Bioenergy Highlights

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• BSRI welcomes new Associate Director March 13, 2012 media-upload-2

  BSRI is pleased to announce the appointment of Ryan Adolphson as its Associate Director, effective 1 March 2012. BSRI will take advantage of Ryan’s expertise and skills in outreach, government, and corporate relations, as well as his broad knowledge of bioenergy field.

• Grass to gas: UGA researchers’ genome map speeds biofuel development February 10, 2012 miscanthusbarn-230x173

  Researchers at the University of Georgia have taken a major step in the ongoing effort to find sources of cleaner, renewable energy by mapping the genomes of two originator cells of Miscanthus x giganteus, a large perennial grass with promise as a source of ethanol and bioenergy.

• UGA to get $1.2M for algae research, biofuel study December 21, 2011 blpr-farm

  University of Georgia researchers are partnering with the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras, on research to determine effective methods of turning algae biomass into biofuels. In addition to engineering research on the conversion technology, the team will also investigate the economic viability of this renewable energy strategy.

• Miscanthus: A Better Southeast Biofuel Crop December 1, 2011 miscanthus and dragonfly

  A new partnership between UGA and Mendel Biotechnology focuses on miscanthus, a high-yielding perennial grass that can reach heights of more than 12 feet. Researchers are evaluating miscanthus for heat and electrical power generation and production of liquid transportation fuel and bioproducts.

• A Co-Fermentation Strategy to Remove the Key Inhibitors and More Efficiently Co-Ferment Mixed Sugars December 1, 2011 media-upload-3

  A new technology has improved ethanol production by removing acetic acid – which inhibits microbial growth – from fermenting feedstocks, while simultaneously converting the mixed sugar stream into ethanol.

• Engineering Yeast and other Microorganisms for Fermentation of Lignocellulosic Biomass December 1, 2011 media-upload

  A new yeast strain is highly tolerant of the harsh chemical pretreatments needed to breakdown woody pine biomass, while a new combination of microorganisms is used to ferment high-pectin sugars into cellulosic ethanol.

• UGA discovery changes how scientists think about plant cell wall formation November 21, 2011 media-upload-1

  University of Georgia researchers have discovered that two proteins come together in an unexpected way to make a carbohydrate, a chain of sugar molecules, in plant cell walls. This fundamental discovery changes the way scientists think about how plant cell walls are made and opens a new door to converting plants to biofuels and other carbon-based products.

• UGA researchers develop ‘super’ yeast that turns pine into ethanol November 17, 2011 media-upload-2

  Researchers at the University of Georgia have developed a “super strain” of yeast that can efficiently ferment ethanol from pretreated pine-one of the most common species of trees in Georgia and the U.S. Their research could help biofuels replace gasoline as a transportation fuel.

• Extremophiles: Key to Bioenergy? September 19, 2011 media-upload-3

  The Bioenergy Systems Research Institute hosted a symposium on 19-20 September 2011 titled “Extremophiles: Key to Bioenergy?” to explore the use of microorganisms that grow in extreme environments (heat, cold, salinity, etc.) and their enzymes for conversion of biomass.

• From field to fuel: UGA now offering rapid technique for biomass analysis August 1, 2011 media-upload

  UGA researchers have begun to employ a new technique, pyrolysis molecular beam-mass spectrometry, to characterize the lignin content of biomass and use these results to screen types of biomass and correlate lignin to the its viability for biofuel production. Very few facilities of this type are available in the world.

• UGA Researchers win $1.34M USDA-DOE Biofuels Grant: Pair Will Attempt to Manipulate Tree Proteins to Speed Growth September 19, 2010 media-upload-1

  UGA researchers are attempting to increase productivity of trees by genetically modifying certain proteins critical to wood formation.

• Microalgae Energy Technologies, Renewable Biomass Production for Biofuels, Bioenergy, and Bioproducts January 1, 2010 media-upload

  UGA researchers identify ways to enhance fast-growing algae as a source of biomass to produce biodiesel and methane for a local utility, as well as produce residual biomass for fertilizers, poultry feed and even plastics.

• UGA biomass technology increases ethanol yield from grasses and yard waste July 28, 2008 media-upload

  University of Georgia researchers have developed a new technology that promises to dramatically increase the yield of ethanol from readily available non-food crops, such as Bermudagrass, switchgrass, Napiergrass-and even yard waste.

• High-Temperature Gasification of Biomass Improves Productivity and Efficiency January 1, 2008 media-upload-1

  UGA engineers are finding ways to optimize efficiency and productivity of low-moisture biomass, which is heated at high temperatures in the absence of air to produces gas, fuel oil and biochar, a dense charcoal-like substance that sequesters atmospheric carbon in the soil and adds nutrients.