fuel

Yellowstone microbes fueled by hydrogen, according to U. of Colorado study

Microbes living in the brilliantly coloredhot springs of Yellowstone National Park use primarily hydrogen forfuel, a discovery University of Colorado at Boulder researchers saybodes well for life in extreme environments on other planets and couldadd to understanding of bacteria inside the human body.A team of CU-Boulder biologists led by Professor Norman Pace, one ofthe world's leading expe...

Ecological destruction fuels emerging diseases

The destruction of habitat by human activity and the extinction of species around the world is more than a looming environmental catastrophe, warns a Canadian zoologist. This ecological damage also endangers human health by turning parasites into "evolutionary land mines." Dr. Daniel (Dan) Brooks, a parasitologist at the University of Toronto, says the decline of global biodiversity is li...

Microbial fuel cell: High yield hydrogen source and wastewater cleaner

Using a new electrically-assisted microbial fuel cell (MFC) that does not require oxygen, Penn State environmental engineers and a scientist at Ion Power Inc. have developed the first process that enables bacteria to coax four times as much hydrogen directly out of biomass than can be generated typically by fermentation alone. Dr. Bruce Logan, the Kappe professor of environmental engineeri...

Grass makes environmentally friendly biofuel

Grow grass, not for fun but for fuel. Burning grass for energy has been a well-accepted technology in Europe for decades. But not in the United States. This alternative fuel easily could be produced and pelleted by farmers a...

Hybrid grass may prove to be valuable fuel source

Giant Miscanthus (Miscanthus x giganteus), a hybrid grass that can grow 13 feet high, may be a valuable renewable fuel source for the future, researchers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign say. Stephen P. Long, a professor of crop sciences and of plant biology, recently took that message to Dublin, Ireland, where the British Association for the Advancement of Science sponso...

Green diesel: New process makes liquid transportation fuel from plants

University of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering researchers have discovered a new way to make a diesel-like liquid fuel from carbohydrates commonly found in plants. Reporting in the June 3 issue of the Journal Science, Steenbock Professor James Dumesic and colleagues detail a four-phase catalytic reactor in which corn and other biomass-derived carbohydrates can be converted to sulfu...

New molecule may aid in production of biofuels and fungi-resistant plants

In a recent study published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry, scientists report on the discovery of a new molecule that is essential for degradation of the biopolymer chitin. This new molecule could eventually aid in the engineering of fungi-resistant plants and could also lead to the discovery of similar molecules that can be used in cellulose-based biofuel production. The research...

Bugs expose underground carbon traffic system 10 times more important than fossil fuel burning

The flow of carbon through soil is ten times greater than the amount of carbon moved around by the burning of fossil fuel but until now how this happens was at best poorly understood. Soil was almost literally a black box to scientists interested in carbon. Now researchers at the University of Warwick have been able to shed light in that black box by getting a particular class of insects to expos...

Cancer support cells may evolve, fuel tumor growth, study shows

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill scientists have demonstrated in a living organism that cancers may cause surrounding supportive cells to evolve and ultimately promote cancer growth. The new research offers what is believed to be the first evidence that mutations within cancer cells can signal surrounding tissue cells to alter their molecular composition in ways that promote tum...

Darkness unveils vital metabolic fuel switch between sugar and fat

Constant darkness throws a molecular switch in mammals that shifts the body's fuel consumption from glucose to fat and induces a state of torpor in mice, a research team led by scientists at The University of Texas Medical School at Houston reports in the Jan. 19 edition of Nature. While their findings could provide new insight into mammalian hibernation, researchers note that the pivota...

USC, Rice to develop bacteria-powered fuel cells

A diverse team of microbiologists, engineers and geochemists from the University of Southern California and Rice University are joining forces to create bacteria-powered fuel cells that could power spy drones that fit in the palm of a hand. The Air Force has long been interested in micro-scale air vehicles ?some as small as insects ?but it has been stymied by the lack of a suitable, compac...

Biofuels can replace about 30 percent of fuel needs with significant research and policy effort

With world oil demand growing, supplies dwindling and the potential for weather- and conflict-related supply interruptions, other types of fuels and technologies are needed to help pick up the slack. A group of experts in science, engineering and public policy from the Georgia Institute of Technology, the Imperial College London and the Oak Ridge National Laboratory recommend a comprehensi...

Biodiversity key to sustainable biofuel according to University of Minn. researcher's findings

Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are also better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods of time. These findings, published in the June 1 issue of Nature, are the culmination of 12 years of experiments conducted by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology at the University of Minnesota,...

Biofuels researcher searches for new sources

The words are becoming familiar, even if the products aren't: biofuel, biobased, biodiesel, bioethanol. All refer to fuel that's made from bio-produced materials such as plants. Chengci Chen (pronounced Chen-see Chen), an assistant professor of cropping systems at the Central Agricultural Research Center at Moccasin, Mont., and his collaborators are investigating Montana's potential for p...

