel-cell engine with better effectiveness over an internal combustion engine. 2 Comments

Making Bio-based Butanol More Competitive

We all want to live in a clean and green environment and leave this planet in a livable condition for future generations. Scientists are continuously trying to find alternative clean and green fuel for our daily use. These days we hear and read about ethanol and biobutanol as alternative fuels. Biobutanol seems to have several advantages over ethanol. New pipelines are not required for transportation of biobutanol – existing pipelines will do. Biobutanol is less corrosive compared to ethanol. Biobutanol is less prone to water contamination. Biobutanol can be used alone in internal combustion engines or it can be mixed with gasoline. Biobutanol provides more energy per gallon than ethanol. 13 Comments

Woody Biomass Resources

Biomass power is the largest source of renewable energy as well as a vital part of the waste management infrastructure. An increasing global awareness about environmental issues is acting as the driving force behind the use of alternative and renewable sources of energy. A greater emphasis is being laid on the promotion of bioenergy in the industrialized as well as developing world to counter environmental issues. 16 Comment

Alternative Fuel in the Aviation Industry

While alternative fuels are being heavily studied for automobiles, we’re now seeing a push from a different direction. The aviation industry has taken an intense interest in the subject, and this might be enough to push biofuels over the edge into economic viability. The aviation industry produces only about one-ninth as much carbon dioxide as motor vehicles do. However, environmentalists are vocal about emissions from aviation, because they tend to go into the upper atmosphere, where some scientists say the impact is greater. Plus, the industry is growing quite rapidly.

Woody Biomass Utilization

There are many ways to generate electricity from biomass using thermo-chemical pathway. These include directly-fired or conventional steam approach, co-firing, pyrolysis and gasification.