Bioenergy

Green rhodopsin proteins inside the blue cell walls help these yeast grow faster when exposed to light. Credit: Anthony Burnetti, Georgia Institute of TechnologyYeast is often known for its ability to ferment carbohydrates into products such as bread and beer, typically requiring a dark environment. Exposure to light in these situations can disrupt or spoil the fermentation process.However, a recent study published in Current Biology by researchers from the School of Biological Sciences at Georgia Tech presents a…

N6-methyladenosine (6mA) 6mA methylation modifications regulates lipid accumulation in Nannochloropsis oceanica. Credit: QIBEBTMicroalgae—which are major contributors to global photosynthesis and primary productivity—serve as promising chassis cells in synthetic biology.In a study published in Plant Communications, researchers from the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology (QIBEBT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences have unraveled the distribution pattern and dynamic changes in DNA N6-methyladenine…

This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.Making Paint Cool in the Face of HeatTwo decades ago, when the world was wising up to the threat of climate change, the Bush administration touted ethanol — a fuel usually made from corn — for its threefold promise: It would wean the country off foreign oil, line farmers’ pockets, and reduce carbon pollution. In 2007, Congress mandated that refiners nearly quintuple the amount of biofuels mixed into the nation’s gasoline supply over…

Photo: Press Association (AP)One of the world’s biggest renewable energy players may be misleading the public about its product. Earlier this month, Mongabay published a damning report on Enviva, the world’s biggest producer of wood chips used for biomass energy, based on allegations from an anonymous former employee, who claimed that the company is producing its chips in a much less environmentally friendly way than its PR materials claim.Biomass energy, the practice of burning wood to generate power, is one of those…

Credit: University of Maine To recruit more women for careers in the forestry industry, particularly the bioenergy sector, University of Maine researchers have devised a road map. The team, led by Abigayl "Abby" Novak, a master's student in forest resources at the BioEnergy Lab of the School of Forest Resources (SFR), found that…

A culture of the Streptomyces bacteria.Image: Pablo Cruz-MoralesA popular rocket fuel called RP-1 gets its name from its key ingredient: refined petroleum. Research published last week in the journal Joule suggests a potentially cleaner and more powerful ingredient: a molecule produced by the Streptomyces bacteria. The proposed fuel won’t be ready any time soon, but the new research points to this intriguing possibility.Streptomyces produces anti-fungal molecules called POP-FAMEs, otherwise known as polycylcopropanated…