Algal Biodiesel - Where is it Now?
February 28, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
When I first heard about algal biodiesel it seemed like the liquid fuels problem had just been solved. Unfortunately like so many things that sould a little too good to be true, so it has turned our for Algea harvesting for biodiesel. Read more
Study Shows Biofuel is Sustainable and Cheaper than New Oil
February 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
A joint biofuels study by Sandia National Laboratories and GM’s R&D Center run over nine months in 2008 concluded that the large-scale production of advanced biofuels produced from plant and forestry waste and dedicated energy crops in huge volumes is achievable and sustainable by 2030. When I say huge I mean up to 90 billion gallons of ethanol, which is about one third of projected consumption by 2030. Read more
Toyota to Make Their Own Fuel
February 11, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
New reports from Reuters say that ToMoCo, along with other Japanse firms, will work to develop low-cost cellulosic ethanol.
The Japanese automaker has mostly steered clear of the biofuel unlike many American brands that are keen to use as much as they can. This probably due the psychology and the agricultural state of the two nations. Read more
Bentley to Bring Flex-Fuel Model to Geneva Show
January 16, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
During the Detroit Auto Show this week, Bentley board member Stuart McCullough declared that the company would debut its first flex fuel car at the Geneva Motor Show in March.
McCullough also confirmed that the entire Bentley lineup will be flex-fuel capable by 2012. At last year’s Geneva Motor Show, Bentley declared it would get its fleet to the equivalent of 120 g/km of well-to-wheel CO2 emissions by 2012. One of the keys to that will be the use of biofuels, primarily ethanol. Read more
Fill Your Car At Home For $3
January 8, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
American inventor Thomas Quinn invented the Nintendo Wii Remote controller, has now launched a home-based fuel pump that will allow you to fill up your car for just $3!
Quinn developed the Wii Remote in 2001 while running Gyration, a firm specialising in the development of motion-sensing controllers, has launched a new company to produce low-cost fuel solutions. Read more
First Commercial Biofuel Jet Test Flight
December 30, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
The first biofuel test flight by a commercial airline was completed yesterday by Air New Zealand using a 50:50 blend of a jatropha-derived synthetic paraffinic kerosene and conventional Jet A1 fuel (named NZ-J50) in an Air New Zealand Boeing 747-400 on Tuesday.
The two-hour test flight took off from Auckland airport on Tuesday morning, with the jatropha-derived biofuel blend powering one of the four Rolls-Royce RB211 engines. Read more
UCLA Team Engineer Bacteria to Produce Better Alcohol Fuel
December 11, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Researchers from UCLA reported that they have re-engineered a common bacteria to produce complex and energy-dense alcohols. They have used the bacteria Escherichia coli to produce various long-chain alcohols with carbon numbers ranging from 5 to 8. Higher carbon alcohols are attractive biofuel targets because they have higher energy density and lower water solubility. That’s right the humble e.coil, found in most warm blooded animals can now be used to produce biofuel to run your biofuel ready vehicle.
The team housed at the University of California Los Angeles and headed by James Liao, has harnessed e. coli’s particularly active enzymatic production system and inserted some chromosomes into the bacteria’s DNA to make longer and longer chains of alcohols. The result is that the modified e. coli can now produce complex and energy dense alcohols of 8 carbons in length. Read more
Audi A4 Biogas Achieves a Maximum Speed of 327.2 km/h
October 29, 2008 by admin · Leave a Comment
Audi A4 has achieved a record breaking maximum speed of 327.2 km/h (203 mph). The unusual feature of this A4 is that it runs on biogas, naturally obtained from the anaerobic fermentation of switchgrass.
The record attempt was performed to promote the use of biogas as an alternative fuel. Bear in mind that Germany imports almost all the country’s gas needs from Russia, so a biologic alternative has a lot of domestic support. Regarding the technical side of the experiment, the A4 was a standard 2004-2008 3-liter model fitted with two turbochargers that powered the car with 585 hp, converted by the TÜV in Rheinland, Germany.
via Auto-News
