Demonstration plants to test six processes for producing ethanol from non-food-based biomass will be built with support from the U.S. DOE (edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-543). Between them, the plants will produce more than 130 million gal/yr of ethanol from cellulosic feeds, including agricultural…
A fungus that is said to be more effective than baker's yeast for the conversion of waste to ethanol has been discovered by researchers at Boras University College (Sweden; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-544). The fungus, a saprophyte (of the zygomycetes order of fungi),…
Mascoma Corp. (Cambridge, Mass.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-545) and Royal Nedalco (Bergen op Zoom, Netherlands) have signed a license and joint-development agreement with the goal of commercializing ethanol production from lignocellulosic biomass. Nedalco has developed modified yeasts that can produce ethanol from all…
Last month, the Dow Chemical Co. (Midland, Mich.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-546) introduced Propylene Glycol Renewable (PGR), a monopropylene glycol that is made from glycerin generated during the production of biodiesel. Dow is conducting PGR trials with customers and anticipates having limited commercial…
Air Products (Lehigh Valley, Pa.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-547) and FuelCell Energy Inc. (Danbury, Conn.; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-548) have begun construction on an advanced hydrogen-energy demonstration station. The station, funded in part from the DOE, will demonstrate tri-generation of hydrogen, electric power and heat from…
Researchers at the Max Plank Institute for Colloids and Interfaces (Potsdam, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-549) have taken a first step towards artificial photosynthesis by developing a metal-free catalyst that could enable CO2 to be used as a reagent in chemical synthesis. The…
Together with four partners, the Fraunhofer Institute for Chemical Technology (ICT; Pfinztal, Germany; edlinks.chemengonline.com/6894-550) has developed an insulation material that is made entirely from renewable raw materials. The material has nearly the same insulating characteristics as conventional glass wool or…
A microfabricated device that concentrates pollutants, enabling them to be detected in very low concentrations, has been patented by Somenath Mitra, professor and chair of the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Sciences at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (Newark;…
It's a simple matter of fact: a chemical process plant operates by the products and services of numerous - and, unavoidably, competing - vendors. Since the resulting compatibility issues only hamper productivity, vendors, EPC firms and owner/operators alike tried to…
Free trade agreements, global manufacturing standards and the Internet have made it possible for companies to do business in countries they would not have considered 20 years ago. Open is a world of opportunity, but for processors of…