In Illinois, one of the major challenges the world faces is how to provide sustainable sources of energy that meet societal needs as the global population continues to grow. Bioenergy crops have garnered increasing attention as a renewable energy source, but their productivity has not yet been fully realized. In a recent study, published in […]
In Illinois, four new studies from the University of Illinois explore chemical-free pretreatment methods, development of high-throughput phenotyping methods, and commercial-scale techno-economic feasibility of producing fuel from energycane in various scenarios. The studies are part of the ROGUE (Renewable Oil Generated with Ultra-productive Energycane) project at U of I. ROGUE focuses on bioengineering accumulation of […]
In Illinois, for decades, researchers have been working toward mitigating excess atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. One promising approach captures atmospheric CO2 and then, through CO2 electrolysis, converts it into value-added chemicals and intermediates–like ethanol, ethylene, and other useful chemicals. While significant research has been devoted to improving the rate and selectivity of CO2 electrolysis, […]
In Illinois, the University of Illinois has been awarded $4.5 million from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) through its “Systems for Monitoring and Analytics for Renewable Transportation Fuels from Agricultural Resources and Management” (SMARTFARM) program. The funding will be used to calculate farm-scale carbon credits, allowing individual farmers to understand […]
In Illinois, in a new study, University of Illinois researchers mine the Miscanthus’ vast genomic potential in an effort to speed up the breeding process and maximize its most desirable traits. In conventional breeding, one typical approach is for researchers to grow individuals from a diverse set of populations and select those with the best […]
In Illinois, the University of Illinois says recent ethanol plant closures and production slowdowns open up the possibility of demand destruction in corn used for ethanol beyond current projections. Some of the latest predictions saw very dire consequences with upwards of one billion gallons of lost ethanol production in 2020. The worst-case scenarios, like most […]
In Illinois, the U.S. Department of Energy awarded a $3.3 million grant to a multidisciplinary research team at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign to develop a precise system for measuring greenhouse gas emissions from commercial bioenergy crops grown in central Illinois. The three-year project through the Institute for Sustainability, Energy, and Environment (iSEE) is […]
In Illinois, Brownfield Ag News reports that a University of Illinois economist expects China to buy at least 100 million gallons of ethanol from the US after the signing of the phase one trade deal between the two countries despite China’s decision to pull back from E10 in 2020. China used to buy as much […]
In Illinois, genomic research has unlocked the capability to edit the genomes of living cells; yet so far, the effects of such changes must be examined in isolation. In contrast, the complex traits that are of interest in both fundamental and applied research, such as those related to microbial biofuel production, involve many genes acting […]
In Illinois, ethanol plants typically use dry grind processing methods; however, implementing fractionation techniques that separate corn components prior to fermentation can improve profitability, a University of Illinois study shows. The researchers found that wet fractionation techniques designed for separating germ (containing maximum oil) and pericarp (the outer layer of the corn seed, containing mostly […]
