E&T Magazine has done a deep dive on the recent efforts to produce sustainable materials from mushrooms, with end markets including packaging, water capture, textiles, and home furnishings. According to E&T, New York-based Ecovative is developing a range of products, including animal-free leather, a replacement for polystyrene foam and even foam buoys and rafts. Designer […]
In Michigan, Michigan State University scientists have found a solution to enhance oil production and harvest using what many consider sea sludge. The new proof of concept, published in Biotechnology for Biofuels, is a biofuel production platform that uses two species of marine algae and soil fungi. It lowers cultivation and harvesting costs and increases productivity, […]
In India, researchers at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology genetically modified a fungus in order to increase the production of enzymes helpful in converting cellulose into simple fermentable sugars. ICGEB’s research could help produce double the amount of biofuel from agricultural waste materials. The genetically engineered fungus could be a valuable alternative […]
In the UK, researchers at the University of Manchester have developed a new method for breaking down cellulose into sugars that they claim is significantly cheaper and faster through the use of a certain fungus in conjunction with enzymes to help jumpstart the process. The method eliminates the need for expensive and time-consuming chemical pre-treatment […]
Bunnies, liposuction fat, Prince Charles’ leftover wine, day-old whale, the human poo bus, fire ants dipped in hexane, old beer, raging fireballs, vibrating blobs, dope, and even the New Orleans Times-Picayune. Take your pick and, yep, it’s all true, as the Digest discovers. IF YOU’RE ONLY AN OCCASIONAL READER in the world of biofuels, corn, sugarcane and […]
Today on Twitter: gedankenstuecke Fungus and bacteria play game theory to make biofuels StuartStaehle @winknews Has anyone followed up on Lee County $10million investment in Algenol Biofuels scam? How many jobs? GrowthEnergy: MT @FuelsAmerica Something big is about to happen in cellulosics & advanced biofuels
In Germany, the turkey tail fungus Trametes versicolor is subject of research being performed at the University of Freiburg in an attempt to source a catalyst for the conversion process. The fungus releases an enzyme called laccasse, allowing electrochemical conversion of oxygen within the biofuel power cell. The findings were recently published in ChemSusChem. More […]
In Wisconsin, a researcher from the University of Wisconsin-Madison has discovered that the enzyme found in a fungus used by the South American leafcutter ant to digest leaves for it could be the next key to efficient second generation biofuels production. It’s the ants themselves who cultivate the fungus, and a team of researchers brought […]
In Massachusetts, LiveScience.com is reporting that scientists have discovered an anaerobic gut fungus, in horses’ waste and digestive tracts, that make enzymes to digest lignin — a protective barrier inside plant cell walls that is hard to separate from cellulose. “It thrives on lignin-rich plants and converts these materials into sugars for the animal. It […]
In Florida, the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued Dyadic International, Inc. the U.S. Patent No. 8,268,585 entitled, “Transformation System in the Field of Filamentous Fungal Hosts”. The patent covers methods of developing, programming and growing improved strains of fungus that make up Dyadic’s C1 platform technology. It also covers the construction and use […]
