In Colorado, National Renewable Energy Laboratory researchers experimented with a common method in the pulp and paper industry used for bleaching to see how well this method could deconstruct biomass. The method known as “ozonolysis” was applied to corn stover in the lab. Results showed that using ozonolysis helped to breakdown the biomass with a […]
In Illinois, scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Argonne National Laboratory are conducting pivotal research that will help keep soil healthy now and into the future. Scientists have long known that corn residue or stover — meaning the aboveground portions of the corn plant remaining after harvest — plays a critical role in […]
In Wisconsin, a study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center compared two processes for producing biofuels from corn stover: biological conversion to ethanol (BCE) and catalytic conversion to alkenes (CCA) and found that carbon efficiency isn’t the only factor for determining promising strategies for the production of […]
It’s hard to believe the Digest was reporting on POET’s grand opening of its Project LIBERTY facility back in 2014, then its reaching of production goals earlier this year in April with yields of about 70 gallons of cellulosic per ton of corn stover, near its goal of 72 gallons, and now here we are […]
In Michigan, researchers found that rainfall and weather conditions greatly affected crop yields for biofuel crops like switchgrass and corn stover, resulting in composition changes during biofuel production. While the plants produced more sugar after a major drought and after two years of normal rainfall, the sugar ended up producing toxic compounds instead of biofuel. […]
In Canada, Cellulosic Sugar Producers Cooperative has initiated an equity campaign to develop a corn stover and wheat straw to dextrose supply chain in southwestern Ontario. CSPC will engage with growers in the region to supply corn stover and wheat straw to a planned dextrose facility previously announced by Comet Biorefining to be located in […]
Why not use the materials we don’t need, to produce the fuels we do need? The Digest looks at the hard data. Wherever you look, there are concerns about energy production — cost, infrastructure, environment, emissions, and water impact, just to name a few. No matter what energy system you develop, it seems like someone will […]
In Iowa, DuPont is looking to contract 500 farmers to supply corn stover for its cellulosic ethanol plant that it is building in the town of Nevada. The 30 million gallon per year plant won’t be online until 2014 but it will eventually seek 375,000 dry tons of stover from a 30 mile radius.
In Iowa, farmers have been turning to corn stover as a cattle feed in light of the recent droughts causing hay shortages. Many farms are beginning to mix stover with hay, vitamins, and minerals to stretch the volume of feed from their hay harvests each year. Iowa State University Extension Beef Specialist Denise Schwab believes […]
In Michigan, a biofuel production process with a yield 20 times higher than current processes was discovered by a Michigan State microbiologist. Dr. Gemma Reguera’s process uses a second bacterium in the breakdown process, which removes the nonethanol materials while generating electricity. The process averaged 35 to 40% energy recovery from the fermentation process using […]
