Slowed as much by extremely low oil prices as supply-chain and technological challenges, the effort to integrate biofuels into the nation's aviation fuel supply is nonetheless progressing, according to a researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
The microbe E. coli gets a bad rap in the food industry, but in the chemical engineering realm, it is one of the most important microorganisms for producing amino acids, bioethanol, vitamins and more. Researchers in Penn State's Chemical and Biological Systems Optimization Lab have developed a near genome-scale kinetic model of Escherichia coli's metabolic processes, which will allow scientists to quickly and efficiently use computer modeling to reliably predict the effect of multiple gene interventions.
There is broad public support among Pennsylvania residents for increased renewable-energy generation, according to a study recently conducted by researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
A generally accepted, 44-year-old assumption about how certain kinds of bacteria make energy and synthesize cell materials has been shown to be incorrect by a team of scientists led by Donald Bryant, the Ernest C. Pollard Professor of Biotechnology at Penn State and a research professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Montana State University. The research, published in the journal Science on Dec. 16, is expected to help scientists discover new ways of genetically engineering bacteria to manufacture biofuels -- energy-rich compounds derived from biological sources. Many textbooks, which cite the 44-year-old interpretation as fact, likely will be revised as a result of the new discovery.
Four research teams in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently were awarded a total of more than $1.4 million in Conservation Innovation Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The grants will fund research aimed at developing innovative conservation technologies and approaches that address existing and emerging natural-resource issues.
A forest products researcher in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences is playing a role in a national effort to gauge the viability of wood and wood waste as feedstocks for jet fuel and other high-value co-products. As part of a multi-institutional consortium, Paul Smith, professor of forest products marketing at Penn State, will lead a group that will quantify environmental and social values and determine how those values influence purchasing decisions for biofuel-based products. "This is an exciting opportunity to work with a world-class team of industrial, academic and government researchers to address one of society's most pressing challenges," said Smith, who before coming to Penn State worked for five years as an industrial forester in Colorado and Montana, and for two years as operations manager for a wood products export-trading company in the Pacific Northwest.
Energy is a timely topic in Pennsylvania -- whether it is biofuel from plants such as switchgrass, soybean or camelina, or natural gas extracted from the Marcellus Shale -- so it's no surprise that energy will be a focus at Ag Progress Days, Aug. 16-18.
A software program developed by a Penn State synthetic biologist could provide biotechnology companies with genetic plans to help them turn bacteria into molecular factories, capable of producing everything from biofuels to medicine.
Three researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently were awarded a total of more than $2.8 million in Sustainable Bioenergy Grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
A series of presentations about bioenergy, offered by Penn State's Biomass Energy Center from March through November, will cover the latest technology and the best ideas in this rapidly changing field.
Penn State plant scientists will conduct research to explore the development of cropping systems for the production of renewable biofuels, as part of a newly announced center. The nonprofit Center for Sustainable Energy Farming was founded by Global Clean Energy Holdings Inc. of Los Angeles, Calif., a company that specializes in eco-friendly biofuel feedstock research and sustainable agriculture cultivation, production and distribution.
Ramping up biofuels production to replace fossil fuels and provide a significant portion of the nation's energy will require nothing short of a transformation of the U.S. agricultural, transportation and energy sectors in the next few decades, according to a bioenergy expert in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
When hip hop artist Drake brought "The Far Away from Home Tour" to Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center on April 9, college students got to take part in more than a party. They also participated in several events designed to raise awareness of environmental issues and promote sustainability. As part of the Reverb Campus Consciousness Tour, the artist's tour buses and trucks were refueled with ASTM-certified B20 biodiesel fuel (20 percent biodiesel) in a one-hour renewable fueling event. Penn State was chosen as the first stop of Drake's national tour because of the University's pioneering work with biofuels.
In their continuing effort to evaluate crops that can serve as biofuel feedstocks as well as cover crops (and that can fit into crop rotations in Pennsylvania and the Northeast) researchers in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences have found that forage sorghum holds potential for producers in the region. Forage sorghum has intrigued agricultural scientists for some time, according to Glen Cauffman, manager of farm operations and facilities at Penn State, who oversaw a recent investigation of the plant on University fields.
Sometimes huge initiatives start with modest efforts. That may be the case with the oilseed press being operated as a demonstration project by Farm Operations and Services in Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences.