DOE publishes research roadmap for developing cleaner fuels

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) today released an ambitious new research agenda for the development of cellulosic ethanol as an alternative to gasoline. The 200-page scientific "roadmap" cites recent advances in biotechnology that have made cost-effective production of ethanol from cellulose, or inedible plant fiber, an attainable goal. The report outlines a detailed research plan for devel...

Biofuel cells without the bio cells

Proteins keep cells humming. Some are enzymes that taxi electrons to chemicals outside the cell, to discharge excess energy generated during metabolism. This maintains energy flow in the cell and, in turn, keeps the cell alive. Now, sci...

Malaria may fuel spread of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa

Malaria may be fueling the spread of HIV in areas of sub-Saharan Africa where there is a substantial overlap between the two diseases, while HIV may be playing a role in boosting adult malaria-infection rates in some parts of the region, according to a new study by researchers at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and the University of Washington. The findings, published in the Dec. 8...

How mammals fuel milk production may have implications for cancer

A new study in the December issue of the journal Cell Metabolism, published by Cell Press, offers insight into the manner in which the mammary glands of mammals meet the incredible metabolic demands of milk production. As the normal pathways of breast development undoubtedly affect breast cancer, the findings may have therapeutic implications, the researchers said. The researchers found th...

Molecular atlas provides new tool for understanding estrogen-fueled breast cancer

Lurking in unexplored regions of the human genome are thousands of previously unknown on/off switches that may influence how the growth of breast cancer is driven by estrogen, new research by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute researchers has revealed. In the October issue of Nature Genetics, the investigators present the first complete map of the molecular "control panels" -- stretches of DNA...

With cellulosic ethanol, there is no food vs. fuel debate according to MSU scientist

As more and more corn grain is diverted to make ethanol, there have been public concerns about food shortages. However, ethanol made from cellulosic materials instead of corn grain, renders the food vs. fuel debate moot, according to research by a Michigan State University ethanol expert. Bruce Dale, an MSU chemical engineering and materials science professor, has used life cycle analysis...

Florida Tech explores microalgae for biofuel

Responding to the urgent need for alternative energy, Florida Tech Professor of Biological Science, Junda Lin, has received a $430,000 contract from Aurora Biofuels for large-scale production of microalgae. Successful microalgae production for fuel so far is in small-scale cultivation. Lin will cultivate the energy source at the university’s Vero Beach Marine Laboratory. His work is to tes...

'Juiced-up' battery fueled by sugar could power small portable electronics

Dutch researcher Harm Veling has demonstrated that our brains fend off distractions. If we are busy with something we suppress disrupting external influences. If we are tired, we can no longer do this. Social-psychologist Veling proved that the brain selects incoming information to remember useful things. Distracting information is refused and neutral information may enter. In the event o...

Lower carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fueled power plants possible with technology development

A more economical technology for a 90 percent reduction of carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fueled power plants is being developed by a chemical engineer and his colleagues at The University of Texas at Austin as part of the TXU Carbon Management Program. TXU Power, a subsidiary of TXU Corp., will donate $1.8 million to the university in support of Chemical Engineering Professor Gary Ro...

Antibody signal may redirect inflammation to fuel cancer

As evidence mounts that the body's normally protective inflammation response can drive some precancerous tissues to become fully malignant, UCSF scientists report discovering an apparent trigger to this potentially deadly process. Typically, the "innate" immune system's Pac-Man-like white blood cells, or leukocytes, engulf and destroy invading microbes when receptors on their surface rece...

Cellulosic ethanol: Fuel of the future?

In his Jan. 23 State of the Union address, President George Bush outlined his plan to reduce the nation's dependency on foreign oil by requiring the production of 35 billion gallons a year of renewable and alternative fuels by 2017, roughly five times the current target set by Congress of 7.5 billion gallons by 2012. Among the most promising alternatives are fuels derived from biological m...

New biofuels process promises to meet all US transportation needs

Purdue University chemical engineers have proposed a new environmentally friendly process for producing liquid fuels from plant matter - or biomass - potentially available from agricultural and forest waste, providing all of the fuel needed for "the entire U.S. transportation sector." The new approach modifies conventional methods for producing liquid fuels from biomass by adding hydrogen...

Columbia scientists determine 3-dimensional structure of cell's 'fuel gauge'

Researchers at Columbia University Medical Center have uncovered the complex structure of a protein that serves as a central energy gauge for cells, providing crucial details about the molecule necessary for developing useful new therapies for diabetes and possibly obesity. A paper published online today in the journal Science details this structure, helping to explain one of the cell's most bas...

ConocoPhillips establishes $22.5M biofuels research program at Iowa State

ConocoPhillips will establish an eight-year, $22.5 million research program at Iowa State University dedicated to developing technologies that produce biorenewable fuels. The grant is part of ConocoPhillips' plan to create joint research programs with major universities to produce viable solutions to diversify America's energy sources. ConocoPhillips will make an initial $1.5 million gran...

Fuel from fiber -- Pretreatment can put corn stalks, trees in your car's tank

"Put a tree in your tank." Fuel companies aren't touting that slogan. At least not yet. Dale is internationally known for his 30 years of research on maki...