NewNergy

NewNergy discusses the latest inventions, innovations and breakthroughs in the energy & environmental sciences.

Engineered Tobacco Leaves to Produce More Biofuel

Posted on Monday, January 4, 2010 posted by posted by Mak @ 8:27 PM

Researchers at the Biotechnology Foundations Laboratories at Thomas Jefferson University have found out a way to increase biofuel production from tobacco plants by engineering two genes, which increase the oil in tobacco leaves.

The researchers have identified two genes - the diacyglycerol acytransferase (DGAT) gene and the LEAFY COTYLEDON 2 gene. Plants modified to over-express these genes produce more oil. While a typical tobacco plant contains about 1.7% to 4% of oil per dry weight, engineered plants carry about 6.8% of oil, which can be converted into biofuel.

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First Natural Gas Flight: A Breakthrough in Airline Fuel Technology

Posted on Wednesday, October 14, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 12:56 AM

Qatar Airways has made a major breakthrough in airline fuel technology by operating the inaugural paying-passenger flight powered by natural gas, with a flight between Gatwick and Doha on Monday. The move is regarded as an important step in the industry’s attempts to reduce its dependence on oil-based fuel.

The fuel was developed by Shell and uses a 50-50 blend of synthetic gas-to-liquids (GTL) kerosene and conventional oil-based kerosene.

Jeff Gazzard, board member of the Aviation Environment Federation group, told The Financial Times: “GTL is useful for local airport air quality but has a higher carbon footprint than ordinary fuel.”

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New Technology Turns Plastic Waste into Oil

Posted on Wednesday, September 23, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 3:15 AM

The Envion Oil Generator,United States, has recently assembled the first of its fuel-producing generators at the Derwood waste facility, which can consume any type of plastic and convert it into a light-brown synthetic oil that can be converted into fuel for a truck or a jet airplane.

The District company's technology works by melting plastic in an oxygen-free environment to separate the hydrocarbons destined for the oil barrel from the additives used to make that Big Gulp cup. The additives are rendered into a nonhazardous ash byproduct, the company says. While other firms have developed ways to convert waste plastic into oil, Envion uses a "far-infrared ray" technology that yields more fuel than competitors' processes.

The generator, with a capacity for handling more than 6,000 tons of plastic per year, is a slightly smaller version of what Envion will soon be pitching as its flagship product. The 10,000-ton version, which could produce up to 60,000 barrels, costs $6 million to $7 million to build. Depending on the type of plastic, one ton can be converted into three to six barrels of fuel. Envion said it costs about $10 to convert the plastic waste into a barrel's worth of synthetic oil; currently, crude oil sells for close to $70 a barrel.

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Biofuel from Waste Fats

Posted on Monday, May 25, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 2:56 AM

UK based biofuel manufacturer, Amplefuel is set to produce 40 million litres of biofuel each year, focusing on making it from used cooking oil and solid fats.The plant, which utilises a variety of feedstocks from waste products, is one of a handful of firms that is able to break the solid fats down to a liquid biodiesel that does not solidify to later cause blockages.

Amplefuel utilise the solid waste fats from cooking that end up in landfill. Around 500kg of this fat is sent to landfill each week from people’s cooking which they put into a container to let it solidify and then leave it with the rest of their rubbish.The plant breaks the solid fat down by heating it and cleaning it of any visible and emulsified water. The two main fats found in solid fat are separated, treated and then cleaned up again and impurities are filtered out. The result is a liquid diesel that is then blended with other materials to ensure it stays liquid at low temperatures, like normal diesel, which solidifies at around -15 degrees Celsius.

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Biomass Breakthrough : Ethanol from Plants Using Microbe

Posted on Monday, April 27, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 9:55 PM

Baystater’s are celebrating a biomass breakthrough in Springfield that could help soften their dependence on foreign oil. Their discovery creates ethanol from plants using a microbe found in the soil at the Quabbin Reservoir.Development has been in the works for three years under the leadership of Dr. Susan Leschine a professor of microbiology.Pilot plans call for Solutia to begin production later this year, creating the potential for hundreds of jobs.

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Integrated Biorefinery Using Pennycress

Posted on Tuesday, March 3, 2009 posted by posted by Mak @ 10:10 PM

Innovation Fuels, the renewable energy company that manufactures, markets, and distributes second-generation biodiesel to customers around the world, has launched an initiative to create the country’s first integrated biorefinery in New Jersey with the introduction of a new cash crop that will increase revenues for local farmers, without displacing any food crops.

Innovation Fuels’ pennycress (a mustard family plant closely related to canola) grows wild and prolifically throughout the United States, and can yield up to 100 gallons/acre of high quality feedstock oil for the production of biodiesel. The crop is typically planted in the fall and harvested in the spring, so producers can cultivate and harvest pennycress without interfering with normal production of corn or soybeans, while increasing revenue from the same acreage.

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The War on Oil - Ending America's Fossil Oil Dependence

Posted on Friday, April 20, 2007 posted by posted by Ecacofonix @ 1:31 PM

The war on oil

By Jeff Cox, CNNMoney.com contributing writer
April 19 2007

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) --

America's new war. This war on oil will employ techniques such as enzymatic hydrolysis and dry milling, instead of guns and battle-tanks. The combatants' weapons of choice will be switchgrass, wheat straw, corn and other material from the biomass.

The objective is clear: Get the world's biggest oil consumers weaned from their generations-old addiction to oil and establish the United States as a self-sufficient producer of energy from alternative sources.

But this war won't be without its perils, says the article.

This detailed report from CNN Money provides details on how the battle is planned to be fought.

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