Aloe Vera has biodiesel potential, reveals MSU study (India)

expressIndia.com

Shubhlakshmi Shukla
Posted online: Thursday , June 19, 2008 at 03:14:53
Updated: Thursday , June 19, 2008 at 03:14:53

Vadodara, June 18 A two-year research by M S University botanists has concluded that Aloe Vera can also be used as a biofuel. So far the plant was known for its medicinal and cosmetic properties. An international patent has now been sought to establish the use of Aloe Vera seeds in making biodiesel, soaps and edible oils. The plant grows in only a few areas of Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.

Prof. Mammen Daniel and Padamnabh Nagar from MSU Botany department had come across Aloe Vera seeds in Kutch and Saurashtra areas two years ago. They also found that the plant germinates from the seeds. “The fact that Aloe Vera actually has seeds is known to very few,” said Prof Daniel.

“Even though Aloe Vera farming is done in the North Gujarat belt, this discovery will make it more economical, since the number of Aloe Vera seeds per Kilogram is 2,67,500. The seeds could be collected upon maturity and used for germination,” added Nagar.

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Japanese scientists create diesel-producing algae

TimesOnline
Leo Lewis, Asia Business Correspondent

From The Times
June 14, 2008

Under the gleam of blinding lamps, engulfed by banks of angrily frothing flasks, Makoto Watanabe is plotting a slimy, lurid-green revolution. He has spent his life in search of a species of algae that efficiently “sweats” crude oil, and has finally found it.

Now, exploiting the previously unrecognised power of pondlife, Professor Watanabe dreams of transforming Japan from a voracious energy importer into an oil-exporting nation to rival any member of Opec.

The professor has given himself a decade to effect this seemingly implausible conversion: Japan’s export-led economics have always been shaped by their near 100 per cent dependence on foreign energy. In the present world economic climate, those economics are looking especially fragile.

“I believe I can change Japan within five years,” the Professor told The Times from his laboratory in Tsukuba University. “A couple of years after that, we start changing the world.”

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Lignin expert chooses to pursue biofuels research at UW-Madison

University of Wisconsin
July 1, 2008
by Nicole Miller

Most scientists can't help but daydream about their research projects, which is why you'll often find John Ralph doodling on restaurant napkins. The University of Wisconsin-Madison professor of biochemistry often interrupts his meals with a quick sketch, usually depicting some piece of the structure of lignin, the subject of his research for the past 36 years.

But amid deepening concern over the world's dependency on oil, Ralph's napkin art might turn out to be as valuable as a rare Rembrandt. Lignin — a tough, glue-like substance that keeps plant cell walls from falling apart — presently stands as one of the chief barriers to making fuel from grasses and woody plants, which most experts see as a preferable alternative to ethanol made from corn kernels or other food sources. And few people in the world know more about lignin than Ralph, who until earlier this year was a scientist with the U.S. Dairy Forage Research Center at UW-Madison.

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Opinion: Biofuels help meet U.S. energy goals

San Francisco Chronicle - opinion
Open Forum
Bob Dinneen
Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Since 1998, just 10 years ago, world oil prices have increased 10-fold, recently hitting an all-time high of more than $140 per barrel. The impacts of this unabated rise are now coming home to roost.

Everything from Q-tips to cornflakes is costing more. It takes petroleum to produce, process, package, transport and market the items that appear on store shelves. This is especially true of food products. Record oil prices make it more expensive for the farmer to grow the grains that are fed to livestock. And those prices also make it more expensive for big food companies to process, wrap the food in plastic, and ship it to the store in energy-intensive refrigerated containers.

While demand for energy increases globally, so too does the demand for food. With energy and food prices at record levels, industries heavily reliant on oil or grain are looking for some one to blame for the rising prices consumers confront. Thus began a spate of news stories suggesting that the rise in the development of renewable alternatives to gasoline and diesel - biofuels - is forcing us to compete with our cars for food. Not so. Biofuels are part of the solution to keeping food and energy price rises under control.

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Happy 4th of July!

from the staff of the Center for Advanced BioEnergy Research (CABER) at the University of Illinois' College of Agriculture, Consumer and Environmental Sciences

Hawaii scientists see algae's 'green' potential

Friday, June 13, 2008
Pacific Business News (Honolulu) - by Nanea Kalani Pacific Business News

The search for "green" alternatives to fossil fuels has turned some Hawaii entrepreneurs into farmers.

Their crop is algae, an abundant and renewable source for biofuel with a rapid growth rate and high oil yield.

Helping them is Hawaii's climate, where sun and water offer an ideal environment for algae farming.

At least two Hawaii biotech firms are focused on researching and developing algae strains for biofuel production. And a third is looking to set up on the Big Island later this year.
Biofuel, which refers to clean-burning fuels made from vegetable oils or animal fats, can be used to run cars, planes and power plants.

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General Motors to Offer 18 New Flex Fuel Vehicles in Model Year 2009

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: Jun. 27, 2008

General Motors will offer 18 flexible fuel vehicles (FFVs) in model year 2009.

The number of E85 compatible vehicle models available in 2009 is a sharp increase from the past following the group's commitment to making their line at least half E85 compatible by 2012.
“We continue to believe that biofuels, specifically E85, is the most significant thing we can do in the near-term to offset future energy demands,” said Beth Lowery, GM vice president of Environment, Energy and Safety Policy.

“We are on target to make 50 percent of our vehicles flex-fuel capable by 2012 providing the infrastructure is in place.”

The models cover the gamut from the four-cylinder Chevrolet HHR small crossover to the full-size Cadillac Escalade ESV luxury utility.

Infrastructure includes both the availability of the E85 fuel and stations where it is sold.

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New Nebraska Corn Board Publication to Highlight Long-Term Storage Options for Wet Distillers Grains

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: Jun. 27, 2008

Lincoln, NE—Wet distillers grains and other corn co-products are a tremendous feed option for cattle producers, but storing the nutritious co-products for a long period of time has proved to be a challenge because they can begin to spoil within a few days or a couple of weeks.

“That doesn’t mean wet distillers grains and similar co-products can’t be stored. It just means care needs to be taken to make sure feed quality is maintained,” said Kelly Brunkhorst, ag program manager for the Nebraska Corn Board.

That’s why the Nebraska Corn Board partnered with the University of Nebraska to develop the new Storage of Wet Corn Co-Products publication.

“This 20-page publication will help producers take advantage of wet distillers grains by showing them a variety of cost-effective storage options,” Brunkhorst said.

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Mississippi State University Researchers Earn $200,000 RARE Grant From EPA

GrainNet.com
Date Posted: Jun. 24, 2008

Three Mississippi State chemical engineering researchers formally will accept a $200,000 grant from the regional director of the Environmental Protection Agency during an 11 a.m. Friday [June 13] campus ceremony in 250 McCain Hall, home of the Bagley College of Engineering.

Jimmie Palmer of EPA's Regional Applied Research Effort Program will present the research award dealing with the conversion of sewage into biodiesel to assistant professors Rafael Hernandez and Todd French, and associate professor Mark Bricka.

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Biofuels research advanced by WSU

The Seattle Times
Sunday, June 29, 2008 - Page updated at 12:00 AM

Washington State University has taken another step to help place its Tri-Cities-based Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy on the world stage.
By Pratik Joshi
Tri-City Herald

Washington State University has taken another step to help place its Tri-Cities-based Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy on the world stage.

Months after hiring Denmark native Birgitte Ahring to head the Tri-Cities center, WSU agreed to work with Aalborg University in Denmark to develop biofuels and bioproducts to reduce the world's dependence on oil.

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